The Melting
Ice
By The Right Agent
Illustrated by Bernardo Wright
Andrew
As the cold slowly crawled into his body, his heart began to pound each time slightly harder, “pum, pum, pum. ” Each beat felt as though his heart was fighting to rip his chest open, each step he took he could hear the friction between his crampons and the ice, “CRSH, CRSH, CRSH” Why am I here? He thought as his knees wobbled and his quads cramped, he fell to his knees. “WHY?” He said as he laid on the ice, he’d been walking for weeks in the endless North Pole. Andrew was a young strong man, he had broad shoulders and a broad back he had always prided himself with His whole body was covered with multiple layers of clothes to protect him from the cold, he was wearing thick gloves and hoodies, his feet were covered by some big boots with crampons attached to the bottom.
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? He wouldn’t stop thinking about it, why did he do this As he lay at the brink of death in the middle of nothing, he started to get up, “Why?” he said in a mocking tone “WHY?!” He yelled out with the same sarcastic tone. “Are you serious!!!” “‘Cause I can! ‘Cause I will! WHY NOT!!” He slowly stood up and with that adrenaline he finished walking that last kilometer for the day.
Andrew sat in the ice eating some chocolate, taking a long break appreciating what he’d never appreciated before the “eternal” ice, it was like a camouflaged ecosystem that very few people knew existed It was in this moment that his whole life shifted to a realization, through the corner of his eye he spotted a Polar Bear. It was barely possible to see it with the way it would camouflage in the snow “Haha, your name could be Spots, haha”
Spots
It had been too long, Spots didn’t remember the days when she didn’t need to worry, she misses those days, she constantly thinks about those days. Spots was a small skinny Polar Bear who had been searching for a home, fighting for her cubs. She had constantly thought about giving up, how utterly painless it could be but those stopped being an option the moment her two cubs were born. She had to live for them, they could make it, she knew they could but not without help.
As they walked in the middle of an endless white “dessert” each step making it harder to take the next, the wind began to pick up slightly. Spots knew this wasn’t good, her cubs barely made it out of the last storm She desperately began digging a shallow pit big enough for the three of them to lay in, her two cubs too tired to stand were both lying there waiting for their mother to push them in the pit. As Spots finished quickly she shoved her cubs in there and got in herself, the three of them curled into a ball inside the pit waiting for destiny to decide what happens next
Andrew
Andrew looked straight ahead, spotting more and more details. It was a very small and skinny bear, it seemed as though it was struggling with its step, as though it were limping Andrew felt drawn to the bear, he felt he could help. Could he? This strange moment of intrigue couldn’t last long, as he kept wincing his eyes to get a closer look at the bear he realized it had vanished “What?”His surroundings started to become paler, and as fast as the blink of an eye he was swept off his feet He fell strongly on his back feeling a harsh wincing pain but he had no moment to think about it twice, he quickly had to get back on his feet as the storm continued to bury him. He didn’t know what to do, whenever he tried to take a step forward he’d be pushed to the ground, each time falling worse than the last “WHY!!!!!!” he screamed out in such a primal way it seemed as though he was screaming all of his demons away from his body. He quickly managed to get an ice pick out of his backpack using it to drag himself through the ice. He knew very consciously that he couldn’t stay still, that was certain death either from hypothermia or maybe suffocation. “AHHHH!!” He would raise his arm and in a swing stick the ice pick as far away from him as he could and with both his arms and his feet he would pull himself to the ice pick, he would keep doing that non-stop Little by little his hand began to hurt, each time he would swing the ice pick his hand would cramp, then his arm began to ache, his body kept getting colder and colder. Maybe death had finally come to claim his prize, he thought. “Just take me!!” he could barely hear his scream in all the wind Maybe I can make it one last time, he placed one foot in the ice, then he tried the same with his other foot and just as he did he was swept off his feet. His back hit the ice and Andrew began to sink in all the snow.
Spots
As she felt the winds slow down, Spots slightly opened her right eye to peek if the conditions were apt for her cubs to continue walking. She started to push the snow off of them slowly getting out of the pit, her cubs followed Spots could feel a heavy energy coming from the cubs, it was strange, as though their eagerness, their will to keep going had ended but that didn’t matter to her she would keep pushing them till they found a home. As the three continued to walk they kept listening to these groans of pain, each step Spots would take she could hear a soft groan, “mmf” she looked back and realized it was one of her cubs. It seemed as though his paw was injured and each step he took caused pain, each step seemed to be getting harder for him, till they all seemed impossible. Her cub just collapsed on the ground, he wasn’t even crying or wincing anymore he was just lying there Spots took a deep breath as tears slid down her face knowing what she had to do. She chose to wait for a moment as she laid down with her two cubs.
After a moment of silence she nudged her healthy cub to the side and in a peaceful and ritual-like way she bit her other cub in the neck, killing him instantly Tasting the blood spreading in her tongue she couldn’t help but feel a guilty pleasure, it was food, finally food She looked at her dead cub as the fresh blood would pour down his neck. He wasn’t much to eat, especially for two bears, the cub was small and skinny. She looked at her other cub, he seemed to be anxious, he didn’t know what to do He was sad, respecting the death of his brother, he didn’t want to eat his brother but he didn’t want to die either. Spots gave her cub a nod telling him it was okay, she knew it was hard losing a loved one but they couldn’t wait around. They both had a depressing meal full of guilt for what was hardly a feast. As they both finished eating and licking the last things from the bones, Spots began to realize this was going to last them a couple of days with luck so she pressured her cub to keep moving, it was the only way to survive.
Andrew
“Hhh, hraawr. HRAAAWWR!!!!” Andrew kept hearing these strange noises, he didn’t fully recognize them. “HH, HRAAWR!”
“PUUTAAA!” Andrew let out a yelp in his moment of realization, in all of his expedition he had seen one Polar Bear and to his luck it seemed the Polar Bear had now seen him.
“HRAAWWRR!!” Andrew slowly opened his eyes with a strong effort, he had barely survived the storm and due to some sort of miracle he hadn’t suffocated in the snow He tried to move his arms and legs but he could barely move them, it was as though his joints were rusty like that of a tin man.
“HRAAAWWWRRR!!!” Andrew kept trying to keep calm under the immense pressure he was in, little by little he started to gain mobility and he started searching for his ice ax in the snow He started to feel something with his hand, he pulled it out with a scream of intimidation,
“AGGGRRRHHAARRRRR!!!!!!” He was swinging the ice ax slowly but as fast as he could trying to get up in all the commotion he was causing Once he was finally up he stopped swinging for a second, he took a good look around him as he turned around to see a Polar Bear about 15 meters from him. Behind the Polar Bear stood a scared little cub, “a baby Polar Bear” he realized. He didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t believe his eyes, Polar Bear cubs almost never survive now-a-days With global warming conducting the way animals live in this world it was a well known fact that Polar Bears were endangered and almost extinct. He made direct eye contact with the cub and then with the mother, “you’re Spots,” he said softly.
“HHrsh, HRSH”
“It's okay, I don’t want to hurt you.” Andrew felt like he was talking to a wall, but deep down he knew he was being listened to. He slowly picked up his backpack and started to walk away slowly, he didn’t want to give his back to the bear ‘cause that would be stupid even for him. “Just go, please go. I can’t help you.” he whispered to the bears, he didn’t even bother raising his voice with the fear of startling it. He kept walking slowly, almost motionless. Spots would just sit there looking at him, her eyes seemed to be paralyzed open As Andrew kept gaining more and more distance his adrenaline started to drain little by little until he could barely see the bear and turned around and dropped to his knees for a little break.
Spots
They were only a couple hours from sea but her cub was already dragging a bit Spots knew the best decision in the moment was to take a quick break so she stopped for a moment and nudged her cub to do the same. After a few minutes of sitting in the snow Spots picked up on a scent, she had never smelled something like it before, the scent felt very close to her so she went to get a little bit closer to it It seemed to have a strong, salty, sweet smell. As she got closer she could recognize the scent, she kept sniffing in the snow when she finally understood what it was. Spots had always been keen on not repeating the past, and the moment she realized what that scent was she start growling, and roaring History can only happen once, she thought, “Hhh, hraawr HRAAAWWR!!!!” She started to pounce on the snow moving it around looking for the scent. “HRAAAWWR!!!!” “PUUTAAA!” Spots had just heard a weird noise about a meter and a half from her, she moved towards it when a sharp object came swinging at her, she harshly thrust away from the swinging object. She was confused and her cub had been startled by all the noise he ran to hide in her legs Spot was alert to attack and protect the one piece of family she had left. She saw the thing that was standing up, it seemed to be bright red in its entire body. Although its body wasn’t very big Spots knew it wasn’t harmless, he had seemed smaller of its type to do bad things The thing seemed to be talking slowly and quietly and she didn’t really understand what it was saying but it was still calming for her to hear those sounds. The thing Seemed to start walking back slowly looking at her, Spots was a little bit confused so she sat down and looked attentively
She didn’t want to roar or growl at this point because of the risk of scaring and startling it so she took in the silence After a couple of minutes the thing was out of sight, she looked down and saw her cub sleeping peacefully in the snow. She laid down next to him thinking a couple minutes wouldn’t hurt them. She winced as the traumatic memory of her mothers death came back to her She remembered when she was about 2 or maybe 3 years old and her and a group of creatures like the one she had just encountered had come near them, her mother had tried to fight them off but they made sure her efforts went unrecognized. Ever since that day Spots had made sure never to get close to those things It was as though they enjoyed hunting Polar Bears, the day her mother was killed she remembered hiding in a little pit in the snow paralyzed with fear, for the first time in her life shivering because of the cold. She saw how her brother ran out the pit to be kicked and cut by those things and her mothers head left separated from her body, her brother never to be seen again, and Spots left to survive on her own
Andrew
“Huff, huff” It was now about 30 minutes after he first sat down, the cold was starting to get to him, slithering into his bones like a snake full of malice It was time to continue walking, he stood up and realized he had to go towards the bear because it was the closest way to sea. He stood up and began walking once again, he started going to where the bear encountered him As he kept walking and getting closer it became clear that the bear had left, he chose not to worry about it and just went to where he had to go It was crucial he got to the sea by the next day because the ice was melting faster than ever this season and he could feel something was wrong.
Andrew had already been walking for a couple hours and for the first time in what felt like forever he seemed to be having a nice uneventful walk, he could finally “relax” in the tough environment of the North Pole Andrew kept wondering why the bear didn’t kill him, it made no sense, was the bear scared? Or was it something beyond that, how was she so aggressive yet peaceful? Andrew kept striking himself with questions he simply couldn’t answer After a while he realized he had walked for an insane amount of time and that he should probably set camp for the night.
Spots
(Swim day 1)
After walking for so long Spots finally saw they were close to the ocean, she let her cub rest for a while but not long, they didn’t have long With the ice melting at the pace it was melting, Spots knew it was dangerous to stay for one more day, the conditions were horrid, no food, storms, and with much of the ice becoming part of the ocean forcing the swim to be longer if necessary Spots knew she couldn’t afford that so she woke her cub and nudged him to start. This would be his first long swim and god knew it would be a hell of a long one. Spots was very agitated and nervous and she was trying to calm herself down for her cub, starting a swim in those conditions could be very inefficient or even mortal
After about 5 minutes they reached the sea and Spots was the first to get in gently, she was exhausted and dreaded this swim, she was in no condition to swim for too long, much worse with her cub. Her cub got in the water too and slowly swam around his mother, Spots knew it was common for cubs to receive a surge of energy when they submerged into the water, it had happened to her cubs before and it would happen again As her cub was excitedly treading in the water Spots warned him not to swim too much as that would tire him out. They started swimming well and confidently for the first day with absolutely no casualties.
Swim day 2
They had already completed their first 24 hours and Spots started feeling how the currents were starting to get stronger and harsher, soon too harsh for her little cub, he was barely moving in the water so Spots put him on her back and started swimming for the both of them, she knew she had to maintain a strong attitude if they were to last and in the wrath of the unforgiving oceans, the ocean always got what it wanted how it wanted it. She had seen these waters take down entire icebergs, something they had never done before until the day she was born Spots remembers seeing her father drown with an iceberg about 2 decades ago when Spots had just been born. These oceans were taking something back, something that was theirs,
Spots knew. As a bear she had been forced to live all her winters in the water and sea hunting for survival, it was the way they survived but a few years back the sea ice started melting faster, by the time it would freeze back it wasn’t all that useful, it had become harder to hunt every year. But Spots was always grateful for the ocean; it had always taken care of all the ecosystems, it would freeze for the bears, melt for the whales, and more besides the pain it received. Spots never really understood the pain but she knew it was related to the colorful things she had now encountered twice in her life, they seemed to always ruin everything.
Swim Day 5
The conditions for their swim were now substantially more complex than they were a few days before Spots could see the exhaustion in her cubs eyes, she wasn’t sure how much longer he could last. There was no sign of land near them so she knew they wouldn’t be reaching it anytime soon. When you’re that tired every wave that hits you, is like a chill down your spine, each wave debilitating, rendering you useless or at least that's what it seemed to be doing to the cub. Spots would spend half the day carrying her cub and the other half nudging him to keep going. For how much longer could she carry herself and her cub? She would make her cub go, she wouldn’t lose another one, she simply couldn’t Spots would plead the ocean to have them mercy but it wouldn’t listen, had they reached their final destination? Was this their endgame? Was this it?
She wondered
Andrew
Andrew had been in this little dingy for a bit more than a day and he was already dreading the rest, it was time he got to land, back to civilization As the motor filled the entire silence of the melting ocean, his little dingy would go on eating all the waves, “PHSH! PHSH!” Again and again clapping onto the ocean. Andrew took a look around him and saw the almost empty ocean, an ecosystem that once entirely thrived was now being forced to break the natural laws it had followed for centuries because of humans. Andrew was entirely pissed about it, he was ready to do something about it.
Spots (Swim Day 8)
Spots and her cub were moving slowly and she was having to push him through the ocean, lost in the vast fair cruelty of this ocean, no food, no sleep in no way the right conditions to survive this. How did he make it this far? Spots wondered what was pushing him to keep going “SPLOOSH!! SPLASH!” A harsh wave struck Spots in her face hitting her eyes rendering her eyesight useless for some seconds… just enough for her to be startled and let go of her last true love. Her cub aimlessly fell down to the bottom of the ocean, his bones, organs, muscles, it all weighed down on his will and pure hope to grab the water in front of him
Spots realized what happened and fully submerged herself into the water, she was going to rescue her cub, she knew she could She fought every aching muscle submerging herself, searching for what tethered her to keep living, to keep fighting back. After 3 minutes she spotted a hint of white in the deep, with her last strength she got to him, grabbed his leg and pulled him back to fresh air She gasped when her nose made contact with the air, it was incredible, they had made it. Then something struck her, it was the sudden realization her cub wasn’t moving. He was still, his mouth exposed to the air. “HRAAAAAAWR!!” A shattering scream heard through the entire pole, a roar so pure with tragedy and fury Spots had assured her cub they would get to land, so now she would get him to land, she was dead serious on getting her dead cub to land.
Spots
(Swim Day 11)
She felt the flow of the water taking her, she wasn’t sure where exactly she was going at this point, she was only swimming forward hoping to find land The sea was calmer now but in her mind it did not seem calm, it felt angered, the ocean was not calm. Spots knew she had her lifeless cub with her. Suddenly she felt a drag, the ocean had started dragging, each time harder and harder, it was pulling her in. Don’t let go, don’t let go she kept thinking She let go, she stopped fighting, her body couldn’t fight anymore Then she felt a cold but soothing sand on her side, land? Had they she made it? She struggled to get on her feet, to walk a few steps before she collapsed on the ground. For the first time in days she opened her mouth letting go of her cub, looked at him noticing how life had clearly left his body, his body was pale like that of a ghoul Spots didn’t recognize her cub but she looked at it one last time to thank it, she knew that it was her son that got her to where she was, he had given her hope.
Spots
Spots kept wandering around, looking for food, it had been two days since her swim and she had to eat something. Spots was very ill, she was at the brink of death Her sight started to turn blurry, her mind began to shake, her body started to wobble. She opened her eyes slightly, looked straight forward and saw a thing, she knew, she recognized it, was it him?
Andrew
Andrew jumped off a helicopter with a crew of multiple people, he knew who that bear was He recognized that strong and majestic look in her eyes and the little yellow mark on her ribs, it was Spots. “Common guys, we have to get this bear to safety, NOW!!” His plan was to take Spots to a reserve that would care for her, Andrew was going to change the future of all bears to come Then a piercing reality hit him the moment he realized Spots had lost her cub in her swim, she had lost it all migrating
Cop33
“So ask yourself… is this fair? Is this ok?” Andrew spoke in front of a big audience. “Right now Spots is in a reserve, in much better conditions, isn’t it time for us to fix this?” He looked at a photo of Spots on the big screen “I invite you all to bring forth these three green ideas in your countries.” Andrew took a sip of water, then with a deep breath he began, “number 1, I ask you to make your countries more sustainable, you can do all this by reducing waste in general and disposing what cannot be reduced appropriately, with Urban Agriculture, and making your area green in general by boosting natural places or reserves. 2, I feel as though it shouldn’t be necessary for me to say this yet it is crucial in the process to winning this war, we must respect nature reserves or areas, we shouldn’t corrupt the balance they’ve made for themselves. Last but most certainly not least let's remember to help those in need, constantly animals are suffering in their natural habitat due to unnatural reasons, we’re the cause of the unnatural reasons let's be the cause of their solution” He paused for a moment, “I hope you choose to listen, ‘cause likewise what we are doing to these animals we’re doing to ourselves Thank you, Everybody!!” He quickly walked off the stage as the crowd applauded him.
