The World in 2020

“The World in 2020” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Swapnil Bose, JSS International School, UAE.

The World in 2020

In a city named Rochester in the state named New York in the United States of America (USA) there lived a boy named John Parker. From the time he was 6 years old, he had the habit of protecting and preserving nature. He loved nature and even saw that no one around damaged nature. From second grade, he and some of his friends started to give speeches on how to preserve nature. He grew up to be a boy known for his kindness and his love of nature. From that time whenever he saw anyone around him smoking or cutting down trees he went up to them and told them not to do it as the smoke from cigarettes harms the nature and if we cut down trees then there won’t be a balance of Oxygen (O2) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2). His teachers and his school’s principal were also impressed with him. Even they encouraged him to carry on this love for nature. But the real problem came when he saw a lot of factories being built.

At that time, he was 17 years of age and he was studying in 12th grade. Later, when he became 18 years old he wanted to be a nature preserver. Then he remembered that he had learned in school that if we don’t preserve or protect the Earth then by 2020 the Earth would be full of pollution which will lead to ozone layer depletion which means the ozone layer which protects us from the harmful UV rays from the Sun will be getting thinner and thinner. It would also lead to acid rain which is the mixture of water (H2O) and Nitrogen Oxide (NO) or Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) which forms acid which comes down to the Earth as rain. He then remembered the factors that cause pollution.

The pollutants are Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide and Particulate Matter. He wanted to invent something useful or to start a campaign on preserving nature. He thought that if he created a campaign then some people would follow but if creates an experiment then 80% of people in the world will follow. For example, if we add a special filter in the car exhausts then Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide and Hydrogen could be converted to other non-harmful gases. For example, Carbon Monoxide can be converted to Carbon, Sulfur Dioxide could be converted to Sulfur and Hydrogen is not harmful so doesn’t need to be converted. He started to work on the invention. First, he made a sketch of what he wanted to invent. Then he gathered the materials. The materials were iron, steel, plastic and wood. He then had an idea that if only he makes then the whole world won’t come to know. For that he started to gather people and his old classmates. Then he gave them different countries in where they would open a branch.

There were 15 countries. They are USA, England, India, UAE, Canada, Germany, Italy, Australia, Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, Jamaica, Russia, China and Belgium. Slowly his dream of seeing the world pollution free was coming true. He started to create the special filter in 2018 and it was ready by 2019. Then he did an advertisement on this so that people around the world would buy it. By April 2020 70% of the people had special filters in their cars. After this he created many other inventions for example, he made battery operated refrigerators and air conditioners as the refrigerants they release are harmful for the ozone layer. They help in ozone layer depletion. They are known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). His company was later known to be John and Friends nature equipments.