Water World

• Aryan Shresth, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2014

Thomas squinted at the bright yellow sun that hovered in the sky. He was standing on Deck B of Floating City No. 12. Other cities dotted the crystal water landscape that surrounded FC 12 as far as the eye could see. They weren't in the ocean, they were floating above North America.

Over the last twelve years, sea levels had risen until all of the Earth's land had been submerged. Mt. Everest had gone under 2 years earlier. It had started 3 years before Tom had been born, when an enormous meteor had smashed into their moon. The obliterated remains had gathered to form an accretion disk made of ice rocks that surrounded the Earth. Slowly, the disk began to enter Earth's atmosphere. In 10 years, sea levels rose 10,000 feet. The surviving governments launched two projects that could save mankind; Project Madrid and the Floating City Project.

Project Madrid involved erecting walls 12,000 feet tall around the capital of Spain. Madrid has stood for 10 years, until the larger objects that made up the accretion disk started to fall. A massive tsunami had broken through the walls and drowned 13 million people. The remains of Madrid could still be seen; a semi-circle that scarred the blue landscape.

The Floating City Project had had more success as a result of the massive buoyancy tanks that were attached to the city. Thomas, who had been brought to the city by his mum, the former Minister of Finance for England, had witnessed tsunamis twice as powerful as the one that struck Madrid and all they had caused the city was minor damage. But when the tsunami alarm sounded, Thomas could tell it wasn't the same. He scrambled to the East Wing, and what he saw made his blood run cold. An tsunami hundreds of feet tall raced towards them. He could see the floating farmlands that they relied on for food face the full force of the ocean wave. Watching thousands of feet away, Tom could still imagine the cows' shrieks of terror as the tsunami completely obliterated the islands. Thomas sprinted inside, fear racing through his system. This wasn't a tsunami. This could possibly be the end of the world.

The scene inside the central hub of FC 12 was one of pure chaos. Men and women ran in every direction, yelling and shouting filled the air and there was no organisation behind it. Thomas ran to his bedroom at full pace. As he burst through the door, he found his mum and brother, Jason, chatting together. 'There's a tsunami coming!', Thomas burst. His mum looked surprised. 'It's alright, darling. We just need to stay here and wait it out'. Thomas shook his head frantically. 'It's not one of of the regular ones. This one's huge'. His mum's forehead creased into an expression of concern. 'Then we'd better get to the submarines.' Jason said 'We'd better hurry if we want to make it', gesturing to the door. The sound of many shoes hitting the metal floor could be heard. Thomas turned to face them, a look of determination filling his eyes. 'Let's hop to it'.

Thomas, Jason and Tom's mum raced through the hallways. As they neared the chamber, the 'thump-thumps' of the submarines detaching from the metal fuselage of FC 12 filled the hallway. As they rounded the corner, Tom's eyes filled with dread. Not a single sub remained. Tom's mum's eyes filled with tears. 'I'm so sorry'. Jason wrapped her in his arms. 'It's not your fault'. Thomas looked down the hallway, saw the water and hugged his family one last time.