Story：The spirits inside the wall (3)
【明報專訊】The situation became uncontrollable. More and more households were reporting the appearance of these glowing lizards, which coincided with frequent reports of electricity outages. And they did not happen just in Simon's city, but in every part of the world. From TV to newspapers, all the media reports around the globe were about such bizarre happenings.
The governments lined up experts to find out the cause of the situations, but they were all stumped. They did not know why the lizards appeared. They did not know why the outages happened. Scientists conducted checks on power stations and the grid, but everything was working fine!
As the situation worsened, leaders of governments around the world gathered at a grand conference hall to discuss what to do. The conference was attended by citizens from every country.
What was supposed to be a problem-solving occasion became a stage for finger-pointing. The president of one country called the prime minister of another nation a ''liar'' for covering up the sightings of the lizards. There were criticism, bombast and empty slogans, but no issue was addressed. The crowd were disappointed and many left.
But the important people on the stage were still bickering. ''No! You are simply wrong!'' shouted a politician in an expensive suit, ''I am surely that everyone sitting in this hall knows that there is not the slightest amount of truth in what you've said. Just ask anyone here.'' He surveyed the sparse seats and was a bit embarrassed to see that many of them were now empty. He pretended not to see this and pointed at a boy in a pair of Harry Potter-style glasses. ''Let me ask this remarkable young man here, 'What do you think?'''
It was Simon, accompanied by his father on his side. His father had come to this conference, but he too was disgusted by the politicians on the stage was about to leave.
The moderator of the conference stepped up to Simon and handed him a microphone. For several seconds he did not know what to do. Ultimately, he took up the microphone and started to speak.
''He... hello,'' he stuttered. This was the first time he had spoken in front of so many important people. But he soldiered on, ''I just think that maybe there is a reason for this... I mean the glowing lizards. Maybe they are a sign. I think we need to ask ourselves whether we are treating our planet in the way it deserves''.
He swiped the sweats off his forehead and continued, ''I mean the way we use electricity. Perhaps we can turn off the chargers when we do not use them?'' He threw a glance at his father, and continued, ''Maybe it is not a good thing to let the computer run all day long?''
The adults on the stage fell silent. Simon's dad looked at his son in astonishment, surprised that he knew so much.
Simon's speech was broadcast live on TV and was watched by people from all around the world. Suddenly, there was a change in the tide of opinion. ''We don't know better, Simon does!'' said the headline of a newspaper. ''Listen to this kid!'' implored a commentator on TV. ''Do what he says, and this crisis will be over!'' argued a talk show host on TV.
People all around the world began to change their ways. They began to turn off the engines when they did not drive. They began to walk home more often. Simon's father stopped mining for Bitcoins.
Then one day something happened. The power outages stopped. People were able to use their fridges, mobile phones again. But people were now accustomed to using them much less often than before. The glowing lizards were no longer glowing, and they were no longer red. They turned green, left people's homes and headed to the fields. They mingled with grass and leaves on a greener planet.
(End)
Text by Terence Yip
■Glossary
coincide (v) 同時發生
bombast (n) 華而不實的言辭
bicker (v) 爭吵
astonishment (n) 驚訝
[Smarties' Power English 第329期]
