"The stark silence haunts Blake with ghostly flashbacks."
Hear me out
In Blake’s meditation corner, a thin beam of morning light runs its fingers through the opening of the lacy curtains. This corner is peaceful, still and sleepy. Then, the distant rattling of Blake’s productive morning zooms through the hallway. Back to the kitchen. Into the bedroom. Past the table. Back to the kitchen – where Blake’s meticulously crafted pamphlets and folders had been the whole time!
It’s Thursday. Finally, Thursday. It’s taken a while for Blake to get the results back from the water quality test, but her suspicions were confirmed: the river is contaminated, just over the toxic threshold. Now is the time to act.
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confirmed: the river is contaminated, just over the toxic threshold. Now is the time to act. She has caught it early, and is determined to help Haridwar clean up its river. Even before she had the test results in hand, Blake had planned for this day. She was brimming with solutions, was eager to get her hands into her favorite part of the job, and felt confident that her research would not only enlighten, but also impress even the most skeptical citizens. She had scheduled a city forum for today, Thursday the 8th, at 10 AM in the civic center. confident that her research would not only enlighten, but impress hands into her
Thursday the 8th, at 10 AM in the civic center.
Blake manages to gather all her supplies and get out the door in time. A quick bus ride and half-a-mile walk later, she opens the doors to the civic center and starts setting up. She’s early and has lots of time to set up her projector, rehearse, and put water bottles on every seat. When people begin to arrive, she instantly feels lifted and poised. The presentation begins without a hitch… until she clicks her way to the “problem” slide.
The reaction is physical when Blake reveals the contamination, side
effects, and larger issues. It feels like every person shifted in their seat, touched their forehead, and started displaying signs of defensiveness. The more she talked, the more whispers and comments to neighbors she observed in the crowd. Good, she thought. Even if it makes her feel uneasy, Blake translates the discomfort in the room as the trumpeting wake-up call before swift action. They are ready for solutions!