exposing the egregious truth . It was discovered that the governments around the globe had been managing air pollution by pumping the polluted gas into the Earth ’ s core , by drilling deep holes into it for years . Earth , only being able to take so much , had started to spew back up this venom with vengeance , poisoning water bodies worldwide . The government ’ s spokesman went to announce that all water was deemed unfit for human use , and until the cleanup operation was completed , each registered resident of Shanghai would be given two liters of water per day for all daily activities .
I recollect starting to cry as I heard this , my sniffles must have snapped my mother out of her trance , as she jumped off the sofa and switched off the TV and beckoned me and my father into a family hug . “ Don ’ t worry dear ,” she whispered in my ear . “ The government will have this water pollution cleaned up soon .”
Days passed , and soon , it was winter . With each passing week the laws got stricter and life got harsher . The daily allowance of two liters of water was cut to one and a half instead . I hadn ’ t had a shower since that fateful day in November ; instead I tried to wash myself as best I could with a tiny bowl of water my mother gave me . I continued going to school , but the lack of food and water caused me to become thinner and thinner each day . My skin was dry and my bones were sticking out at every angle . This was not the way I had imagined my life to be . Each night I would pray for this nightmare to end only to wake up in the morning and find nothing had changed .
One by one , my friends started leaving Shanghai , going far away to other places . I tried to convince my parents to leave as well , but to no avail . My mother said it was safer here and I knew that was the end of that discussion .
I finally began to accept the fact that this was my life and began to make do , however , things never turn out the way one expects it to .
The revolution was unexpected . It took place a few weeks ago . I was in Math class when we were told to evacuate the school premises and go home quickly . Since I live fairly close , I ran home . As I made it into our apartment , I took a glance outside the window and saw a sea of people amassing outside , on the streets , scuttling around like a queenless army of ants . In the midst of it all , I managed to make out a group of people wearing bright red shirts , trashing buildings and shops . The next day , school was cancelled . Around noon , I heard cheering coming from outside . I ran out of the apartment ready to make my way outside but my Mom stopped and forbade me to go , so instead I waited till our neighbour came home and asked him what was going on . He happily replied that the government had been overthrown by a group of influential rich Chinese . I started cheering as well , believing that things were finally going to get better . That was the last normal day of my life .
The Elites , as we called the upper class Chinese , took control of the water distributions and all other government activities . In their first act of power a few days later , they called all adult males to the Central Bureau so they can be allocated work .
“ Change is coming ,” they promised . “ But it will require everyone to work together for the better good .” My father , eager to play his role in building a better future for me and Mom , excitedly got ready , donning the only clean suit he had , his wedding suit . Though he had gained weight since his marriage to Mom , the last 6 months had taken it ’ s toll on his health and the suit that had fitted him like a glove now hung loose . Dad wore the biggest grin for the first time in months as he kissed mom and I goodbye . I didn ’ t realize it then , but that would be the last time I would see him .
That night and for the next week my mother would leave me at home in the morning and roam the streets until sunset desperately looking for my father or any news of him . Prohibited by Mom to put even a toe outside the threshold of our apartment , I would try to pre-occupy myself by reading a book but inevitably I would find myself praying that Mom would come back with Dad . My mind would even play cruel tricks on me and several times a day I would think that I could here my Mom and Dad chatting outside the apartment . Excited I would rush to open the door only to find the hallway empty except for the wails permeating from our neighbour ’ s apartment , the heart wrenching sound jolting me back to reality .