Conservation week work

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 449, 18 August 1992, Page 11

Conservation week work

Water Story By Kaine Harris, 3TB English, who took first prize in the Ruapehu Bulletin Conservation Week essay competition with the following piece. Slurp, splash, splosh. The pipe noisily dripped into the river, turning green as it did so. The green ooze slowly made its way towards the lake. "Ha, ha, ha. Make more", said the manager. "But, Sir. What about the rivers? Your trash is destroying life in that river", said Bill, the manager's secretary. "So what? All I need is money", said the manager. "But Sir..." "Shut up, tell those fools out there to speed it up. Make more, sell more and if necessary dump more," yelled BJ the manager. "Yes Sir," sulked the secretary, turning. He left, closing the door behind him. "Soon ril be the richest man in the world. These bricks are selling like hot-cakes. Soon I'll be rich famous and brick King of the Universe." And so the day continued... "Aaahh. Boy, days of yelling at those fools can be tiring. Nothing like a hot jacuzie to end the day," said BJ, as he relaxed

down into his bubbles. "Excuse me, Sir, will you be needing me any more tonight?" "No, butler, you may retire", answered the rich manager. "Thank-you Sir. Good-night", said the butler exiting. "Boy, I'm tired. I should go... to.. bed..." Nothing more could be said, for the manager had fallen fast asleep. BJ awoke with a start. Where was he? Oh that's right. He must have fallen asleep in his bath. Boy was it cold. Somebody's turned the bubbles off, and the hot-water. "Hello, BJ". BJ froze, scared stiff. "Want to go for a ride? Come on." BJ slowly turned only to find nothing there. "Ha, ha. Scared?" said the voice. "Who, who's there?" "I'm your guardian angel. Believe me?" "Well you are not very believing are you? What do you want?" whispered BJ. "Only for you to come with me," said the voice. "Where? Where are we going?" BJ asked. "To the future..." BJ gasped. He was swirling around and around. With a hard bump, he landed on a hard rocky, dirty land. "Where am I?" said the scared voice of BJ. "Thirty-five years into the future. The exact same spot". "But this is disgusting," said BJ, looking around. There were no

trees, no animals, no life, only barren earth. "Your company did this. That river finally stopped flowing because of all the gunk you poured into it, so you buried it and started on another small river, slowly all the water was polluted and everyone was shifted from the area, the life died and the company was shut down". "Please tell me this does not happen to my factory," said BJ. "Yes it happens. But you do not care for what you have done, all you care about is the factory". "So what. Who cares about the looks of the earth?" said BJ, unafraid of the voice. "Follow me", said the voice. They walked off, heading towards the setting sun. "Look, over there". BJ turned and looked. There stood a small young child, crying over a still body. "The lack of water caused these two people to go without food and therefore to die". "And over there, there are skeletons of long-dead cattle and there, a dead crop and there, a dry river-bed. You see now, why we should save water? If every one did this, what do you think the world would be like... like... like... like". "Aaaa!" yelled BJ and sat up in his bath. "O thank God it was just a dream". "Was it now", came a

spooky voice. "Remember this, if every one in the world did this, what do you think the world would be like. Ha, ha, ha, ha ha". The laughing slowly faded of into the distance. BJ sat, staring at the wall. A beam of sunlight crossed the wall. He leaped out of the bath and went to change, from now on, he would be friendly to the environment. Waitapu Sacred Water By Amy Cranston, Form Two Raetihi Schooi who took first prize in the Ruapehu Bulletin Conservation Week poetry competition with the following poem. Auckland, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Perth What can we do to save our earth Rubbish and toxic pollution A healthy clean earth an optic illusion Water is precious to all things on earth From elephants and cattle- to a worm in some turf Rivers and seas are nature's own Keep them clean for they are on loari A blanket of oil covers our seas Tighten our laws these are the keys Too many creatures have perished this way Listen to Greenpeace and what they say A world full of harmful chemicals and smoke Our animals will die, get sick and croak Help our earth before it's too late It is us who decides our earth's fate.