back to main list of stories and articles

Webmaster replies

Alan, I really like the idea behind this story.   What do others think, Contact Us and let us know

I have changed the case in which it is written.  You did it all in capitals which made it a bit hard o read.   I'll change it back if you want me to though?

High-rise Island

My name is robbie crusoe i live on the top floor in the tallest tower block in the city, or what is left of it now. Every day i would look out of the window and see a horizon covered in an endless cluster of buildings ranging from houses to tower blocks. A dense layer of smog would hang around those buildings caused by pollution from traffic and factories. Whenever i went out the door of my tower block, there was'nt a day went by without passing someone, or having to watch out for lots of cars and buses flowing up and down the street in a never ending cycle of noise. Every day and every night there was activity from people and machines, ranging from traffic, roadworks, shoppers, bad drivers, clubbers at night.
    

Now since the major flood, when i look out my window i see miles of clear ocean, not an object in sight. All the buildings are now under the ocean. When i open my window i hear nothing but the swish of the waves hitting against the walls of the tower block. The air is fresh and clean without any smell of pollution. As the pollution has now gone, the skies are clear letting the sun shine more brighter. The tower block has become an artificial island creating a haven for for wildlife such as birds, ducks, rabbit's even rodents. We have a all agreed that after a certain amount of time we will start charging people a refuge fee i they want to stay on this highrise island of ours, we will split the fee between us all.
    

We have a problem with food and water, there are not many people out there to help us now, we have to live off what we have got. We fish out of our windows now, and breed the other animals for food at the lower level of the tower. We do also occasionally catch birds that perch on the rooftop of the tower block the mesh at the lower level filters out the salt from the sea giving the animals water to drink. We prefer cleaner ways, so we use plastic barrels with a hole at the bottom, and fill them up with stones. We pour the sea water the water down the barrels, filtering out clean water in to a bowl for us to drink. Sometimes we use the rain to catch water in bowls. We have even been able to grow eadable plants on the spacious fooftop of the tower, and some smaller plants on our balkony.

     It is now five years since the flood, the rooftop has become a small forest, the building has corosoin indents on its walls, the interior has a damp smell to it. We now have some crops planted in baths that float on the ocean, they are tied up next to the tower block, this has given us more area for plants to grow outside. We have also removed some of the doors from the floors that are below water level. We have used the doors for flooring outside the tower, we have place plastic barrels under them for boyancy. This is to give more area for the small animals that live on the lower floors. The uper walls of the tower are covered in reeds that run down from the rooftop forest giving that ancient babylon appearance. The water level has reached a few meters in the last five years so there are now four other buildings for us to colonise. We have used doors and electrical wire to make bridges between each of the tower lock, or we use baths and row our way across. It will take many years for the water to go away, but we will live on our highrise islands for now.

ALAN PATERSON, CLAREMONT CREATIVE WRITING

Note: The articles on this page remain the property of the individual and should not be used for any other purpose unless explicitly authorised by the author.