Short Story Collection by Athena Rae | World Anvil Manuscripts | World Anvil

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Athena Rae
Athena Rae Thompson

Inyarel inyarel-athena-rae-archived-1624410288
Ongoing 496 Words

The Ocean

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"- you see a plastic bottle or bag sitting on the ground, pick it up and throw it away. If you're a scuba diver and see some trash lying at the bottom of the waters you're diving in, pick it up and throw it away when you come back on land. You're a fisherman and your line tangled on you. Instead of just cutting the tangle out and dropping the line where you are, put the line in your pocket and throw it away when you get home, or find the trash can and put it in there. Just that simple action, and it helps stop a bit of pollution. Every little bit helps. If we don't start worrying about this problem now, it could be our great-grandchildren that watch all the marine life go extinct."

George muted the television and rolled his eyes. "What's extinct mean, Daddy?" asked his 8-year-old son that was sitting on the floor.

"It means that there's no more of that animal on the planet. Like the dinosaurs that you play with - they're extinct, but it was long before humans and pollution."

"Will sharks go extinct because of pollution?" George nodded. "I don't want the sharks to go extinct."

"Then you'd have to go pick up all the trash that's in the oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, and all over the land. The world is too big for just one piece of trash to make a difference, Sean."

"Then I'll pick up two pieces every day. Will that help?" George smiled as he looked at his son.

"It just might. Why not try it and see if it clears up all the trash?" Looking happy that he could make a difference, Sean went back to playing with his dinosaur toys. Over the next 50 years, Sean picked up the two pieces of trash every day like he'd said he would.

"Some terrible news tonight, folks. The last Bull Shark was found dead this morning. Washed ashore in the Tampa Bay area. An autopsy by the specialists at Florida Harbor Aquarium reported finding a plastic shopping bag stuck in the intestinal tract and have claimed this to be the cause of death." said the news anchor on the evening news. "When told of this depressing discovery, the head of Marine Conservation, Peter Giles, had this to say."

"The fact that the Bull Shark is now extinct is devastating to marine life everywhere. Although it doesn't sound like much, just picking up one piece of trash every day does make all the difference. If we can group together as one-"

"Yeah, right. I've picked up two pieces every day for the last 50 years. It hasn't kept this from happening. If there's one thing you learn from me, Cassie, don't worry about picking up pollution. It doesn't help like they say it will." Sean said as he looked at his 6-year-old granddaughter that was playing with her Barbie dolls in front of him.


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