Climate Fiction Piece

Bush and Hussein visit Chung city for their Christmas holiday, the city they have known as historic and beautiful in history. On their arrival in Chung, they are greeted by masks all over. Everyone is wearing a mask. Skyscrapers are all over, some as high as touching clouds to underpin the progress mankind has made. Signs of industries, businesses, vehicles, and a dense population are real. Chung is real industrialized, attracting huge populations and expansion of transport and housing infrastructure to meet the new demands. “There are plenty of opportunities here,” says Bush. Hussein nods in agreement.

On their way to a hotel where they would spend the night, Bush and Hussein encounter a long traffic jam. Vehicles' engines are on, but they are not moving. The two had not experienced this before. The air around is thick and polluted because of motor vehicle emissions and lack of green cover. As the two look up at the sky, they realize there is smog. The city's airspace is smoky due to high levels of air pollution. The talkative Bush asks the taxi driver what is wrong with the sky. Apart from the pollution, the city is also extremely hot. All vehicles have cooling systems to keep the occupants comfortable. On the streets, Hussein and Bush can see people walking around with bare chests and in shorts.

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Bush: why is your sky smoky?

Driver: The sky is just okay.

Bush: Don’t you see that the sky is smoky? It should not be like this. In Hope (his home city), the sky is always clear if it is not covered by clouds.

Driver: (laughs). This is Chung, my brother, the most advanced city on the earth. The weather here signifies that progress. Have you seen people masked all over?

Bush: Yes! What does that mean?

Driver: You need a mask too. The air here is highly polluted. The smoky sky is due to air pollution. Respiratory diseases are common in Chung, mainly due to poor air conditions. Masks help to reduce the effects of air pollution on our health.

Bush: (in shock). How can one stay in a mask the entire life? Or do you people eat and sleep in masks?

Hussein: (interjecting) Life here must be terrible than I had anticipated. I do not remember if I have ever put on a mask.

The conversation between the three continues as they travel to a hotel that is about a kilometer from the airport. The two visitors are in bewilderment after the shocking revelation about the air condition in Chung city. The idea of walking around with a mask the whole day has scared the two to the core. As they alight at the hotel and bid the driver bye, Bush started to feel some irritation in the nose and pain in his lungs. His condition keeps on worsening with each passing minute. Finally, he asks the hotel receptionist if he can access emergency health services. The receptionist, a neatly dressed and smiling young lady, calls in an ambulance.

As the ambulance is arriving to take Bush to the hospital, Hussein also starts feeling the same challenges. The ambulance takes the two to a nearby hospital for a checkup. At the hospital reception, everyone is shocked to see Bush and Hussein without masks. A basic assessment of their health reveals that they are suffering from respiratory attacks. They are given masks and some drugs to take with an assurance that they will be okay.

Back at the hotel, Hussein and Bush are ushered into their well-furnished rooms. The environment seems to be welcoming and accommodating. However, the following day things change as the city suffers a huge power blackout. The air conditioners go off, subjecting visitors to a new ordeal in the city. It is extremely hot inside and outside the hotel. Food cannot be prepared in the kitchen because cooks cannot withstand the heat. Juices and water in the fridge evaporate. Buildings are shrieking because of too much heat.

Bush contacts the hotel management to know if there is any remedy or they are going to be burnt in the hotel. The manager informs him that a heatwave had affected the main power station that serves the city, bringing life to a standstill. The afternoon newspapers report that about 1200 have died in Chung due to the heatwave. The government was doing all it could to resolve the challenge. Bush and Hussein turn to silent prayers as they gasp for air. All they would do was to drink some water that had not evaporated from bottles, albeit hot. Without drinking water, they would die of dehydration.

Hussein: We are going to die here.

Bush: let the will of God be done. This place is horrible. It is like we are in hell!

Hussein: I wish we had sought more information about Chung before we could travel. I would not have approved this trip.

Bush: If we survive, we will have grown wiser. Never again shall we make decisions without supportive information.

As the two were still conversing, the electricity returned the cheers across the city. Cars hooted and peopled ululated to welcome the electricity back. One would mistake it for a triumphant entry to heaven. Instead, it was a bizarre celebration Hussein and Bush had never experienced before. The television in the room, which had almost melted out of the heat, flickered with new life. On the screen were headlines about the return of power. However, this headline was followed by news about more deaths. About 5000 people had died in the city due to extreme heat. Most of the victims were children and the elderly. The news left Bush and Hussein wondering what was the major problem with Chung city - a city they knew in history as cool, green, beautiful, and hospitable. The two had not paid attention to topics of climate change. It was the time they took to learn more about climate change to fathom their experiences in Chung. Twenty years ago, Chung was a small city that had plenty of parks and general green cover. The city was surrounded by forest that gave it fresh air. The country, too, enjoyed a huge forest cover that helped to balance its environmental needs. However, rapid development changed everything in the last 20 years as forest cover was replaced by industries, houses, transport networks, and farms. The government saw this as a big achievement towards economic development.

In ten years’ time of rapid expansion of industries and infrastructures, the forest cover in Chung City disappeared. There is no trace of a tree within the city. Roads, pavements, and houses have taken over every space that was occupied by trees. Forest land around the city was turned into industrial parks and residential homes as the demand for more space for an expansion increased.

River Tolo and River Ching used to ornament the city dried up through deliberate human activities. The decimation of surrounding forest cover that served as the source of the two rivers signed their death. The drying up of the two rivers has led to water shortages in the city. Chung City depends on water that is piped from 100 kilometers away. The government never contemplated drastic environmental challenges after it authorized the destruction of forest land within and around the city. Most importantly, the entire country lost 70 percent of its forest cover in the last 40 years, contributing to extreme changes in weather conditions.

Back at the hotel, Bush and Hussein had made up their mind to move outside the city to enjoy some fresh air and visit the famous Chiang Park to see wild animals. The two have read in history about jumbos, lions, leopards, tigers, and the wildebeest of Chiang. They ordered a safari car to help them enjoy the tour. In their mind, Bush and Hussein expected some open roof transport means that would allow them to see the environment freely and take photos. This was not the case. The truck they received was sealed and air-conditioned to protect them from extreme heat.

Bush: Is the environment outside the city the same as the city?

Safari Truck driver: Not the same, but almost the same.

Bush: What do you mean? Isn’t it cool outside there?

Safari Truck Driver: not really. You know, our country is extremely hot, regardless of whether you are in the city or outside.

The driver’s reply was met was silence. Bush was struggling to digest the implication of what the driver had just said. The vehicle left the city and entered a rugged terrain, which was supposed to be rural areas. Instead, the land was dry and lifeless. Remains of dry trees would be seen along the way, highlighting the effects of long droughts. Silence ruled the air until the truck came to a sudden stop. The driver informed Bush and Hussein that they had arrived in Chiang Park.

Bush: so this is the Park?

Driver: Yes. I hope you will enjoy the scenery. Tourists love the place.

Hussein, but where are the wildlife and trees? I expected to see a green environment that is inhabited by wild animals. I want to see the big five and other animals.

Driver: (struggling) there are no live animals here. They all died because of drought and wildfires. But I have an idea.

Bush: Which is?

Driver: I will take you to the Chiang museum to see the animals.

At this moment, Hussein and Bush are bitter, feel cheated. The driver of the Safari truck drives them to a structure about 2 kilometers deep into what was supposedly Chiang Park. The driver does the talking for the two before the receptionist ushers them in. To the surprise of Hussein and Bush, the museum does not have any live animals. All that is stored there are pictures of the lively and attractive Chiang Park that existed before. The photos show a green park with healthy wildlife.

Bush: Where did the Park go?

Museum Attendant: Climate change resulted in prolonged doubts and heat that decimated vegetation and all the animals. All that we are left with are these pictures to remind visitors about the famous Chiang Park.

Hussein: what is this animal you are calling climate change? I do not get you!

Museum Attendant: Climate change is all about the destruction of green cover and pollution, resulting in effects such as long droughts, desertification, and extreme cold or hot conditions. Our country was green before climate change hit us hard. Farmlands were turned into deserts, depriving us of food security. We now import nearly all our agricultural products.

Bush: you mean in the entire country, there are no trees or any green cover?

Museum Attendant: Yes, our land has turned into a desert. The government is planning to carry our reforestation using ocean water. It will be a costly project because seawater is not suitable for farming because of its high salt content. Purification and pumping the water hundreds of kilometers is required to achieve the proposed objective of making our country clean again.

Hussein: But why didn't the government carry out reforestation before all trees disappeared?

Hussein's question reminded the safari truck driver about how the previous government presided over the destruction of the forest cover in the name of bringing development. The unplanned expansion of cities and towns resulted in environmental degradation (Letcher, 2021).

Cries from environmentalists then were rubbished as the majority of citizens did not understand the long-term impact of deforestation and pollution. The driver told Hussein and Bush about how his village used to produce fruits and grains sold in Chung. However, due to desertification, the entire village is deserted. People now live in urban areas to benefit from the service, banking, and industrial sectors of the economy. The driver went on to inform his visitors about how pollution coupled with the effects of climate change has made life in urban areas unbearable. According to the driver, Chung city was a bit more hospitable than the capital city of Tang. In the latter, people relied on oxygen supply to keep themselves alive. The revelation of the story behind the disappearance of Chiang Park and green cover in the entire country opened Bush and Hussein to new realities about climate change. The two had learned much within hours about a topic that they had ignored for long. They promised themselves to support the effort to protect the environment at home and abroad for the rest of their life.