Save The Rainforest
By Abbie E.
Phoebe awoke to the sound of birds trilling. She
sat up, rubbing her bleary eyes, and looked around for the edge of her bed but
it did not exist. She looked around for the pictures on the walls of her
bedroom but instead she saw green canvas. That was when it all came back to
her. She was not in her small three bedroom flat in London, she was in the
lungs of the Earth… she was in the Amazon. The school residential had begun.
After getting dressed out of her night clothes
and into thin clothing - it was very humid and Phoebe was already sweating -
she headed up to the large, wooden lodge where she and the others had been told
to go for breakfast. As Phoebe headed down the path, she looked around at the
surrounding tents, with her classmates emerging from them. She spotted her
friend, Sienna, through the milling crowd and waved to her. Sienna waved back
and they both made their way towards each other. Once they had greeted each
other, they continued their journey up the path.
They had reached the building and were happily
munching their passion fruit and pomegranate granola, watching the twos and
threes bustle through the doorless doorway. Flies buzzed around their heads as
Sienna placed her plastic spoon into her empty tin bowl.
“Phoebe, do you remember the agreement about
stopping deforestation! Please tell me you didn’t forget! I know you have!”
exclaimed Sienna, a frown creasing her face.
“I haven’t, Sienna, I definitely didn’t forget!”
answered Phoebe, the conversation from the previous night flooded into her
brain.
“Relax Phoebe, I know you did. When are we going
to explore?”
“Well, we have a task today so we cannot start
now.”
Just after briefing and registration, they headed
off into the rainforest. It was magical and they spent what felt like hours
gazing around, awestruck. The dew dripped off the large, plate-like leaves,
glimmering in the sunlight as the chittering of insects flooded into their
ears. It was a different world and - contrasting to the noise of unnatural
London - it was beautiful.
They had trekked for some time and before long
they stopped for lunch. They had almost finished their task. That was when the
voice came to their ears. Phoebe heard it first for she had sharp ears. It was
a high pitched sound that could easily be mistaken for a call of a foreign
bird. She sat up straight, straining her ears. There it was again, louder now
so Phoebe could make out a series of words. ‘The clearing is just over here?’
thought Phoebe. Sienna had noticed Phoebe and seemed to have heard the noise
too. The maker of the noise got closer and closer until it was unbearably
close. Leaves rustling as the figure stepped into the clearing…
Luckily, the girls were hiding in a dip in the
ground that was full of shrubs. Secondly, there was more than one figure,
perhaps five or six. And finally, the figures were not human but… animals?
There was a tiger, a water vole, a gecko, an anaconda, a dart frog and a
monkey. They were bickering non-stop. They bickered whilst the two friends
crouched in the undergrowth, their legs burning.
“Are they talking animals?” whispered Sienna,
intrigued.
“Sssshhhh,” hissed Phoebe but it was too late.
The tigers ears were pricked and, alerting the other animals with a glare,
crept towards the shrub they were hiding in. The paws of the tiger padded over
and, with a great roar that made the girls jump out of their skin, it stuck its
large, furry head into the undergrowth.
Phoebe woke with a jolt. She was lying on the
hard ground in what looked like a pit. She could just see the sun and realised
that it was sometime in late afternoon. That was when she remembered. She
scrambled to her feet and looked around for Sienna. She breathed a sigh of
relief when she saw her lying on her back, unharmed. She shook her awake and
for a moment her friend looked confused until it all flooded back. They
scrambled about on the walls of the pit for some time before the tiger came
along and spoke to them.
“Come. My greatest apologies for startling you
and putting you in the pit because we are cautious. But you are just children.”
Its great voice echoed around them as they scrambled clumsily up the rope sent
down for them.
They stood before the animals and were
introduced. The water vole was Kirra, the gecko was Serai and the tiger was
Sara. Slithering was the anaconda, Arnav was the monkey and Kyra was the dart
frog. Finally, the conversation commenced.
“My dears, we have a job for you,” said Kirra.
“Yes,” said Serai.
“We need you to save the rainforest,” said Sara.
“Will you accept?” said Slithering.
“Please accept,” said Arnav.
“We are losing our home,” added Kyra.
Phoebe was the first to speak, “of course. This
is exactly what we wanted! Isn’t it Sienna? Now we can use this information to
campaign!”
“Yes!” cried Sienna, “goodbye and thank you dear
animals. We will try to save you!”
And off they went, into the undergrowth and back
down to camp just in time for tea and signing out.
***
They stood in front of the rulers of the world.
Phoebe began her inspiring speech.
“Presidents and ministers, royals and prime
ministers, I am Phoebe Grayham and this is Sienna Luit. The world needs our
help. We must start with the rainforest. We need trees as they produce oxygen
whilst also absorbing CO2. If it was not for trees, we would not be able to
breathe. Animals have lost their homes. We met a group of them. You may not
believe me, but I know what we saw. We need to save the world. And to everyone
listening, anyone reading this, whoever you are, help us, join us and save the world.
Are you with me?”
‘Preserve
and cherish the world, it is a gift. There is no planet B’
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