MidReal Story
Wasteful Past, Hopeful Future
Scenario: A woman who lives in a polluted world with no natural resources decides to go back in time to warn her younger self to start caring for the environment. Her younger self is really wasteful she wastes water gas electricity and food she never recycles and she litters all the time. No matter what her older self says she doesn't listen because she doesn't believe that natural resources could run out
Create my version of this story
Sarah Jennings
the wasteful younger self, sister to Emily, petite with curly hair, stubborn and carefree
Mark Hart
supportive brotherinlaw and time travel engineer, married to Emily in the future, rugged with a kind face, intelligent and practical
Emily Hart
the future woman trying to change her past, related to younger self, tall with sharp features, determined and resourceful
Chapter 1
I’m from the future.
It’s a phrase that sounds like the beginning of a joke, or a line from a bad sci-fi movie.
But I’m not joking, and this isn’t a movie.
It’s real.
I am from the future.
And I’ve come back to save my sister’s life.
"Sarah!"
I shout as I run through the front door of her apartment building and up the stairs to her floor.
"Sarah! Open up!"
The door to her apartment swings open, and my sister stands in the doorway with her hands on her hips, glaring at me.
"What is your problem?" she demands.
"I was in the middle of something."
"Yeah," I say, gasping for breath. "You were in the middle of throwing away half a sandwich."
She rolls her eyes and steps aside so I can enter her apartment.
"It was gross," she says. "Who wants to eat a day-old sandwich?"
"You could have put it in the fridge for later," I say, following her into the kitchen.
She picks up the plate with the sandwich remnants still on it and drops it into the trash can.
"Or you could have given it to someone who needs it."
"What is your problem?" my sister demands.
I shake my head, feeling like I’m about to lose my mind.
She just doesn’t get it!
And she’s running out of time!
"You don’t understand, Sarah," I say, trying to catch my breath and calm my racing heart.
"This isn’t a game or a test. This is life or death for all of us. For you! Please, just listen to me!"
Sarah sighs heavily and sits down at her kitchen table, indicating for me to take a seat across from her.
"I’m listening," she says, sounding exasperated.
I collapse into the chair and drop my head into my hands, fighting back tears of frustration and urgency.
"You don’t understand," I repeat softly, my words muffled by my hands.
"It’s so much worse than I thought."
"Is this about that dream you had?"
Sarah asks gently.
"Because if it is, I already told you that it was just a dream. It doesn’t mean anything."
"It wasn’t just a dream," I say.
"It was a warning."
I take a deep breath and look up at my sister through tear-filled eyes.
"I came here to warn you, Sarah. You need to change your ways before it’s too late."
Sarah frowns at me and reaches across the table to take my hand in hers.
"Too late for what? What are you talking about?"
I shake my head and pull my hand away from hers so that I can stand up and pace around the room.
"I’m sorry if this sounds crazy," I tell her quickly, "but you have to believe me. It’s not too late yet. If we act now, we can still save ourselves. But if we don’t do something soon… Oh God…"
I trail off as tears roll down my cheeks once again.
"What do you mean ‘save ourselves’? From what?"
Sarah asks softly but urgently.
"What happened in your dream?"
"This isn’t about my dream," I say through clenched teeth as I try to compose myself once more.
"I told you, it was a warning. A sign of what’s to come if we don’t do something to change it."
Sarah stares at me blankly for a moment before she speaks again.
"I still don’t understand. What are we supposed to do?"
"Look in the trash can," I instruct her sharply, pointing toward the waste bin next to her feet.
"What?"
Sarah asks, frowning at me in confusion as I continue to point at the trash can with my index finger, like I’m accusing it of something horrible.
"Emily," Sarah says softly, "what’s going on? What aren’t you telling me?"
I sigh heavily and drop my hand, cursing myself for speaking too soon.
I should have known better than to freak my younger self out without any explanation of what’s really going on here first.
But time is of the essence, and I can’t afford to make any mistakes right now.
"I’m sorry. It’s just… it’s hard to explain," I tell her gently as I take a seat across from her once more.
"But you have to believe me when I tell you that we are in serious trouble if you don’t start taking this seriously." "What exactly am I supposed to take seriously?" she asks, still frowning in confusion but no longer glaring at me as though I’ve lost my mind completely.
"This isn’t a joke or a game," I continue, trying my best to sound calm and composed even though I’m anything but.
"I’m not here to play some prank on you or offer you a second chance at living your life differently. This is real."
My sister stares at me in silence for a long moment before she speaks again.
"I still don’t understand. I know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but can you please explain to me what’s going on?"
"By 2050, there are no resources left on Earth," I say simply.
My sister’s eyes widen in shock as she gapes at me in disbelief.
"You’re not making any sense," she says once she’s finally able to speak.
"You must be crazy."
I swallow hard and look down at the table before I speak again.
"We’ve already used up all of the Earth’s oil, coal, and natural gas. And by 2050, we’ll have used up everything else as well. Including the water."
My sister blinks back tears and stares at me silently for a moment as though waiting for me to admit that this is some kind of twisted joke or prank that Mark has put me up to.
But when she realizes that I’m serious, that there is no punchline coming, the tears begin to roll down her cheeks as she throws her head back and starts laughing hysterically.
"You’re fucking with me!" she cries between fits of laughter as tears stream down her cheeks.
"This isn’t a joke!" I say sharply.
I’m not failing her again.
I won’t let her die this time!
This isn’t a game.
I’ll do whatever it takes to save her from what comes next!
Unless she doesn’t want to be saved…
"What are you doing?" my sister demands as I reach into the trash can and pull out the plate with the half-eaten sandwich on it.
"What does it look like I’m doing?"
I shoot back, glaring at her before I turn my attention back to the food.
She picked off most of the vegetables before she threw away the rest of the sandwich, but there is still a bit left that she was too lazy to bother with.
"Why are you wasteful?" I demand sharply.
"This is someone’s lunch that you’re throwing away!"
"Who cares?"
"It was my lunch!"
"Lunch isn’t free! People work hard to grow and harvest food just so we can throw it away when we realize we’re too full or bored with what we have! And now you’re going to eat your lunch!"
I push the plate into her hands before she has a chance to protest.
She gapes at me in shock as though she can’t believe what I’m asking her to do.
"I already ate half," she whines as she holds up the sandwich for me to see, hoping that I’ll take pity on her and let her get rid of it once and for all.
"And you’re going to eat the other half," I insist firmly.
"This isn’t funny. Everything matters. Even if this were someone else’s lunch; It would still matter because we can’t afford to waste anything."
"You’re overreacting," my sister says dismissively as she picks off another piece of lettuce from the sandwich before taking a bite out of it reluctantly.
"There will always be more."
"Not where I come from," I say under my breath so that only Mark can hear me.
And that seems to get his attention because he finally looks up from what he’s doing long enough to glance over at us and stare pointedly back down at his work again.
"You seem to think that there will always be a magical solution or a quick fix for everything. But things don’t work that way," I explain.
My sister continues to stare at me in silence for a moment before she speaks again.
"I still don’t understand. I know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but can you please explain to me what’s going on?"
"By 2050, there are no resources left on Earth," I say simply.
My sister’s eyes widen in shock as she gapes at me in disbelief.
"You’re not making any sense," she says once she’s finally able to speak.
"You must be crazy."
I swallow hard and look down at the table before I speak again.
"We’ve already used up all of the Earth’s oil, coal, and natural gas. And by 2050, we’ll have used up everything else as well. Including the water."
My sister blinks back tears and stares at me silently for a moment as though waiting for me to admit that this is some kind of twisted joke or prank that Mark has put me up to.
But when she realizes that I’m serious, that there is no punchline coming, the tears begin to roll down her cheeks as she throws her head back and starts laughing hysterically.
