https://everythingspeakstome.com/files/original/5fa84977c13b443895ad807f76960ea7.jpg dd9ed81439747730dadb7bd644554c1d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource After The Rise ... Description An account of the resource Using elevations and water level projected on EyesOnTheRise.com, these speculative fictions explore the world that was Miami after sea levels rise 6 or more feet. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Administrator Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Please post your written submission in this field. The images you would like to include should be posted as attachments below. 07/14/ 2082 Ever since the rapidly rising waters in Florida had their growth spurt, dry land became scarcer than diamonds. The once called “Sunny Isles” were now more conveniently nicknamed the “Sweaty Isles,” as it had become a swamp wonderland due to the ever flowing lakes. The heat was unbearable, and the humidity made every pore a sweat volcano. Shawn Terrville, Florida’s boyfriend, buzzed along the creek that had blossomed between the Le Frontenac Condominium, one of the last standing, in his self-made airboat. Shawn was a quick-witted, inventive guy. He was in love with Florida and he’d vowed to never leave unless it was absolutely necessary. He found his way out of escaping the place. When the water rose up, he began making and selling airboats. When the lakes started invading dry land, he put up a tourist attraction, showcasing Sunny Isles’ very own “aquatic zoo”. When the humidity was barely low enough to breathe, he made a fan factory in his own garage. He was determined to keep the state alive, or at least the city. So what if the city floods? I’ll get to workin, find something that sells. Just me and my lady Florida. Been here since I was born, ain’t gonna leave her now. Besides, I’m one with the water by now baby. If I’m gonna die, I might as well drown. Yeah baby, no hassles. He whizzed by the newly sprouted mangroves on his way to the bank. He was gonna deposit his newest earnings into his account so he could make new signs for the tourists. He ran his hand through his hair, fresh as the air blew at him. He smiled, optimist as ever, even as the place he loved sank bit by bit. He was just circling around a family of frogs when he saw a girl, face glowing bright red and eyes bulging in desperation, struggling to row her canoe. It was Claire Jackson, news reporter on Channel 6 and fearless Florida defender. Unlike Shawn, she fought against the rising waters, cursing each day the lakes and oceans overflowed. She tried to bring awareness to revert or minimize the climate change, and seeing how empty her hometown was becoming with each day made her feel sad and angry, and especially frustrated. He drove his airboat towards her, smirking as if this was a typical sight. “Need a little help, sweetheart?” he asked in a honey coated voice. His eyes looked for hers, and she finally met them with a huff. “No thanks.” Claire said coldly, or tried to, until her lack of breath cut her off. He narrowed his gaze suspiciously. “Why don’t you climb up on here, little lady, I’ll take you where you need to go. Where ya headed?” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “The bank. I’m on my way to the bank.” “Oh no way! I was just going there too, talk about coincidence.” He replied charmingly. Shawn extended his hand to her, helping an annoyed Claire climb on to the airboat. “Say, what’s your name?” “Claire Jackson. I’m the news reporter.” “Well, nice to meet you Claire Jackson. I’m Shawn Terrville. Your name sounds like it should be famous.” “I’m on TV fairly regularly, and the channel is one of the most well-known in the region.” “Oh a whole TV star on my boat. I gotta say, I’ve never heard of you, but then again, I never really switch onto the news channel.” “What?” Claire stared at him in disbelief. How could anyone live without knowing what was going on around them? “Oh no, it just makes me depressed. I don’t like seeing all those sad stories over and over all day. Florida’s too pretty to have so many problems.” “But news is the way we make the problems known so we can fix them!” “Why fix them if we can use them?” Shawn countered. “Use them?! We should be saving Florida, preventing sea level rise.” “What if the sea level rise is what saves Florida?” “You have got to be kidding me! How very infuriating of you!” Shawn shrugged, as if agreeing with her, and gave no answer. The pair glided along the newly inaugurated stream and landed on the bank’s miniature island, waiting in line in the hot, spicy Florida sun. Meanwhile, right across from Collins Avenue, Elizabeth Wood was seeing a new kind of craziness unfold. The marine biologist student was taking a walk along the bright, beautiful beach. The scorching sun’s light glittered over the cristaline waves, and a very anxious Elizabeth walked nervously across the edge of the water. 5 months had gone by since she’d left her parents’ house under the idea that she’d finish her marine biology degree and though she loved learning about the deep ocean blue and its life, she was feeling indecisive. She hadn’t been feeling entirely like herself and she wondered if taking a break would help with her latest worries. She neared the pier and stretched her towel down on the sand. She sat and wrapped her mesh around her legs, thinking about all the things she’d once wanted to do in her life. Down the beach, she saw an oil barrel teetering on the edge of the port. She watched closely, wondering if no one would strap it tighter. She looked away, feeding her crime of omission. Sure enough though … Is that… gasoline? Elizabeth thought, turning her nose up at the smell. She closed in on the source and saw the whole oil spill in full display. What should I do? Who do I call? Oh God, the whole barrel tipped over and the sea is getting as muddled as it could be. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod. Well I gotta do something. She rushed over to the rainbow coat that was expanding over the ocean. Then the scariest thing happened. The oil burned everything it touched. Sea animal limbs were getting scorched in the oil, and whole platters of fried shrimp floated wherever the gasoline touched. Elizabeth gagged. “Seafood.” she muttered under her breath. As she neared she saw a sight worse than a seafood buffet. The animals that didn’t die were growing new limbs, deforming in countless ways and piling on top of one another. Sharks and crabs and squids crammed together, forming a monster only before seen in children’s imaginations. The creature towered at 10 feet tall, with the head of a great white, 8 arms with pincers, starfish legs and a manta ray cape, complete with stinger and everything. Elizabeth’s eyes widened. Her internal panic was interrupted by such a sight. What the hell am I gonna do NOW? Oh my GOD THAT THING IS HUGE! AAAAAAAAAA!!!” The monster strode towards her at a leisurely pace, as if it had all the time in the world. Elizabeth screamed in terror and bolted towards the city, running as fast as her legs could allow her. She stumbled over her flip flops and her feet touched the scorching asphalt. She yelped in pain and anguish, and when she turned to look the monster was gaining on her. A pincer the size of her whole head snapped inches away from her ponytail. She crossed Collins Avenue like she had developed immunity to car accidents, a bright blur of blue sandals and white mesh. She ran all the way to the bank and saw two figures, one standing and the other sitting, backs turned towards each other in indignation. She sprinted and yelled “HEEEELLLLPPP AAAAAAAAAA RUUUUUUUUNNN!!!” and was met by two heads whipping around to the sound of her voice. Claire and Shawn stared at the frantic tornado that was shouting, unaware of the reason behind her urgency. Claire started to raise her hands, as if asking what, what is it? But then the shark head rounded the corner and both sets of eyes widened in shock. The disagreeing pair stood, frozen in fear and confusion, and a wild Elizabeth flew by, grabbing them by the shirts and pulling them into action. Claire threw a canoe row, she sent it sailing straight between the monster’s eyes, momentarily disorienting it. The trio broke into a sprint, not daring to turn back. Behind them, a very confused sea monster spun in circles, tiny reefs swirling around the head. The escapees had a feeling the spell wouldn’t last long, and fled to the nearest cave by the Towne Royale Condominium, one of the more battered, empty ones. The cave they found was right on the edge of the new river that had settled into what used to be Atlantic Boulevard. Drops dotted the puddles below their feet, and the wet rock glistened as they entered. Three stressed hearts pounded at the rhythm of a colorful bongo tune. Shawn was the first to catch his breath, though it didn’t last long with the speed at which he asked his questions. “Okay, first of all, what the HELL was that? And why was it chasing you? And who are you? And why was it chasing us? And what is it doing here?” His face burned almost as much as his legs. Claire panted along to the questions, also curious for an explanation, and they both stared at Elizabeth, who was looking greener than the moss hanging off the cave walls. The student opened her mouth, and the other two thought they’d get some answer, but a spray of vomit came out instead. “Oh no, nonono oh don’t throw up!” Claire protested. Shawn side-eyed her, like he knew it wasn’t on purpose and was annoyed at Claire. Elizabeth bent over, heaving with a face like she was about to faint, and sat down. Shawn knelt near her and helped her breathe, coaching her through and offering her water from his bag. When she finally felt a bit more stable, she told them everything. She told them about the oil barrel and the weird burning phenomenon with the animals, and how the monster had risen as a result of various animals merging together. By the time she was done, Claire and Shawn were staring at her like she had just sprouted a second head. “It’s true,” she said, shaking her head and shrugging, “I know it sounds crazy and maybe we’re all having a collective hallucination and I’d really like to believe that instead, but you guys saw that thing.” They each took a space on a rock and sat, thinking about what they’d just seen. Sure, a monster like that had to have been created by some weird chemical reaction, that much made sense, kind of. But who would be dumb enough to leave a highly reactive oil right on the edge of the port, where it could so easily fall and get things how they were? And who would even create such an oil? Claire was the first to speak. “I know what just happened was absolute lunacy. But a story on this would really be enough to get national attention. We could broadcast it on the news and with the right audience, we could help advocate for the state, see if we can reduce pollution and slow down the sea rise. It would be our biggest story yet, and a major breakthrough. Imagine: Mega Monster rising out of the Florida Sea. That’s a headliner if I’ve ever heard one!” Shawn rubbed his chin. He thought it over and said “Hey now baby, don’t go stealin all the ideas. A man’s gotta eat too. Monster Miami, I could get a whole lotta cash for a zoo with those biggies, I just gotta make something to capture ‘em with. Then I can get the moolah rolling and fund Florida’s comeback.” An extremely anxious Elizabeth shot up and paced back and forth, shaking her head. “Don’t you see? These creatures were born out of an oil spill. We have to find out more about them, study their DNA, what if there’s something there that could help us? What if that oil can also alter land animals, or even humans?”. They all stared at each other. It became clear they each wanted to go through with their own idea. Shawn kept his eyes on Elizabeth. “You haven’t introduced yourself yet.” He pointed out. She sighed in recognition and said “I’m Elizabeth Wood, I came down here to study marine biology and get my Bachelor’s degree. Who are you guys?” “Well, I’m Shawn Terrville, I’m an inventor, a blacksmith, a businessman, you name it. I’m a, how you say, jack of all trades. And this here,” Shawn extended his arm out to Claire, “is Claire Jackson, a very serious news reporter for Channel 6. She’s a little impatient, but that’s part of her charm.” He winked at Elizabeth. Claire narrowed her gaze at Elizabeth. “You said your last name was Wood? As in Wood Enterprises?” Elizabeth nodded and looked away, not meeting Claire’s eyes. Tension built up in their tiny cave, and Shawn was getting tired of the silence. “What are you talking about? What Wood Enterprises?” He finally huffed. Claire spun and locked eyes on him. “Wood Enterprises, as in the number one major corporation benefitting from sea level rise. They have flood managing engineers, and they’re the ones pushing the “floating city” idea on possible sinking land.” Shawn’s eyes widened. “Yeah, might be a good idea to turn your TV on once in a while” Claire rolled her eyes. “So your daddy is pushing to make Florida worse than ever.” Shawn concluded, turning towards Elizabeth. “Yeah, pretty much.” Elizabeth said reluctantly. “He got greedy and he thinks global warming is his next ticket to an even bigger fortune. What can I say, the man and I differ on a lot of things.” “Right. So then if princess over here differs with her daddy that means we should just automatically trust her. Is that why you wanna study the monsters, get to do recon for your dad to see if they can help him speed things up?” Shawn growled. “I think we should split up. We each do whatever we think is right.” Claire stood up. She waved with her remaining canoe row and walked out of the cave. “Yeah I think I’ll follow her cue.” Shawn said coldly. Elizabeth plopped down on a rock, wallowing in anxiety and despair. Her dad didn’t have anything to do with this, as far as she knew, but “hey my dad’s sinking a whole state to make money” still wasn’t the best icebreaker. Claire trudged through the outside of the cave and waded towards her washed up canoe. She thought to herself, oh great. Getting here on two rows was bad enough, but getting back with just one? Fantastic. She climbed in and collected her things. She had her notebook and pen, her video camera, her phone and some cut up pineapple. She decided to investigate the creature on her own and see what story she could sell. She walked back near the 7-Eleven where they’d left the monster dazing, careful not to let anyone see her. When she reached the battle site, she saw Shawn standing over the huge lump of monster. Claire dropped her spy act and marched towards the annoying inventor. “What are you doing here?” she asked through gritted teeth. He held out a tape measure and a notepad. “Just taking some measurements, I need to know how big I’m gonna make the habitat for this guy.” Claire stared at him. “Did you knock him out?” Shawn frowned and looked at the bulky, snoring monster. “No, I uh, I think you did, actually. Great shot.” he grinned at her. His grin frustrated her. The man couldn't stay serious about anything! She scowled, and Shawn noticed how her eyes always stayed so intensely focused, whatever expression she had. He liked that. He liked making her mad. He caught himself still in the smile, and straightened up. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, so if you don’t mind, I need to re take this fin measurement.” Claire rolled her eyes and sulked back to the beach, to the point Elizabeth had described the oil spill. Sure enough, there was the barrel tipped over, and enough fried fish to feed an army. She kicked the sand and sat down to think. She started writing news scripts in her journal, crossing them out and correcting them, until she heard the sound of water rippling. She raised her gaze and saw far off, near the oil container, a figure moving. She instinctively crouched behind a garbage can and squinted. She saw a tall moving mountain, and willed her eyes to sharpen her vision. She gasped as the figure came into focus. A giant creature was wading in the ocean with the legs of a crab and a beard of pure tentacles, and the face was a horrible anglerfish. The creature looked like it belonged in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean, never allowed to see the light of day. And it was not alone. The monster was ripping pieces of land off and crumbling them bits by bits, along with its huddle of buddies. Together they were taking Florida apart like it was cornbread. Claire took her camera out and started videotaping and narrating. “This is Claire Jackson, Florida news reporter. I’m here at Sunny Isles’ Beach, it’s July 14th 2082. Sea levels have risen about 3 feet since 2020, and life here in Florida is getting harder each day. These are our newest problems.” She pointed the camera at the latest tourists. Now the largest monsters were at the far back of the beach creating tidal waves. Claire zoomed in on each creature. One of them was a giant squid with one eye. The other was a whale with a jellyfish head, electric tentacles curling around like arms. The bearded angler-crab was back at the port, sniffing around the containers, probably looking for another one to tip over and create more friends. She watched him as he ripped chunks off the port and blasted them across the beach. A piece flew over Claire’s head and when she got close to it, the metal read “Wood Enterprises Port”. She videotaped as much as her heart allowed her to, then she shut off her camera and crawled out of the beach, palms coated in sweat and sand. She returned to where she’d seen Shawn and the unconscious monster. “Back so soon darlin’?” He called when he sensed her walking towards him. He looked up to smile, but dropped his expression when he saw her face. “What happened, are you okay?” She raised her camera. “I need your help” she managed to say shakily. She showed Shawn the video. He waited until it was done and said “So these guys aren’t Elizabeth’s dad’s toys. Why would they destroy the port if they were working for him?” Claire nodded. Wood Enterprises was a different enemy, and not the priority. Shawn looked over at the lump of monster in front of them. “I guess he better lug this buddy back to the cave and keep an eye on it. I have a feeling we’re gonna need a marine biologist.” They hauled the giant creature to the cave, dragging the limp pincers on the burning asphalt. When they got there, Claire was red and drenched in sweat. Shawn glanced at her and said “Red is definitely your color” with a smirk on his face, like he was so clever. She stared him down, not even cracking a smile. “See, even serious you’re gorgeous.” They were interrupted by the sound of a video. Inside the cave was a curled up Elizabeth, with her phone inches from her face. She was watching a news story covering an underwater volcano explosion from more than 50 years ago. She looked up and saw the suspicious pair. “There was an underwater volcanic eruption off this coast in 2025,” she explained, “it set off the accelerated sea level rise. We weren’t supposed to reach 3 feet until another 40 years, but something in this eruption set off an anxious timer. Near the site of the volcano was a huge oil reserve and it got affected, creating monsters like the one we saw today. Since they’re a product of a volcanic eruption, they’ve helped in heating up the ocean, melting glaciers and increasing global warming as well as sea level rise. They’d all died eventually, but some of that oil was stored away. I’m guessing that’s where our friend came from.” She pointed at the loaf of shark. Claire and Shawn shared a look of worry, and turned to Elizabeth. “You’re gonna wanna see this, Wood.” Shawn told her. Claire showed Elizabeth the video, leaving her in disbelief. “I suppose you’re gonna tell me we have to work together to get rid of them?” she predicted. “Well, yeah, kinda.” an impatient Claire replied. Elizabeth motioned for the other two to get closer. She pulled up all her study materials on her phone, turning it sideways and unfolding layers of screen until she had a mini computer in her hands. She shone on the big screen, revealing a hologram with books and pictures and graphs. “We need to know how many there are, what animal makes up the most of their body and how to attack each one. Claire, you did great with Sharky over here. Sharks get knocked out cold when they get hit between the eyes, so if he wakes up again, gotta re do that attack. In the video there was a huge squid, which should be the easiest considering it's just one species, no crossovers. Well, if fighting sea monsters were easy.” Elizabeth rambled, planning out a whole war strategy against the creatures. “Shawn, are you any good with weapons? Can you make a harpoon for the whale guy?” Shawn grinned like he’d been waiting his whole life for that question. He found moss and sticks and rocks, and fashioned a miniature slingshot. “You could say I’m crafty.” “Claire, I need you to do some more recon. We gotta see how these guys operate. Do they ever rest, or eat? When are their most vulnerable moments? When can we attack? Do they know Sharky over here is missing? Find out everything you can.” It was amazing seeing Elizabeth giving orders. The panicky, anxious student had sprang into action, replaced by this organized, decided scientist. Shawn and Claire nodded along. Shawn tied up the captured monster to a corner, tightening it so much not even the sharpest teeth could free him. Roles were given, and set out to complete. Claire departed to the beach, camera in hand. Shawn headed to his workshop, measurements on hand. Elizabeth paced through the cave, examining the monster and taking notes on her high tech phone. The sun started to set and Elizabeth started to wonder when her partners would be back. She sat and stared at the monster. It hadn’t woken up all afternoon. She had as many notes as she could take, all the sea animal weaknesses she could find. Shawn appeared, he ducked and entered the cave with several small golden boxes. When he opened them, three large jet skis unfolded, and a full arsenal of weapons. Elizabeth gazed at the boxes, wondering how such large items could fit in such small baggage, but decided not to ask. She didn’t think Shawn would tell her anyway. He started explaining how to use each weapon, and how the jet skis worked. Elizabeth paid close attention to everything he said, trying out the weapons for feel and deciding they’d all pick their own once Claire arrived. Claire peeked her head into the cave just a moment later. She waved her camera over her head, “I made a movie” she smiled. She walked into the cave and noticed the inventor’s display. “Wow, what’s all this?” “Just a little something I like to call pizzazz,” said Shawn, busting out the jazz hands. They all shared a chuckle, and got to planning. “As the sun started to set, they got tired,” updated Claire, “the sun seems to give them energy, and when it dies down so do they. I don’t think Sharky will be giving us any trouble tonight. We could attack as soon as it’s completely dark out and catch them by surprise.” “So it’s settled. We go tonight.” announced Elizabeth. They huddled together, keeping warm in the cave, but not daring to make a campfire so as not to attract any of the monsters. And then they heard it. Screams. Blood curdling screams, coming from the beach. The trio sprang to their feet, grabbing whatever they found nearest. “I think we’d better get going now,” said Shawn, eyes alert everywhere. The girls nodded, and grabbed the jetski boxes. They sprinted to the beach, and saw pieces of wood that looked like they had just been extinguished. Phones and flashlights and snacks were scattered, and sandals left behind. Then it clicked. There were some kids at the beach, some teens trying to have a sleepover on the shore, and the monsters fed on the campfire energy, and the kids. The trio opened the jet ski boxes and hopped on them, shooting into the ocean at the speed of a dolphin. They neared the port and saw about 7 monsters, each larger and more terrifying than the last. They unsheathed their weapons, harpoons and spears and daggers and bombs and anything Shawn had thought of. And they did the dumbest thing possible. They yelled and charged at them. Shawn was the first to succeed in his attack. He threw the harpoon at the whale/jellyfish monster, piercing its sleek skin and sending it flying backwards. His victory was short lived, because just then another shark based monster smacked him across the face with all 8 pincers. Shawn’s eye bruised immediately, and he felt the skin on his face burning. The pincers had scratched his cheeks and his neck dealt with the aftermath of an 8 handed slap. Claire felt a stabbing pain in her stomach and she wanted to go and help him, but the giant squid was gaining on her, and she thought, it’s now or never. She yelled, and the sound came from deep inside her gut. She charged the creature, slipping underneath the network of tentacles. She raised her spear with all her force, cutting the squid open for surgery, and let inertia carry her through, ripping the creature from underneath. Everything was going fine, until a blobfish the size of a tractor seized her legs and dragged her out from under the enemy. Claire fought and wiggled and hacked away at the awful looking face, shouting curses and kicking with all her might. Elizabeth paused her battle with the angler-crab and ran to help Claire. She finished off the giant squid that Claire had been tearing up and dug her dagger into that one vicious eye. She jumped and stabbed the blobfish anywhere she could reach, leaving it looking like a rebellious teen who learned what piercings were. Shawn was recovering, so he stood and hopped on a jet ski, riding all the way to the girls and sent a harpoon flying straight towards the blobfish’s mouth, seconds before it feasted on Claire. The three of them stood, backs to backs and defended themselves. They slashed and hacked and beat and stabbed wildly, turning completely onto their savage sides. The beach reeked of monster blood, and the water didn’t help the humans as much as it did the monsters. The moon shone brighter than ever before. The sand was decorated in an assortment of fins, tentacles and pincers. Elizabeth gagged at the smell. Only the angler-crab was left. “We need to puncture the eyes. That’s how we can get the whole monster. Two of us have to distract it around the crab legs, and the other has to stab both eyes at once.” Elizabeth whispered urgently as the monster approached. “Who’s it gonna be?” Shawn unsheathed two golden daggers and twirled them around his fingers. “Leave the eyes to me. I’m sure I can figure out a thing or two about optometry,” he winked. Claire and Elizabeth tackled the crab legs, chasing and yanking and pulling. Shawn leaped over them, using the frantic crab legs as stairs and tugging at the tentacle beard. He pushed himself off the nearest leg and flew into that awful anglerfish face, plunging his knives into the bulging eyeballs, extinguishing the creepy light that hung over its head. The battle was won. The humans were absolutely exhausted. They collapsed on the ground, bones aching and sore. When they finally came to, they saw that the remains of the creatures were shrinking and evaporating. A weird ending to the weird creation. Shawn and Elizabeth talked about the fight, how awesome they’d both done it and how great the tools worked. Claire stood and walked over to a sliced fin. She crouched and saw a name branded into the limb: Wood Enterprises. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sweaty Isles Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Alejandra Quecano Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 06/16/2022