The Key

Beginning Human: Clearly if I just protect the locket and make sure it doesn't end up in the wrong hands, will the Earth be fine? Earth will be fine, yes? TELL ME EARTH WILL BE OKAY AND NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN!!

Mother Nature takes a deep sigh,... I mustn’t lie to you. I see the world becoming cruel and selfish, falling into anguish and turmoil. But there is hope, a moment of truth, they will be your liberator.

Luna says they will be a child of the night, with beauty beyond compare, and an unborn mindset of the world.

Sun: Their soul is joyous and healing, with a spirit so bright it shall ward off any darkness.

Intro 2

My name is Nima Smith, I’m 19 years old, the year is 2045, the world has turned catastrophic. All-weather has become increasingly powerful. Deserts are now forgotten wastelands, jungles no longer exist. Food has decreased so much over the last 7 years most of us eat once a day. My best friend Carlos Garcia and his family ironically were always prepared for an apocalypse, so you could say we got lucky. I was 13 when the Great End happened. My mother and I were visiting Carlos in Canada for the summer. When one morning we woke up and looked out the crooked window, seeing the sunrise slowly disappear and be replaced with a hailstorm. In the distance, it seemed the ice was getting larger by the second. We go dashing to our moms hoping nothing has happened to them, trampling down the stairs in our fuzzy socks. We get past the last stair then sling ourselves around the corner just waiting to see them worried and panicked….. But to our surprise, they gave off calm, and soothing energy while holding our backpacks that looked packed full of food. I look at my mother’s weeping eyes as she says “ My little raven, we may never see each other ever again, but that does not mean I am gone. I will always be with you... every step you take.” I rush in to embrace her one last time, she squeezes me so tight I thought my head might pop off. As we let go of each other she hands me a map of a lost city deep in the earth’s core, and the heart-shaped locket I got from grandma 2 years ago. The hale storm is getting increasingly closer and we have to make a run for it. Furthermore, we tell our final goodbyes and walk out of the rustic pink house with the tacky floral wall. And down the small oak stairs that were always missing a step. The storm is getting too close and we need to find some shelter to keep us safe. We find quick shelter in the neighbor’s shed. Then a strange light appeared through a small crack of the build So blinding I fell unconscious. When I woke up there was a muffled voice and my sight was fuzzy. When my vision and hearing came back, I saw Carlos shouting in agony praying for me to wake up. He’s urging me to get up and start running, “NIMA AN EARTHQUAKE IS HAPPENING PLEASE GET UP IM BEGGING YOU”! I zoom up off the ground grabbing onto Carlos putting him in shock that convinced us to make a run for it. Were trying to avoid the ground rupture and landslide. With every step, the ground is cracking and disappearing. All of a sudden a giant shadow in the shape of a bird picks us up. Carlos is yelling and shouting to put him down, But when I looked up it looked like the bird from grandmas stories. The “Three-Eyed Raven”. It is said that the three eyes represent “Past, Present, and Future”.Carlos stopped panicking after a mile or two, but the sight from above is traumatizing. Everything is gone the whole neighborhood destroyed, even Ms. Sansa’s ice cream store. And Uncle Paulos flower shop. I realize everyone I ever loved is gone my heart sinks into my stomach, with an overwhelming feeling. The Three-Eyed Raven drops us off far away from home in a town called Verla and that is where we have lived for the past seven years. Every day since then we have had climate wars, horrendous stampedes of all animals, even days where we have to hide from tribes of thieves. Carlos and I have been looking for the city lost in the core of the earth. And trying to figure out how the heartshaped locket is connected to the lost city. We’ve scouted and flagged different areas on the map but so far no lost city has been found. Today we are rechecking areas we only scouted once like Evergreen Park, “Nothin here Nima”, Canoe Rd “Nima we already checked this place there’s nothing but canoes and paddleboats”. On our way to the forest where we get our fruits, I notice a stone pathway we hadn’t seen before. Carlos found a stone circle on the ground covered by leaves and moss. We knelt and brushed the leaves off with our hands. It was old and cracked with strange runes written all over it. But at the very top, there was…. *gasp* A HEART SHAPED DENT! I fling the map at Carlos and snap the locket of my neck praying this will save the world like one of those grand dystopian movies. This is the moment, this is the key. Slowly I put the locket into place with the dent, waiting for the healing to begin. Waiting...waiting...waiting. We were waiting over an hour, it was around 10: 45 and the Midnight Hurricanes would start soon. I had to choose whether we go or wait a little longer possibly risking our lives. I decide we will wait a little longer, Carlos gathered fruits for dinner while I tried stomping on the old thing. I even tried shoving a stick in one of the old cracks, but that didn’t work either. Eventually, I gave up grabbed the map, and headed home. But as we were walking a great BOOM! And a strange light appeared from behind us. I jolt and start running hoping it opened. To my surprise, there was a hole where the mossy stone circle was. “Nima I wanna jump in,” Carlos said with a smirk. And there he cannonballed right into the hole. So of course I wasn’t gonna leave that idiot alone, I closed my eyes then jumped right in not knowing if there was ground. I refuse to open my eyes but there’s a faint smell of honey, moss, and sandalwood. This fall is comforting we’re caught in the serenity. Finally, my eyes opened, and see the vivid ground, I recognize where we are, we’ve found the lost city. My heart fills with joy and my mother’s words before we parted, along with the old stories grandma told me. We land softly on the ground that feels like a fluffy rug. This place is full of powglers and glowing wisteria. There’s a giant waterfall in the distance with fluorescent flowers everywhere. Then we see three statuesque figures Carlos and I whisper “ Mother nature, with The Eternals Luna and Sun” There’s an old story my grandma used to tell us about Mother Nature and The Eternals choosing a savior to heal the world. She always ended that story telling me “Nima Salam you are the key”, I had no idea what it meant until now. My whole life I had been judged for how dark my skin was, and that my race was disgusting to others. But now I feel free and no one is holding me down for being my authentic self. In the story, you’re supposed to put the locket in Mother Natures’ hands and tell her your greatest wish deep from your heart.

“I wish to give the Earth a second chance. We, humans, are nowhere near perfect and never will be. Yes, we can be selfish, cruel, and destroy everything around us. But we are also empathetic, understanding, and self-sacrificing. Everyone has dark and light. Weaknesses, strengths. Anger and happiness. This is our messed up but perfect society. I also wish everyone to feel more love and feel more understood. That is my wish.”