EL Alternative Assessment 1

The Rain

Wong Hong Ngai (24) S1-01

  "Boom!"Thunder rang across the sky, sending shivers down John's spine. He stood up and walked to the window, to find out whether it was raining. However, all he saw was smog and shadows of pedestrians. John sighed, wishing that he was in 2015 instead of 2095 when the sky was still blue. Raindrops started pattering against the window, however, instead of just rain, it was acid rain, caused by years of pollution. This time, however, John felt something different...

  As he looked through the window, he saw a man dissolve a mess of pink. Horrified, he backed away from the window just as the ground shook. Immediately, John rushed to the basement just as his apartment collapsed.

  "Creak..."The hatch to the basement slowly opened and a pair of watchful eyes looked around. After a while, John emerged from the basement. As he looked around, there were just skeletons of buildings left standing and other than those, there were nothing much left. Worried about his family in the next city, John decided to set off to look for them.

  While he walked down the empty streets, John's stomach started to growl. "Where could I find food?" He thought as he looked at a pile of rubber. Looking around, he saw a short, squat building still standing. Then, he realised what that building was: it was a supermarket! Feeling excited, he rushed in.

  As John surveyed the empty shelves, he realised that the supermarket had already been scavenged. Feeling discouraged, John decided to look somewhere else. Just as he was about to leave, the roof started crumbling and on instinct, he dived under the glass counter just as the ceiling collapsed.

  When the dust cleared, John was astounded to see the glass counter still in one piece. Looking at a label under the counter, he realised that the counter was titanium-reinforced, thus, it did not break. However, he heard the pattering of rain and before looking up, he knew he was in trouble.

  As time passed, the hissing of acid grew steadier and louder and John could almost smell the acid. Looking up again, he saw acid seeping through the concrete and dripping on the counter. As he braced himself for the worst, the pattering of rain and the hissing of acid stopped. Luckily, the glass did not dissolve.

  Leaving the safety of the glass counter, John wondered how he could leave the rubble. Having a brainwave, he kicked the weak spot in the rubble and without much effort, a hole was formed. As he slowly but nimbly climbed out of the hole, he wondered how was he going to get to the highway before it rains again.

  After a while of scavenging, John hit the jackpot. he found a hover-car that was still fully functional with the doors open and keys inside. John felt a pang of guilt when he started the engine. Quietly, he took off.

  While travelling down the highway, another clap of thunder made John step on the brakes. Taking a look at the sky, he saw lightning flash across the sky. John looked around frantically, but there was nowhere to hide. A raindrop fell from the sky...