The Last Drop
Ryan Thomas | East Doncaster Secondary College |
7/8 English | Term 4 2024
A young boy stumbles along the old ruins of Eureka tower in the barren wasteland of Melbourne, a dry skeleton of its former glory, with brilliant energy, and towers that seemed to scratch the sky. All its vibrance, people, the excitement and joy had all disappeared, and replaced with people struggling to survive, and a corrupt leader to make sure everyone suffered. The pride river of Melbourne, the Yarra River, has now dried up, leaving behind remains of human pollution. The harsh glare of the Australian sun shone down on him with all its heat, sending fresh waves of the little water he had to cover his skin in a futile attempt to cool him down. Kai had enough experience to know that if he stayed in the sun for too long, he would end up with some second degree burns and a face full of regret. However, the corrupted governor Malik, who has taken over residence in the State Library of Victoria, has restricted access to food and water to the higher classes, throwing the people in poverty into the outer stretches of the city, left to fend for themselves. These people came to be known as the ‘Searchers’, always searching for a way to survive. The Searchers had a nickname for the higher classes, they called them the ‘Goldcrests’, because they had to be extremely rich to catch the governor Malik’s eye and were known to show no sympathy. They had to have the best food, the best water, the bed houses, and everything they wanted, they took. Some Searchers were even taken by the Goldcrests to work as their servants. But many Searchers died in hunger or thirst, knowing that their children or family would die in a similar way, never even seeing clean water before them. He even punished some of the Searchers that were bold enough to defy his orders. Kai didn’t know how they were punished, but only that the Elders would talk in hushed tones and somber expressions whenever the matter arose.
Suddenly, under a mixture of concrete rubble and steel, something caught his eye. A plastic-like surface that seemed to shine in an unusual way. His hungry curiosity drove his legs toward the source of the shine, his head struggling to make sense of what he had seen. He got closer towards the mysterious substance, pushing his way through stray chunks of metal and stone, ignoring the sharp glass and rusted nails underneath his makeshift cardboard shoes. Kai raced towards the mystery but was stopped by a great block of concrete with a steel frame running through it. He grimaced. Kai knew that a fragile 12-year-old boy stood no chance for a 350-kilo rock. However, he had learned a thing or two in his years of scavenging. Kai searched furiously for a metal stick and found it buried under some tile blocks. He gripped the one-and-a-half-meter rod and drove the end under the huge block with all his might. Then, making sure that it was securely in place, Kai pushed as hard as he could to make the end he was holding reach the ground. He was using the metal rod as a lever, using leverage and whatever weight he had to raise one end of the rock. The rock shuffled a bit. He pushed harder, this time kneeling and pulling the rod with him. He heard pebbles falling and realized the rock had come a few centimeters from the ground. Looking for a way to secure the rod, he pushed his end of the rod to another nearby cluster of rubble and made sure that the rod was being held in place by both the rubble cluster, and the giant rock. Satisfied by his progress, Kai starts to inch towards the source ever so slowly, filled with curiosity and fear about what he might find. He becomes hypnotized by the strange liquid-like substance and gets closer. He tentatively reached his hand out to try and touch the substance. When he touches it, he feels a rush of hope and happiness hit his head and flow through his body. The substance is cold to the touch and offers little resistance when he flicks his finger around inside it. He recalled stories from the Elders, about water. They said it was a heavenly gift, a liquid that could make plants grow, a liquid that could satisfy all the Searchers, a liquid that you could cook with. And here it was, within Kai’s reach, barely one hand away. Cupping his hands, he gently dropped it into the water and relished the cool feeling on his hands. Then slowly, but steadily, he raised some of the water from his hands and brought it to his dry, chapped lips. He hesitated, then let the water run from his hands to his mouth, making its way to his throat and running down into his stomach. Kai let out a cry of joy. As far as he knew, this was the only source of water in Melbourne that the wicked governor Malik did not control. Kai considered keeping this treasure for himself, but he knew that if he did, he would be just as bad as the governor. Kai knew that he had to share his discovery with the other starving Searchers. But Malik had to stay in the dark here. Kai got up and kicked the metal rod from the rubble, causing the giant rock to crash back down, sending up a cloud of dust and dirt. Kai then turned towards the direction of Marvel Stadium, which had now become known as the Searcher’s Town, and went off sprinting at full speed, putting every ounce of power that he could muster into sending energy into his legs. He wasn’t sure why but the thought of drinking water, real water, seemed to make him run even faster.
The chatter from the Searcher’s Town sounds exciting now, a stark contrast to the past, where it was filled with whispers of despair, and the sound of people mourning their friends or family that have either been killed or taken by Malik. But now, Kai’s discovery of this water had sparked a long-lost feeling. A feeling of hope. He pushed past the other Searchers who had gathered here and skilfully dodged a group of little kids who ran past. Kai felt excited to be part of something so revolutionary. The Elders planned a way to get the sick people to the water first, then for the children, then for the rest. The problem was that the source of water that Kai had found was at the Carltons gardens, which meant that they would have to pass Malik’s residence to get there. Kai had gotten there with little trouble since he was just one kid, but a whole society of Searcher’s would not go unnoticed. They would work in silence, pretending that they were scavenging for food in little groups, so as to trick Malik’s guards. They would leave in groups of 4, a maximum, as more searchers together are sure to raise suspicion. They would take one person who would be able to carry someone in case of an emergency. Kai looked around the room, trying to evaluate everyone’s expressions. And in that moment, Kai realized something. It hit him like a sledgehammer to the gut. Everyone……looked happy. Maybe ‘happy’ isn’t the right word, but no one looked defeated, or sad. They all looked…full of hope. Even in the face of greed and oppression, Kai realized, hope could never truly dry up. Like water, it always found a way to flow.
