1.3: Talking about Change

~*~Saskia’s Point of View~*~

“I just believe that we should take better care of our planet. We only have one, if we ruin it that’s it.”

“I believe you Saskia, it’s just this town doesn’t have that many opportunities to make good decisions about the environment. If we had a recycling system I would be happy to use it, but they only offer garbage collection here.”

I was talking to yet another acquaintance in the park, trying to persuade her to make more environmentally friendly decisions. It was mostly the same reaction from everyone. They’d all be happy to do something if it was made available but no one was willing to make the change happen.

Dejectedly I walked away from another failed conversation. I saw another woman I hadn’t met yet, so I went over to introduce myself. The professor had told me that it was important that I talked to as many people as I could because if I could get the idea to stick with just a few, they could spread the message as well.

“Hi there, I’m Saskia. I’m pretty new here so I’m just trying to make a few acquaintances.”

“Hi. I’m Bridget. It’s nice to meet you.”

Then the cycle of small talks began again until we got to our interests, where I once again brought up how much I cared for the environment. Of course Bridget’s reaction was the same as everyone else’s; it’s a nice idea but this town doesn’t offer much in the way of environmentally friendly options.

By mid afternoon I felt like the only thing I’d achieved that day was watering my plants. I sat down for a little while, just looking around the park sadly. No one was willing to make change happen, it was so disappointing. I wished I could show them what would happen if they kept on this path. The pollution that they will cause. That’d make them take action.

I had to take my mind off how annoying these people were. I decided to go for a swim in the ocean. I didn’t want to go to the main beach though, there would’ve been too many people and I needed some peace. I’d seen a smaller beach near my home so I headed there instead.

Unfortunately, the beach wasn’t quite as empty as I had hoped but the ocean water called to me. There was only one guy on the beach. I’m sure I can survive not being completely alone. I made sure to walk quite a way down the beach so it was made clear that I didn’t want to socialise.

I swam around the beach until sunset. The water was amazing but my mind was still fixated on my mission. I felt like I was failing at that moment. I had to change peoples’ minds and it was just not happening. What should I do? How do I make them change? Questions were spinning around in my head. Why didn’t they realise how lucky they were to live in such a clean world? How couldn’t they know how important it was to keep it this way?

Eventually the water became too cold to continue swimming so I headed home for a restless night’s sleep.

That next morning, I found myself wandering into the library instead of to the park. I still didn’t feel like talking to people. I justified being at the library because I’d felt like I’d mastered the basics of gardening and wanted to learn more advanced tips.

It was nice to get lost in a book for a while, even if it had those strange paper pages. I learnt all about how fertilising plants with produce or fish can help them grow better. I couldn’t help but think about how much knowledge of growing food was lost by the time I was born; this sort of information was never available on the Academy computers.

“Excuse me,” a voice interrupted my reading, “I was wondering if you might answer a few questions for me. I’m doing a survey about the library.”

I looked up from my book and saw a man standing just in front of me. I figured it couldn’t hurt to answer a few questions, plus he was kind of cute, so I put down my book and stood up so I didn’t feel quite so small.

“Sure. Ask away,” I said once I was standing in front of him.

He asked me a bunch of generic questions. Things like ‘How often do you come to the library?’ and ‘Have you ever used the computers here?’. It took about five minutes but it was nice to talk about something different for once.

“Thanks so much. I need as many participants as I can get,” the man said once he was done with all his questions.

“Its no problem. What are you doing the survey for?”

“I’m one of the junior members of the local council. The council wants to upgrade the most used facilities in Sunset Valley, so we have to do surveys with the public to see how much use they get out of certain locations.” He seemed quite enthusiastic but what really drew my attention was that he was part of the local government. The professor did say that I should try to make friends in politics so that my (or should I say the professor’s) ideas about the environment might get some traction. This was a perfect opportunity.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I got your name,” I said. I knew that if I was to find him again, I would need his name.

“Oh, how rude of me. I’m Paul Finch. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You too, Paul. I’m Saskia Ja-, um, Dover.” I stumbled. I’d almost said my old last name which could have been a disaster. I absolutely could not let anyone think I didn’t belong here. Luckily he didn’t seem to notice.

“So I’ve told you what I do, what about you? What to do do for a living Saskia?”

“I’m a self-employed gardener. I’m growing apples, grapes, lettuce and tomatoes at the moment.”

He seemed genuinely interested in what I did for a living. We talked for a few more minutes and I felt quite happy to have a normal conversation for once. The more we talked, the more I felt like Paul was someone I’d like to get to know better.

“It’s been nice talking to you Saskia, but I better go and finish off my survey. Maybe I’ll see you around? Or maybe we could, um, grab a bite after I’m done here?” He was blushing very slightly and I could tell he was starting to like me.

“That sounds great, I’d love to grab a bite with you,” I’d smiled at him reassuringly, “I’ll just be up here reading. Come and get me when you are done.”

He gave me a nod and a smile and then headed off to survey another person.

About an hour later Paul came back over to me and we headed out. He drove us to a diner near the centre of town. It didn’t look like the fanciest place but my stomach was begging for a change from all the apples I’d been eating.

Dinner was really nice and I couldn’t believe how much flavour everything had. Synthesised food just didn’t compare to the food of this time. Paul and I talked a lot but not about anything serious. I really enjoyed Paul’s company and how intently he listened to me. I felt like the professor would want me to push the environmentally friendly ideas but I was sure I could bring it up another time.

“I had a really nice time with you tonight. Thank you for dinner,” I said with a huge smile I simply couldn’t wipe off my face.

“Me too. I really enjoyed spending time with you. Maybe we could hang out again some time?”

We arranged to meet later in the week and then went our separate ways.

I saw a lot of Paul over the next few months. He always had something exciting to show me. We went to this adorable park one day that had trampolines in it! I didn’t know what a trampoline was, but I just told Paul that I’d never used one before and he showed me how they worked.

It turned out that trampolines are a form of outdoor entertainment that you jump on. It flings you high into the air, which was scary at first. After I’d adjusted to the motion of it I realised it was the closest thing they have to flying. Boy was it an amazing sensation!

The next time we meet he took me to the swimming pool. It wasn’t as nice as swimming in the ocean but I had a good time because I was with him.

We swam around and even had a contest to see who could hold their breath longest. We both lasted for a long time but eventually Paul went up for air. I won! Yay!

After so many amazing days together, we were hanging out again. Paul took me to this gorgeous lake on the outskirts of town. He tried to teach me how to fish when we arrived but it was a complete bust. I was just not cut out for fishing. So we settled for just sitting down and enjoying the beautiful view and each other’s company.

“Paul, do you ever worry about what the future may hold?” I asked out of the blue.

“Of course. I think everyone does. Is there something specific on your mind Saskia?”

“I guess I just worry about what sort of world we’re going to leave behind. I try my best to be environmentally friendly but there’s only so much one woman can do.” I felt slightly wrong talking to Paul about this. It was much easier to talk to people who didn’t matter so much. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? I thought to myself, Shouldn’t it be easier to talk to Paul than to talk to strangers? But Paul was the only proper friend I had made in Sunset Valley and I was slowly falling for him. I didn’t think I could bear him taking the same non-committal stance as the rest of this town.

He leaned back a bit and I followed suit. He had that look about him that meant he was thinking about what I had said.

“Can I tell you something? About why I joined politics.” He asked me.

“Of course. You can tell me anything,” I said without even thinking. I wasn’t even annoyed that the subject had changed.

He leaned in close and whispered in my ear, “I want to make a difference in the world. Help advocate for things that are important to the people of this town.”

He sat back again, “It probably sounds silly, but that’s the reason.”

“It doesn’t sound silly at all. Everybody wants to make a difference; you chose a path where you could make it happen.” I gave him a soft smile.

“If you could ask for one change in this town, what would it be?” He asked me suddenly. I was slightly surprised by his question. There were so many possible changes that could make a big impact on the future.

“I think I’d ask for a recycling service. So much gets thrown out that could be used again. I really think it’s something the people of this town would use too. If you make the good options, the easy options they’re sure to use them.” I knew the professor would approve of my answer.

“That actually sounds like quite a reasonable change. Most people would just say something generic like more parks, or a new shopping centre. Maybe I will bring it up at the next council meeting.” I couldn’t believe how easy that was. I didn’t have to spend lots of time convincing him or anything. Maybe with Paul’s help, I can get the people of this time to change.

After a few more minutes we stood up to go. It was getting a little chilly and neither of us had  thought to bring a coat.

“Saskia,” Paul said as I turned to go back to his car. I stopped and turned back to face him.

“Yes?”

He reached out and grabbed my hands. His hands were strong and warm. My hands fit perfectly in his.

“I have had such a great time getting to know you over the past few months. Would you like to make things official and be my girlfriend?” He was blushing again which was just so cute and I could only think of one answer to his question.

“Of course I’ll be your girlfriend. I thought you’d never ask.”

He smiled and then pulled me close. He looked into my grey eyes for a moment, and I stared back into his green ones. Then he leaned in and kissed me.

Once Paul has dropped me home I went straight to bed. I lay awake for hours, not able to get Paul out of my head. Mostly I was just thinking about what an amazing person he was and how perfect tonight was. Yet there was a little bit of me that felt guilty. Paul had been so honest with me but I was hiding such a huge secret about myself from him.