Just change

By L. Jarvis

“And in later news tonight we will be with scientific experts discussing the dramatic climate change that has affected us over these past years and what it might have in store for us in the years to come….” Sarah then clicked off the TV. “What a waste of time” she muttered to herself. Sarah checked the time … half past one. With nothing better to do she decided she might as well leave early for her visit with her dad. Sarah got up, grabbed her purse and cell, and then paused and thought to herself.

“Jacket?... Or no jacket?...” She looked outside. Being the middle of November in Toronto you would expect it to be cold, maybe even some snow. But for the last many years the temperature had been drastically getting warmer. Sarah then decided she might as well bring her jacket in case, then she left. Immediately once she walked outside she regretted bringing her jacket. It was boiling out. She was happy though, she loved the heat.

As Sarah reached the curb outside, she waved down a taxi and jumped in. “Where to ma’am?” the taxi driver asked. “The hospital down the street, the one a few blocks down from here.” Sarah explained. “Alright.” He replied. Then the taxi jerked forward and they were on their way.

“So have you heard about what they say will happen if we don’t make changes to that whole climate change thing.” Asked the driver. “Yeah, that’s a bunch of nonsense…like all that stuff could really happen to the world.” Sarah laughed. Then the taxi driver looked at Sarah through the rear-view mirror. “I don’t know, I think it is actually a bigger deal than some people like to believe.” Soon enough they were at the hospital. Sarah paid the driver, hopped out of the car and walked up to the main entrance of the hospital.

Once Sarah reached the front desk she was greeted by a very pleasant young lady. “How may I help you?” “I am here to see James Hill, my dad.” “Alright, one moment please, if you like you could sit down for the time being.” A few minutes later a nurse called Sarah’s name and she led Sarah to her dad’s room. There he was, Sarah walked over to his bed and sat down.

He looked at his daughter with a very tired sad look then he began to talk. “…the nurse says I am going in for surgery in about three hours.” Sarah’s dad had cancer. They wanted to remove as many of the cancer cells as they could but everyone knew his chances of surviving were slim, no one wanted to admit it though. “How are you feeling?” Sarah asked. “I’ve been better.” he chuckled. “How about yourself?” “Not too bad, I’m getting sick and tired about hearing of that climate change and everything. Everyone is taking it so seriously...” “Well maybe then you should to…” interrupted her dad. “It doesn’t matter though; it will probably all just go away in a few years anyway.” “I highly doubt that, it is up to us to change and if we don’t…well you’ve heard what might happen. We are getting at the point where there is no turning back, unless we take drastic measures now and change we will just be regretting what we didn’t do later. Even now people have experienced what have been the effects of the climate change. Many people whose homes are on the coasts have lost their entire property due to the water level rising. It may seem like a long shot but it is up to each of us individually to help do our part. If we just think, ‘oh I can’t make a difference’, then we won’t.”

For some odd reason, hearing this from her dad made Sarah see the matter in a different light. She thought what if he is right, what if we each did our part...Then it was the question of how, how could she change…maybe if I walked the few blocks to places instead of taking a taxi, maybe…Endless opportunities of change ran through Sarah’s mind.

That was the day when Sarah changed. The real truth of what might happen to the world was revealed to her that day. She decided as an individual she would make as many positive changes as she could. What if we each had a day like Sarah’s? Just imagine the difference we could make if we all did our part.

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