Planet in Jeopardy

Planet in Jeopardy
A short story by Diana Weeks

Liza waited tables to get through environmental engineering at texas university. She went to work for “a green life” organization. As a fast Thinking photographer & activist in Washington D.C. She is so persuasive… the anti-green lobbyist fear she will bring them down.

Their diabolical leader tom, who protects the bottom line of many chemical industries, panics. He puts together a trip to the north pole so they can personally get the latest discoveries. He dares Liza to come along by saying “it’s not as bad as you think”. And she agrees.

While Liza is in the icy wilderness setting up her camera equipment, they leave her behind, alone without provisions... She sees their plane take off, and the wings waved goodbye. Murder is a joke to them.

Liza bangs her cell phone against a tripod…and taps the phone calling a local pal for help. She has to leave a message “come get the film” her phone goes dead. She works setting up her cameras to video the north pole melting.

Liza searches her backpack and finds a stray mint and tries to open the cellophane…can’t do it with gloves…starts to remove a glove…but it’s too cold she puts it in her mouth, still in the paper wrapping, Looks up and sees a small baby polar bear wanders into her camp...Shaking and unsteady.

Liza scoops it up…and turns on all three of the tripod cameras. She holds a tiny paw and waves it toward the red lights. The little body feels skinny inside the white fur. She unzips her coat and puts the bear against her blouse and zips it against her chest and dances singing “she’ll be coming round the glacier, she’ll be coming round the glacier… when she comes”, twirling until she gets dizzy and sits down on her backpack.

The tiny bear is still whining. Liza takes the mint out of her mouth, spits out the soggy paper and twists the round, red and white candy in the end of her scarf, spits on it and tells the bear…”try this, see if you like peppermint…I made you an old fashioned sugar tit”. Liza spits on the sugar tit…and the baby sucks it. Liza rocks back and forth.

Liza sings every song she remembers holding the baby polar bear to keep the animal alive and watches the moon rise until sleep overtakes her. The tears in her eye lashes turn to icicles. It makes a great picture.

The next day, an Eskimo journalist friend, Annie, arrives with a dog sleigh. The baby polar bear is gone but there are pictures and tracks of the mother bear… leading her cub away. Annie knells by Liza and tells her “you saved the baby bear. The mother found it”.

Pictures of Liza freezing to death, while trying to keep the baby polar bear alive are released to all media by Al Gore. A documentary is made… people were moved watching her death.

Tears spring to the eyes of everyone who sees the pictures. The public outcry is forcing congress to pass stronger environmental laws.

The End
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