Honorable Mention Essay Winner: 9-14 Age Group

“My Butchered Home”

Emily LivermoreCalifornia School for the Deaf
Fremont, CA

One fresh sunny day, I looked up while I was swimming in the water. I saw the bright sun shining on the water. It was awesome seeing it shining and making the water warm. I had a great feeling that my life and my friends will have a wonderful life underwater because everything is so fresh and clean. Many other fishes are breeding or becoming a school fish or have a "job." Since I was thinking about that I thought it would be true and would last long until Earth was gone.

Somehow I look at everyone...many of my friends and family are getting sick every day and it gets worse. Some of the fishes are dying. I am starting to wonder why. I was starting to feel something weird going through my gills and it is different water. I was starting to worry really bad because I didn't want to get sick or die because I already had 200 kids! I was also thinking about risking my life to save someone else so I thought why I don't research for my underwater life? So I told everyone that I will save their life and will be risking mine.

My research started and the first thing I noticed was there are many sunken bottles, trash, cans and some junk toys from people. I was little upset because I thought the people care about us and also I let them swim in my home and they trashed it? No thanks. I know my gill friends and families don't like that. Then I went on...I got closer then felt something weird and I tasted many different kinds of liquid. Like out of the blue, I caught one alien man throwing some liquid in the water and others saw him doing that and they decided to follow him and do it, too. I hate when people do that...I WISH I COULD TELL THEM THAT IT IS KILLING US!!

How can I change them or tell them?? What if I make a sign and tell them? Or spit the water in their mouth and make them understand? But I don't want that person to die. I learned that more 14,000 people are infected every day of diseases and die from some of those toxins they gave us. The point is that it is not our fault; it is the aliens' fault for giving up on their own environment. They get diseases because they are polluting the water they're drinking nowadays. One of my friends told me that there was something wrong with the sewage treatment and the aliens need to improve that. And if they do it will make life better. I also know that the people put a lot of chemicals in the water to make it clean...but they don't have to put that much if we keep the water clean like normal and care about our environment more now than ever before. So I agree and I wonder how to suggest them to improve the sewage treatment before the water becomes brown and smells like poop-seriously!!

I asked the old fish that had lived over 20 years if he could remember the percentage of water pollution around the world. I hope he remembers because his brain is the size of a pencil dot. Anyway, he said that 46% of America's lake water is way too polluted for our life (fish life), and aliens swimming and drinking the water. Forty percent of America's river water is also too polluted for the same reason as the lake water. TRUE FACTS, just letting you know.

I think it is so stupid for people to do this to the world that they are living in!! I can't understand why they are doing this... it is because of what? Are they tired of cleaning up after themselves? If we improve this problem I bet you everything....well not exactly everything but most of the earth's percentage...will be way better than nowadays. The humans have to stop dumping things; stop throwing anything they don't want in the lakes or rivers. I want to have a normal life with my friends and family like human beings.....we all do. People have to stop being so selfish about everything and care about life like before. If you do that everyone will be fine and have nothing to worry about too much. I suggest you follow my word and do it. I promise you will be feeling and living in a clean life.