Prologue: ‘Power’ is subjective. I know this from experience, yet no one else seems to have realized it. Who the heck decided that humans are the superior species? We made that decision a long time ago, and now we’re slowly hurtling towards our downfall. Nothing was questioned for a long time. And even now, in the dust-covered land that I consider my home, humanity is still dragging along. When the ancients were wiped out a thousand years ago, everything changed. Now I stand here, on the dust-covered forests located on the shell of the Earth, scavenging for resources. Here in 4026, everything has changed. Chapter 1 Dust swirls in the air, so thick that it’s almost tangible, giving me the urge to cough even through my cloth mask. Even still, I continue through the forest that can’t even be considered a forest anymore- all the trees are dead, bark flaking, with no hope for survival. No plants or greens anywhere to be found, making this area probably the hardest place to survive, if the whole Earth wasn’t like this. I stop walking, tracing marks on the trunk of a tree from a long, long time ago. I can almost imagine it now: the forest lush with flora and fauna, a couple carving their initials into the tree- M + F. Still caught in my thoughts, I take another step forward- and I feel gravity pull me down, causing me to land flat-faced on the ground. Ugh. I stand up and dust myself off. I should’ve known better: get distracted, and you die. My personal motto, and the only thing that is keeping me alive at this point. As I step forward, testing my balance, I feel something hard and cold under my shoes. I look down, and a clump of metal, almost completely buried in the ground, sits beneath me. My fall must have kicked up the dust, revealing the…whatever object that is. Excited at the thought of water, or food, or any sort of resource, I tug at the seemingly can-shaped metal. Even with my gripped gloves on, my hands slip from the object. Just then, the Earth rumbled. Shoot, I thought. They were awake. But instead of just an earthquake, dry, crumbling roots shoot up from the ground as the Earth shakes. They grab at the can, attempting to pull it under. I want to cry out and retrieve it, but I knew that if I went about it that way, I would get myself killed. Instead, I tiptoe around the dead trees and roots, then reach out to snatch it. Living on the Earth nowadays, you learn to never waste a resource. Never. No matter how dangerous it is, you always find the least dangerous way to get what you need. My fingers graze the can, then I feel a jolt. I scream, feeling dry roots squeeze around me. Snapping my mouth shut, I go slack as the Earth pulls me under. In the sandy dirt, losing my breath, my last thought appears in my mind: ‘There is no room for mistakes if you want to survive.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you everyone! When I saw 's contest, I already had the idea for this novel in the back of my mind, but I hadn't put it onto paper yet. I figured that it would be fun to start writing and enter it in the contest, so that's what I did! This is a work in progress so far. I'm going to make it into a whole novel, but by then, this chapter will most definitely have changed. Additionally, I was going to enter a poem but decided against it. It feels a bit too rushed and as if it was another way to be more likely to place in the contest, and I really want to put all my attention and effort into this. This small chapter is not my best, and it feels a bit incomplete, in a way. But it was really fun to write! Also...I really don't have a title for this yet so any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Credits: - all writing and ideas portrayed in this chapter. - gave me the idea for this!! they made a romantic subplot, which inspired me to write a book about it, which made me want to make all of this :). They have credit for some of the ideas but none of them are portrayed in this chapter. for the contest! thanks so much, i'm excited to see all the other amazing entries <3 P.S. ARGH the bad word detector is detecting random words and deeming them inappropriate... :/ P.P.S. Also I didn't really know what to put for the cover....
