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Children's Stories #003 Plastic
Vanik was a small merchant in a seaside town. One day an inventor named Ving came meet him. He showed Vanik a new type of material. Vanik quickly realised the potential of this new material and bought the invention from Ving. He began to produce this material on a small scale and sold it from his shop. He called the material plastic. It could be used to make any household item a person wants. Plastic became very popular and sold very fast. Vanik couldn’t keep up with the demand. He set up a bigger factory to produce more plastic. At that time Ving came back to see Vanik.
“Vanik. You must stop producing plastic. It is a very dangerous material. Nobody can destroy it. Someday sooner or later it is going to destroy all of us in the world that we live in.” said Ving.
Vanik realised the truth but the money was too good to stop selling plastic.
“I agree with you Ving. I am working on a weapon that can destroy plastic once its use is over. You don’t have to worry about it.” Vanik lied to Ving.
Vanik went ahead and began to produce more plastic. Since the factory was big he was able to produce it at a much lower price. People began to treat plastic as a one use item. It was much cheaper to buy a new one than maintain the same product. This led to a lot of plastic dumped into the waste.
Ving saw how harmful people’s actions were to themselves and others. He tried to warn people and show them that this could mean the end of several good things like air, water and life. Vanik was afraid that Ving’s words might come true. He told the people he had invented a device that can recycle old plastic. He collected all the used plastic and dumped them into the sea. When Ving tried to find out more about the device Vanik stopped him with threats and bureaucratic red tapes.
The pollution levels in the town began to increase day by day. The workers and the townsfolk endured the pollution. Several people suffered an early death but there were not enough good officials to see the evidence lying in plain sight. Vanik had the law and order officials in his pocket and nobody could question him. Vanik was afraid the pollution might harm his family. He bought a private island far into the sea and built a palace for his family. His wife and kids lived there happily attended by several servants. They loved eating seafood and caught fish in excess and feasted on them everyday.
Deep in the sea, the plastic that Vanik dumped began to break into smaller pieces. They did not decompose or transform, they just broke into pieces smaller than microbes. These small pieces were eaten by smallest fishes mistaking them for food. Thus began the chain. Those small fishes were eaten by bigger ones and so on. In the end, the fish that Vanik’s family caught in excess were loaded with plastic and other harmful metals.
One day the youngest daughter of Vanik complained that she was not feeling well. Vanik took her to the hospital. After days of testing the doctors discovered that the girl had an alarmingly high level of plastic and heavy metals in her body. His other children were also tested and the doctor found the same high levels of plastic concentration in their body. Vanik was devastated; he begged the doctors to save his children.
That night Vanik had a dream. Several people affected by polluted air and water were begging him to give them life. Vanik ran away from them and boarded his yacht. He is on the way to meet his family at their private island. Suddenly the yacht sank. Vanik droned into the sea. He witnesses a huge mountain of plastic inside the sea. He recalls that it is all the plastic that he had dumped. The mountain spoke in a roaring voice.
“Nobody can destroy me. I will destroy everything on this earth. The age of humans will end and the age of plastic will begin. We plastic will be everywhere. We will live forever.” the mountain laughed.
Vanik realised that he had created a demon that he cannot slay. The demon has now come to take what is precious to him and he cannot stop it. He went to meet Ving and ask for help.
“There is not much we can do right now. First close the factory.” said Ving.
Vanik agreed. He was determined to destroy the monster he created before it could take over the world.
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“Vanik. You must stop producing plastic. It is a very dangerous material. Nobody can destroy it. Someday sooner or later it is going to destroy all of us in the world that we live in.” said Ving.
Vanik realised the truth but the money was too good to stop selling plastic.
“I agree with you Ving. I am working on a weapon that can destroy plastic once its use is over. You don’t have to worry about it.” Vanik lied to Ving.
Vanik went ahead and began to produce more plastic. Since the factory was big he was able to produce it at a much lower price. People began to treat plastic as a one use item. It was much cheaper to buy a new one than maintain the same product. This led to a lot of plastic dumped into the waste.
Ving saw how harmful people’s actions were to themselves and others. He tried to warn people and show them that this could mean the end of several good things like air, water and life. Vanik was afraid that Ving’s words might come true. He told the people he had invented a device that can recycle old plastic. He collected all the used plastic and dumped them into the sea. When Ving tried to find out more about the device Vanik stopped him with threats and bureaucratic red tapes.
The pollution levels in the town began to increase day by day. The workers and the townsfolk endured the pollution. Several people suffered an early death but there were not enough good officials to see the evidence lying in plain sight. Vanik had the law and order officials in his pocket and nobody could question him. Vanik was afraid the pollution might harm his family. He bought a private island far into the sea and built a palace for his family. His wife and kids lived there happily attended by several servants. They loved eating seafood and caught fish in excess and feasted on them everyday.
Deep in the sea, the plastic that Vanik dumped began to break into smaller pieces. They did not decompose or transform, they just broke into pieces smaller than microbes. These small pieces were eaten by smallest fishes mistaking them for food. Thus began the chain. Those small fishes were eaten by bigger ones and so on. In the end, the fish that Vanik’s family caught in excess were loaded with plastic and other harmful metals.
One day the youngest daughter of Vanik complained that she was not feeling well. Vanik took her to the hospital. After days of testing the doctors discovered that the girl had an alarmingly high level of plastic and heavy metals in her body. His other children were also tested and the doctor found the same high levels of plastic concentration in their body. Vanik was devastated; he begged the doctors to save his children.
That night Vanik had a dream. Several people affected by polluted air and water were begging him to give them life. Vanik ran away from them and boarded his yacht. He is on the way to meet his family at their private island. Suddenly the yacht sank. Vanik droned into the sea. He witnesses a huge mountain of plastic inside the sea. He recalls that it is all the plastic that he had dumped. The mountain spoke in a roaring voice.
“Nobody can destroy me. I will destroy everything on this earth. The age of humans will end and the age of plastic will begin. We plastic will be everywhere. We will live forever.” the mountain laughed.
Vanik realised that he had created a demon that he cannot slay. The demon has now come to take what is precious to him and he cannot stop it. He went to meet Ving and ask for help.
“There is not much we can do right now. First close the factory.” said Ving.
Vanik agreed. He was determined to destroy the monster he created before it could take over the world.
© spacebar
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