Something has to change, Chapter 1
A Tale in Science & Fiction- Chapter 1- “Sofia.” (Working Draft)
Sofia’s had a routine during school breaks; get up early, walk the family dog, come home and get ready for her “break” job at Starbucks.
She liked the early morning shift, those fleeting moments of being alone while people were still asleep made her feel connected to the ground; it was worth the four a.m wake up provided by her iphone.
Today while mykos was sniffing around some peutrid smell, she leaned away and consciously took notice of the rising sun. Mykos layed down and began to roll on his back in the disgust he had discovered. she pull two tugs on his leash to break his fixation, like a good dog he followed her command and with his tail wagging came closer to her. Off they went Sofia still mesmerized by the red hot sun.
State elections had brought a wave of political signs into the neighborhood and changed the surburban landscape. Like a dissent Mykos found one sign that seem just right lifes his hind leg and peed over the slogan.
. “Something has to change.”
TK
That was the slogan printed on red and blue Dibond. As she passed the tenth one, she whispered, “That’s for sure!” A second later, she thought, “another empty slogan by some empty politician” She didn’t buy the message “No one is listening; no one cares, not really,” she would tell anyone who brought up politics, at least in the first weeks of her break.
She wasn't always jaded.
Sofia had spent her college freshman year juggling classes so she could find some extra time. She wanted to learn the ropes of an effective activist and organizer, but no courses like that were offered on campus. She had to find groups of other like-minded students, full of idealism and the yearning for change. In her first two weeks of freshman year, she befriended someone she would later call her mentor. The mentor was active in many causes, always leading the dialogue of change. That relationship influenced Sofia for her first year, and she adopted a hard stance to hold the “adults in charge accountable.” A position held by the mentor as well.
Growing up and surrounded by educated and curious parents, she had read and heard the words “equality and justice” many times. These words weaved into almost every political speech she was exposed to, yet her observed reality was clearly different. As she grew older, she could see that those words were just placeholders, used to insight cheers and used by leaders to placate the masses.
Sofia wondered why equality was taking so long to be achieved in the human race. She didn’t like the answers she had found so far. Everything had lead to the same conclusion. This was the plan all along; A design of caste and control.
That wasn’t acceptable in her young mind.
If her country was founded on a constitution and those words meant anything, she would hold the leaders to those words. She would be part of the discourse, and she would keep striving for the promise of that founding document. That was the motivation that burned in her, at least in her freshman year. She would type at the end of every social post, hashtag.
#HoldAdultsAccountable
This civil awareness started early when she was a pre-teen. Her Aunt, Marcela, had given her a book about climate change. The book had been written by another pre-teen in Norway, a brilliantly autistic and wonderful person, Greta. Sofia’s aunt provided the spark of activism when she gifted that book, and that spark grew into a flame looking for fuel.
What influenced her most about Greta’s work was how she said the same things over and over; that was the way Greta got her point across — with brilliant laser focus that only a person on the spectrum could accomplish. Take no BS from the adults in the room, and stay on point.
Sofia was impressed with the redundancy of that book, which was basically a collection of speeches Greta had made repeatedly. It fused a singular epiphany for Sofia; say it many times and say it with unwavering resolve.
Sofia also took it as a call to action for young people; make the adults feel some shame, regret, and force some impetuous to create change. It was a goal that felt achievable; she, having loving parents, Sofia truly believed that adults would listen to their children — if they showed commitment. Sofia made up her mind; she would join “Greta's young warriors.” even though they were thousands of miles apart.
Two years later, she found some “warriors” at her university.
By the end of Sofia’s last freshman semester, she had lost interest academically. She spent most of her time at gatherings where she found herself wasting hours and hours talking about some “unbelievable” thing a leader did and how they could organize some movement around it.
Not much came out of those gatherings.
The sun would come up, and hungover young activists would go back to their dorms or wherever they could find shelter from the light. She had missed a class or two, or twenty, but the mentor kept telling her, “what good was a college degree when the human story was ending” this nihilism made sense to her, but it also felt uncomfortable. She was too young to be a fatalist.
Last walk of the summer
It’s 4 am. Mykos (her family Catahoula) is whining by her bedside. Soft noises slowly guide her awakening. Realizing that today is the last day she will get to walk Mykos, she bounced out of bed.
Tomorrow she would pack up the Subaru with all her essential stuff and head back to college, but today was today. While she threw on some sweats, a picture of her family on the nightstand reminded her of the previous night’s conversation.
Cornell, her father, had started the conversation. They had just finished a wonderful vegan dinner, which included; Fresh vegetables from the garden and “beyond meat,” a product the family had found while craving meat and making an effort not to have any. The meal also included a slamming bottle of wine, Caymus 2006.
Her Father started the conversation by letting her know that they loved her, code for “but”- but they were concerned about her direction. Was her desire to be the first scientist in their family over? Were her love of the universe, chemistry, and math over? Her mother could not hold back the look of pain, though she really tried. All the effort it took to get her into university and the sacrifices made; were these dreams lost on some civil militant calling? Was that so bad? The tension in the room was thick.
After a protracted pause, Sofia put down her glass of wine and said; “the only way for me to be who I am is to get involved…”both of her parents stayed stoic, hoping her next words would clear up their anxiety, but so far it didn’t sound good.
“And the only way for me to do that is to focus on being a scientist.”
The weight immediately lifted from the room, and more wine flowed. The two parents feeling relief that choosing to be supportive and not judgemental worked- their child would survive the world.
“I am done chasing down adults who don’t care; the only hope I have to change anything is to actually surround myself with serious people and put aside the chaos of politics.”
Her mother burst out in a kind of laughter, relief, and crying all at the same time. Cornell stood up, did a little dance, picked his daughter up, and hugged her.
“DAD, you are breaking me in half,” she yelped.
Mykos was getting anxious. He knew if he didn't press the subject, his walk could be postponed or eliminated by some other human desire, emergency, or laziness. No way was he gonna let that happen.
“Ok, ole boy, let's go before the sun rises.”
Up Next- Chapter 2 “The Drive”
To keep up with the progress follow this link https://medium.com/a-tale-of-science-fiction
