FUTURE STORY WINNERS

These are the three stories which won the Erasmus Story Contest: 

THE GREEN ISLAND

It was the year 500 after MacApple, 500 years since the release of the new iPhone 18, which marked a new era, the era of happiness and technology. However, the beginning of the new era wasn’t as good as people had imagined because the new i-Phone caused a war among our founders (who won it) and those stupid people who didn’t believe in the advances in technology. The founders of this new world were four: Mrs. Instagram, Mrs. WhatsApp, Mr. Twitter and Mr. Facebook. They created a perfect society in the old Toronto, now called Cybercity, where everything worked with Internet, like my home, where I could have a shower or do whatever needed by only pressing a button. What is more, after the war, our founders worked hard to avoid repeating a new situation like that and they created a new human being combining science and technology. We were ordinary humans, except for the i-Phone we had been implanted into our forearm, connected to our blood system. It helped everybody to live a great life with the facilities of the Internet integrated into the body, once we were grown up and it started working.

All of this was what we learned in our History classes at Cyber-school and nobody doubted it because we didn’t know anything about life without technology. A life that was more simple. I had always believed in, until the day of my eighteenth birthday and therefore, the day that my iPhone started working. That day my life changed completely, I finished my education at Cyber-school and I had to start working at Cyber-offices with a lot of delighted people who said that I was going to like my new life as they loved theirs.

The first days at work were really funny, especially the Cyber Hour, when everybody in the office was together in a room charging their iPhones, thanking our founders and meeting new people. Every time I spent in that room was the most exciting in  my life, but after a few times, I understood that such happiness was temporary and it couldn’t complete my life, unlike the rest of the people, who were always happy, especially after the Cyber Hour .So, I realized that everything in our society was unreal: history, happiness, the dependence on technology as a good thing...I reached the conclusion that the iPhone into our forearms and the Cyber Hour were two important things for the government to control the mind and make everybody think positively about technology, and therefore, create a pleased society without any changes.

The government discovered that I thought differently from the other people and, in consequence, I could destabilize the society. So, after telling me the truth about everything, they banished me to the Green Island, where everybody who was a threat to social stability, were sent. There, I disconnected my iPhone and I could live happily with little use of technology.

  PAOLA FUENTES

THE FOG

Looking back, we could have done something, but we were blind, wrecking the Earth as we owned it, everyone knew this was going to happen, but they thought that would be when they were dead and a further generation would have to face the problem. Well, that generation is ours and that moment is now.

It all started at the beginning of the 22nd century, the peak of the technological era, even though we just use technology for our entertainment: TV, mobile phones, electrical appliances...The money ruled the world and controlled the media, who cared If the polar ice caps were melting? That would only mean that the powerful people could have their beloved oil, or that people would have to wear masks because of the pollution. Money was power and it was beyond anyone or anything, even our own life.

It all started as a typical day, my friend Sophie and I were going to school, gossiping about the people in our class, and talking about that new album that she had bought. I remember that I went to my math class with that teacher that I hated because he was always giving us pop quizzes. We were doing one of these exams when we saw the fog, behind the town bridge. There it was, this strange orange smog that was destroying everything that it touched. We all saw the massacre. No one moved in what I thought it was an eternity. Suddenly Robb, who I had not seen so scared in my life said with a trembling voice: "What is that thing!? "Everybody panicked and ran through the door, many people became trapped in the exit. The fog was getting closer and we were running out of time. Suddenly my teacher shouted: “Everybody keep calm! Follow me to the basement and we will be safe”.

When we got there, we had to insulate the room and close all the doors. If we opened them we would be dead. We heard people shouting from the outside to open the door, and we couldn't do anything, I think I will never forget that moment, I felt as If we were dreaming and at the last minute I would wake up from that nightmare, but that is not how reality works.

These extreme events not only happened at my school, actually it affected somehow to the whole world. We were in crisis, in fact, we still are, but we didn't notice how bad the situation was and how much we were damaging the Earth, the place where we lived, should have been a priority. Now we are making a difference: everybody recycles, use less water, do not use cars. The government also realized it was a critical situation, and they invested in the research for eco-friendly technologies. We all know that the  tiniest action could save the world.

Sandra López Sánchez

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

It was the year 2100, there were only thirty trees in the whole planet, the deforestation had ended with all of the resources. The population needed wood but if they cut these thirty trees, the oxygen would disappear and the people would die. The acid rain damaged the land and we couldn’t cultivate any more.

My name is Melissa. One day in autumn, I woke up, Christmas was coming and we needed wood for the fireplace. I asked Santa Claus to raise temperatures and for more trees. These Christmas we won’t have a real Christmas tree. I was eating while I was watching the news, when I heard that they were going to cut ten trees for this winter. I was devastated. When I heard that, I went to talk to my best friend, Saray. We are against deforestation. Saray said to me that she wanted to do something to stop that. We thought of talking to the woodcutter and make him understand that he mustn’t cut them. But he didn’t listen to us. Saray and I decided to wait until night. When the moon raised, we went to destroy the machines. The following day, the woodcutter couldn’t cut the trees. Saray and I felt satisfied. But it didn’t last because by  the end of the next day they had repaired them. We had time to think and we found a solution. That night, we created artificial wood from garbage, which could replace the real wood. We went to the television network and we showed our new invention. Our artificial wood was spread across the world. Thanks to our invention, we managed to stop the tree cutting, repopulated the Earth, and managed to have a beautiful world.

We still have to be careful because our invention can’t last forever and we have to take care of the environment.

Silvia Gallego Flores