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By Nima P

The year was 2039. Wars, disease and the climate had made the planet chaotic. Pollution, violence and sickness gripped the air.

Parents told their children to "watch out for themselves", "to be weary of those who look different", "to stay away from the sick".

At some point, the world had turned ugly. Kindness had given way to anger, affection to selfishness and acceptance to rejection. Fear had turned cherished values upside down.

One sunny day, somewhere on this merciless planet, two children bumped into each other.

Tom was standing on a beach, looking at the ocean, which he wasn't allowed to go into because of the acidity. He noticed a boat coming towards him. As the boat got closer, he saw a little boy. In a matter of seconds, the boat washed up on the shore right next to him.

"Aaab" said the boy faintly.

"Aaab... Aaab", said the boy pointing to himself.

"And my name is, Tom"

The boy stepped off the boat, and after taking two steps towards Tom, collapsed.

"Aaab... Vaaater..", he said again, this time pointing his finger towards his mouth.

"Water!" Tom realized. The boy needed water. Tom ran to his house next to the beach.

"A boy just came on a boat who needs water", shouted Tom bursting into the kitchen, where his parents were eating.

"Don't go out, stay here!" said his Dad, "he may have a disease!"

"But, Dad, he may die."

"That's not our problem. He should have stayed where he is from", said his Mum.

Tom couldn't convince his parents, but he also couldn't let the boy die. He grabbed a carton of drinking water and ran out of the house.

"What are you doing? Do you know how much those cartons cost?" shouted the Dad after him.

Tom found the boy almost unconscious on the beach. On reaching the boy, Tom opened the carton of water and helped the boy to drink from it. He kept drinking. After a few minutes, the boy seemed to come back to life.

The boy suddenly grabbed Tom's wrist and pressed hard. He took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and put it in Tom's hand.

Tom couldn't make out the writing. He ran with the paper back to his home. His parents were furious with him. Nevertheless, he handed the paper to his parents. His mum straightened out the paper and read:

"PEOPLE ON BEACH. I SEND SON TO BRING YOU URGENT NEWS. YOU MUST LEAVE BEACH NOW. THERE IS BIG STORM COMING. TELL EVERYONE TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES AND MOVE INLAND. THE WAVES MAY DESTROY YOUR HOUSES."

The parents realized the boy on the boat had risked his life to save theirs. They understood that their own attitudes had been wrong. If it wasn't for the values of Tom and the boy, they may have lost their lives.