Doomscrolling Oola Breen-Ryan Grade 6

from Pen & Paper - Volume 13 - 2022-2023

the warm smoke of cigarettes

She was doomscrolling when it happened, when it was announced that the Earth wasn’t safe for humans anymore. She had been looking through countless articles about relationship issues, about how she and her husband’s marriage wasn’t going to work out. But, when the radio crackled and the announcers explained that everyone would have to enjoy the last three days of their lives, she realized that there were bigger issues on her hands. The reporter said that landflls had killed the fsh and other sources of meat. How many things did she throw away that she could have reused? How many items of clothing did she wear once or twice, then get rid of? Could she have recycled more? Pollution had seeped into the ground and made any plants inedible, the reporter explained. Smoke made the air unbreathable. The water, once clear and drinkable, was flled with trash, gasoline from tourist boats, and microplastics. Even when fltered, fresh water was too polluted to be drunk. Animals had been dying because of climate change for decades, and now humans were, too. She thought about the air she was inhaling right now. Was it safe? Or were pollutants entering her lungs? Her thoughts few to her family, her two daughters. Would her kids cry? She regretted every minute that she hadn’t spent with them. And what about her husband? She glanced once more at the ffteen tabs open on her phone and felt her heart sink. Her marriage was the least she had to worry about. She loved her husband. How had she not fully comprehended that before?

Slowly, she let her phone fall out of her hand. It crashed onto the foor, sending a million cracks through the screen like a spiderweb. The last thing she saw before it shut down was the date.

Noah Kurzenberger Grade 8

the blush flls my face as i gaze into the glass the glare blinds my skin a face peering back while i sit here and weep your strange face remains staring back at me with that same sorrow gaze

“how could you?” i ask receiving no answer

“why would you?” i add tears creeping closer the mirror stares back and suddenly i am nothing just a body on the earth spinning but never stunning as the sun keeps shining in this cruel, broken world i stare into the mirror longing for your return