Inside The Earth’s Fracture: Chapter Three

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Writers’ Club member Yasmin continues our newest piece of fiction, with chapter three…

Read Chapter One
Read Chapter Two

CHAPTER THREE

“Quiet down everyone!” Mr Starks bellowed in his deep, grumbly voice. He waved his wrinkled hands around to calm the class down from the chaotic row that often arises during environmental studies. 
 
He paused, pushed his thin, circular glasses up the bridge of his nose with his knuckle, and sniffed loudly before he continued speaking.
 
“One at a time please,” he gestured his hand towards me sitting at the left side of the front row. His greying hair bounced slightly as he spoke.
 
“Ari, you were saying?”
 
I took a deep breath, frustrated by the usual defence of my classmates whenever I brought up the same topic. 
 
“I’m just trying to say that we as young people have the most influence, but our age affects how much we can actually do. The Government isn’t going to listen to us if we tell them how to actually help improve the environmental and personal welfare of the entire country, they’ll just cast us out of the city if we show them that we don’t agree with their tactics.”
“Who are you calling ‘we’?” Sneered Clyde Jenkins, who was sitting at the back of the room, twiddling his pen obnoxiously whilst smirking at me, knowing that he was trying to get under my skin. I turned sharply towards him and threw him a glare, but kept a calm disposition. 
 
“You don’t actually think that our Government altruistically does anything helpful for the rest of the country, do you?” I jerked my head forward towards him and raised both of my eyebrows, hoping to get across the absurdity of thinking that it does. 
 
“Of course, look at how much money we’ve spent on producing solar cars and kinetic roads which power the lights outside after dark, and producing plant based farms all around Edenia. We’re essentially tackling pollution at the source since our city produces most of it throughout the entire country.”
 
He sat further back in his chair after he finished speaking with a proud grin on his face. He intertwined his hands across his lap waiting for me to answer. The class turned to me, attentively. 
 
“Yeah, I agree that those things are helping the overall state of our nearby environment, but what about the people outside of Edenia? Don’t you find it weird how we’ve never truly seen what they look like? Or what their homes look like? How do we actually know they’re being helped and given enough resources and tools to sustain themse-”
 
“Because they are, okay? You see on the news how the outside looks like. It’s a little damaged, yeah sure, but overall it’s not that bad. If it was, don't you think there would have been another shift by now? Plus the Government sends them loads of food every single day. What would they need all that food for themselves for? We’ve spent thousands rebuilding their homes and their farms. They have all the stuff they need to do their part in helping the environment too, but they just sit and do nothing. They don’t think that they have enough of an impact to actually change anything, so they leave it all up to us. You can’t sit there and defend these people who clearly are selfish and lazy, and want to cast all the responsibility towards our city. There’s no point denying the Government is helping them, you’re too caught up in your conspiracies, Ari.”
 
The whole class let out collective “oooh’s” and “damnnn’s”, and I felt my rosy cheeks burn with fear, embarrassment, adrenaline, and frustration. I didn’t have enough evidence to back up my ideas just yet, but I knew that there was something off about how the Government was presenting their performances of goodwill to the Idlers. I was determined to find out more, no matter what it would take. 
 
The bell trilled sharply, announcing the period for our lunch break. The class got up in a unanimous and chattering grumble of unzipped bags, clackering pencils, and scuffling feet - like a volcanic eruption of excitement and hurry to get out into the courtyard and reunite with their friends, as if they hadn’t seen them just three hours prior. 
 
I sheepishly packed up my things and headed towards the door as quickly as I could, avoiding eye contact with anyone as much as possible, although I could feel the looks upon me from the classmates who passed me on their way out. Mr Starks gave me a sympathetic smile as I slung my black backpack - branded ‘Edenia Academy’ in bright green embroidery - over my shoulder, and bent down to tie my shoelace. 
 
“Ari, you did good today. Keep voicing your ideas, they’re more valuable than you realise.”
 
I felt a weight slightly lift from my chest. I smiled back at him warmly as I stood back up, more firmly on my feet with confidence. 
 
“Thanks, sir. I will.”
 
The entire school was completely self-sufficient. The water fountains, sinks and bathrooms only ran on filtered rainwater and water from the local water reserves. All the walls which didn’t contain cork boards or posters were entirely covered in cushions of bright, thriving moss and various other plants, and the floors used the same kinetic system as the roads to generate electricity throughout the entire building. The floors were made of slightly bouncy metal panels, of which when pressed down, would generate electricity which was then sent directly to the enormous battery bank built inside the school basement. 
 
The school also made use of the gym facilities to generate more electricity for the building, as there were Physical Education classes using the equipment at almost every hour of the school day. The predominant form was through the use of stationary bikes, which produced electricity whilst being pedalled. Although, there were other machines such as the treadmill, which also used kinetic floor panels which were built on top of their belts. Other forms of electricity were generated throughout the school, too. There were three humongous wind turbines outside each corner of the school, and also a giant water wheel inside the lake which generated hydropower to fuel the irrigation systems throughout the school’s greenhouses, farms, and gardens. The water wheel was self-powered, using its own production of electricity to run the system installed inside the lake to constantly keep the water moving. 
 
In addition, the entire school was plant-based, and all the food eaten was produced on site by the students through horticultural classes. The school was essentially shaped like a giant pyramid, covered in vibrant plants and flowers flourishing and hanging down from every external surface which didn’t contain a window and a black, modern frame around it. Each window of the building could extend outwards when opened, forming a mini balcony to stand on and look at the picturesque views. The entire school was closed in by a thriving forest, where activities and classes like bushcraft and survival training would take place. The forest was also one of the biggest nature reserves in the entire country, and many modernised tree houses were built by construction students experimenting in tiny living, and incorporating as much nature as possible into future housing for the people of Edenia. 
 
As Ari looked around and experienced such a luxurious and green lifestyle, she often wondered how much of this luxury was taking away from others outside the city, who she felt weren’t being looked after as well as everyone was manipulated to believe. Her time at school only encouraged her to look past her unearned privilege, and truly become more frustratingly curious about the world beyond her limited access. It was only a matter of time before she would find out the truth…