Less Than a Second

A few years ago I entered a competition whose theme was time.

It coincided with my decision to write in such a way as to provoke conversations about climate change. It seemed as if a few people were writing stories about it but only in a apologetic way, as if, in some way, it was naive or idealistic to suggest that we should take responsibility for how the planet was making it harder for humans (and other species) to live here. I wanted to write in a way that started from the acceptance that climate change was real.

In this story I tapped into my teenage self in the '70s. I often tutted at classmates dropping litter even though climate change was not yet something we talked about, but I was never guiltfree. Haven't we all, at some point, chosen not to chase after an accidentally dropped bit of plastic or felt unwilling to carry a sticky container in our pocket until we find the next bin? Most of us are more conscientious now but we didn't used to be and those little bits of plastic are still there.

This story acknowledges that culpability.

https://www.irelandwritingretreat.com/post/four-stories-from-wild-atlantic-writing-awards-time-competition