Surrounded
Title
Surrounded
Date
04/22/2022
Text
Flip! Flap! The pages of my great grandmother’s scrapbook feel fragile on my hand. It’s wearing out; the pages have turned a beige shade since they were taken in the 2010s, and the slightest touch feels like it could tear it apart. I don’t really care, though. I enjoy looking through the lives of my ancestors; it’s almost like a personal insider on what the past is like. It’s not quite a time machine, yet still allows me to mentally teleport from one point in time to another. At times, I like to invent my own narrative of what occurred in the photographs pasted and decorated on the albums to later contrast it from the stories passed down through generations in my family. I find it amusing how one's perspective and narrative of an event can differ so much from someone else’s, and really demonstrates the varying mentalities of individuals in comparison to society as a whole.
Abuelita Chloe would often talk about life back when she was younger- just as the Great Flood was starting. She told me about how everyone around her had to evacuate in a hurry during the 2050s, since the cities and streets started filling up with water before anticipated. Previously, scientists had predicted that the Great Flood would start during the 2070s and go on for about 30-40 more years, but here we are in 2135 and the Great Flood is still here. The government promised contingency plan after contingency plan, but no action was taken, and people revolted against them and established the Flooded States of America. It was quite the comical name when they first formed, but it’s stuck around until now and they’ve done a great job at controlling the issue- much better than the previous government- but that was just Abuelita Chloe’s opinion. She was born in 2047, which makes her nearly 90 years old now. She’s way past the life expectancy of humans at our current state, which is only about 60-70 years old due to the rise in temperature from the Great Flood and well... drownings.
That’s how Abuelito Adonis passed away. He went fishing one morning and he just never came back. We all assume he drowned, but we never found the body. However, we did find his boat with fishing gear, and decided to set that along with some of his belongings on fire to honor his memory and say our final goodbyes to him. He was a great person, always so full of life and outgoing. Abuelita Chloe took it harder than anyone, she was only 60 then, and Abuelito Adonis had been her childhood friend and high school sweetheart. It was hard from her moving on without him, but she clung on to the hope that he was still alive somehow and looking for us. She would tell us about the nights that he would “visit her” after his passing, and how he’d reassure her that he was alright and would come to her again soon. We all attributed it to probable dementia, but we had no real way of knowing if it was or not. Following the Great Flood, all major hospitals and laboratories had drowned and could no longer operate, so we had floating infirmaries. Nearly everyone had floating houses now, and the main form of traveling became through boats. Sure you had your swimmestrians here and there- our version of pedestrians- but they were very uncommon. We also managed to secure some livestock from the mainland and built floating farms for them to live on- you never know when the mainland could flood too. The government itself is now located in a place that once held the name of Wynwood, Florida, and is preparing to transition from mainland buildings to floating offices, as Wynwood was projected to flood within the next 10-15 years. The government’s whole motto was to embrace the changes happening to our country, instead of fighting against them- it’s only 6 inches of water now but who knows what the future may hold? While we suffered a recession at first because of the Great Flood, we found new capital in fishing ports, marketing floating houses and other such activities. We began accepting tourists again in 2100 after we built water parks with underground tunnels for people to see the wildlife surrounding us. Our most famous attraction was the “Water-Palooza Funtown”- an entire floating city built solely for entertainment purposes. Abuelita Chloe told us that Water-Palooza Funtown was the 2100’s equivalent of stories her own mother had told her about what used to be known as Walt Disney World back in the 2000s.
We appreciated all the hard work they did for us, and I planned to become an architect to help with the government’s plans at recovery for our country. I’ve already attained my degree in architecture, and have started the process of applying for a government position, but it was highly unlikely that I would get it. However, on a fateful sunday afternoon, our mail was delivered from the mainland and dropped off at our door through delivery drones, and there it was: a letter from the FSAHQ (Flooding States of America HeadQuarters). My stomach churned- I didn't know what to expect. I gathered everyone in our family to the kitchen and showed them the letter, explaining that my anxiety did not permit me to open the letter, and that I wanted one of them to do it. So, they did. I handed my mom the letter, and as she opened it I started tearing up from a mixture of excitement and pure panic.
“We regret to inform you that...,” my mom started. I didn’t want to listen any further. My heart dropped and I felt hopeless.
“Just kidding!” my mom piped up again with a teasing tone. “CONGRATULATIONS HONEY YOU MADE IT IN!!”
I snatched the letter from her hands, refusing to believe that she was being truthful and read it for myself.
“OH MY GOD I MADE IT IN!” That day everyone cheered for me. Everyone except Abuelita Chloe. Her reaction confused me, but I tried not to pay too much mind to it. I knew she had her own mental struggles and I didn’t want to add on- for all I know it could be her dementia getting worse by the day. To my surprise, though, when the nightfell and everyone wandered off to bed, Abuelita Chloe pulled me aside and told me to wait with her for Abuelito Adonis in her room. I was tired, but I wanted to please her, so I agreed. As I was zoning off on her bed, I heard a rattle come from her window.
“There he is,” she smiled adoringly. “Adonis! My Beloved!” A man who looked exactly like Abuelito, but much older and slightly fitter, appeared to be entering the room through the window from before, but stopped when he saw me.
“Chloeita, what’s Jamie doing here? I thought we agreed not to tell anyone, my love. No one can know I’m here.” My head felt like it was ringing- I thought abuelita was just bluffing when she tried to warn us about their nightly visits. But apparently, she just forgot that no one was supposed to know. I stared in utter disbelief as my grandma started speaking again.
“Adonis, it was an emergency. I'm sorry, I had to. She’s taking up the position in the government and I don’t know how to warn her against it, could you please explain why she shouldn’t?” Abuelito Adonis then turned to me again and grabbed me by my shoulders.
“Jamie, look. The reason I’m not allowed to be with you is because of the morning. When I went fishing that morning, I stumbled upon this building that seemed to be abandoned because of the Great Flood. I fully believed that it was one of the few pre-flood buildings that had been scheduled to be taken down later, and allowed my curiosity to get the best of me. I indulge in exploring here and there- yes I’m aware it is now considered illegal with the new FSA regulations, but I didn’t really care. It was one of the many rules I never agreed with. So, I went exploring in this building but I found something that I was not supposed to see. I swam further down to try to see if I could find any old 2000s items, however I was greeted with a pocket of air when I swam down to the first floor, followed by a functioning elevator. I went inside and pressed the “garage” button and that’s when I saw it: hundreds of cryogenic chambers filled with people from the past. There were two ex-presidents from the old government- Biden and Trump- along with a bunch of other influential figures from the past. At the very end of the chamber, there was a lit up map of “old” Florida, along with papers on the desk that revealed everything that the government has done to us. Jamie, they’re the ones doing this to us. They’re the ones flooding us. It was their way of first pulling back the economy and then booming us out of a depression. As soon as I saw everything, I planned an escape and took pictures of everything, but before I could go, an official ran into me and brought me down to a different location for questioning. They knew of everything I saw, and made me sign an NDA. I could not see any of you anymore because of it, nor live with you all. I was terrified. I managed to get them to agree to night visits to your grandmother, and they were surprisingly lenient about it because she has dementia, and trusted that she wouldn't remember enough to say anything. Since then, I have been forced to work in the abandoned building during the day, and am let out at night for visitation. Don’t say anything but, Jamie, you can’t take on this job.”
Tears were swelling down my face. The government is behind everything, she thought. How could they? Why would they? I couldn’t even wrap my head around this notion, but Abuelito Adonis wouldn’t lie to me. Not about this. Never about this. The real question now was what am I supposed to do about this.
“Abuelito, I have to take this job. I must. With both you AND I working for them, we could take them down and expose them. I’ll rise in ranks and get my hands on more classified information. Then, we’ll publish everything we know, and flee the country. You, myself and Abuelita Chloe. Abuelito, what else can we do? We can’t live like this. We can’t live knowing every shitty thing they’ve done to take power from the old government. Their entire campaign is based upon lies. “Embrace the Flood,” more like “we’re causing the flood.” I can’t believe this, we can’t just sit around and watch it happen. I have to do something about it. We have to do something about it.”
They both agreed on this, and decided that they’d meet up in Abuelita’s room every night to further strategize and get straight to work. It became our own secret, and it took years to reach a point where I was high enough to obtain access to deeper plans within the government.
The cryogenic chambers were there so that these people could later be unfrozen and made to run the FSA when their final plans were complete. They were the true founders of the government and had been planning to take it down ever since they came into a position of power. They were supposed to be released back into the world in 2300, hundreds of years from now when their flood plans are through. They were meant to flood the entirety of America, to the point that the FSA would take control of neighboring countries like Canada and the majority of Latin America. I was flabbergasted with every piece of information that I learned, but I pretended to be surprised yet fully on board with the information presented to me. They trusted me enough to allow me to execute further flooding plans. I didn’t want to do it, but in the name of keeping up appearances, I had to. I couldn't just let them get away with all of this, but I couldn't let them find me out either.
When I was high up enough, abuelito and I got to work. We gathered all of our information and wrote analysis and broke down documents for the benefit of reporters. We explained what certain code words were, and detailed everything that the government had been planning out. We included proof that ranged from pictures, to copies of documents and recordings from debriefings. We were sure that we’d be able to make them uncover their scheme. Then, we found trusted individuals who ran news cites and were willing to publish all of our claims. FSA Today! was the news site we went to to do this, since I’d grown up with the current CEO of the company. I told my old mate that she could not tell anyone, no matter who, where she got this information from. I dropped it off at the peak of dawn, before anyone could notice that I was gone and let her know to hold off a week or two before publishing it so that Abuelito Adonis, Abuelita Chloe and I could escape in time. We kept the rest of the family in the dark of what happened because we didn’t want them to suffer from what we did. If they knew nothing, the government could do nothing. They’d assume that we (abuelita Chloe and I) drowned, just like abuelito. They would move on from our deaths eventually, and though that hurt a million times more than I could imagine, it was what was best for them. I planned to return eventually, once things were politically under control again and I was no longer prosecuted by the FSA. Honestly, from the first day, I was terrified of everything. I stopped trusting nearly everyone around me, and I isolated myself. I feel like that is what made me stand out from everyone else that held my same position. They noticed that I kept my circle of friends close, and didn’t allow myself to indulge in fruitless activities with my coworkers. To them, I was a no-nonsense person, and they liked that.
The night came along, and I managed to sneak out Abuelita, myself and Abuelito onto my government issued yacht. I left our family a note to fully cover our tracks that read:
“Gone fishing. Took Abuelita with me because she wanted to go. I love you all so, so much. x x.”
I fought back tears while writing it. It was my final goodbye, my last farewell. I found an undercover con artist to make us Swedish IDs and falsified papers to live there. Our names would change upon entering Sweden. I would no longer be “Jamie Nicole Gonzales,” and I was now “Alejandra Michaela Gomez,” while my grandparents took the names of “Jacob Gomez” and “Colette Gomez.” My grandma was barely conscious of what was happening, but we took her regardless. We couldn’t risk her telling the government everything when they questioned us, and Abuelito wanted to spend his last years with her by his side.
I took us to a nearby island by 7am. I knew the government would be searching for Abuelito by now, so we had to change his appearance. On this island, we all dyed our hair, cut it and bought obscure clothing for the trip. It took us a week to reach our destination of Sweden, and 3 days later the story broke out. We watched everything unfold from the news of Sweden, and I felt happy. After a couple of months, people were revolting against the FSA, but they stood their ground. They denied everything, dismissed it as “conspiracy theories,” but the people knew better. I watched as my little cousins grew up and fought with what became known as “The Resistance.” They led armies of water warriors, and I kept every newspaper article I could find about them saved in a scrapbook for my future generations. Behind each picture in the scrapbook, I wrote about my experiences and everything I went through. I didn’t want my children and grandchildren and more to look through scrapbooks and wonder what went down. I love the idea of fostering their imagination, just as I had when I was younger, but I needed them to know what really happened these last few years, and what our family did for the future of the Flooding States of America. I hope that someday they’ll seek to reunite with our family, and that they love each other as much as I loved them. But for now, I settled in Sweden, married a lovely woman named Priscilla Bon Jovi and had a child with her. I saw the future in her eyes, and knew that she’d become everything that I ever wanted to be someday. For now, we watch our families lives through pictures and articles, but I hope that one day we can all reunite, so that I can tell them all what really happened, and why we left so abruptly.
Abuelita Chloe would often talk about life back when she was younger- just as the Great Flood was starting. She told me about how everyone around her had to evacuate in a hurry during the 2050s, since the cities and streets started filling up with water before anticipated. Previously, scientists had predicted that the Great Flood would start during the 2070s and go on for about 30-40 more years, but here we are in 2135 and the Great Flood is still here. The government promised contingency plan after contingency plan, but no action was taken, and people revolted against them and established the Flooded States of America. It was quite the comical name when they first formed, but it’s stuck around until now and they’ve done a great job at controlling the issue- much better than the previous government- but that was just Abuelita Chloe’s opinion. She was born in 2047, which makes her nearly 90 years old now. She’s way past the life expectancy of humans at our current state, which is only about 60-70 years old due to the rise in temperature from the Great Flood and well... drownings.
That’s how Abuelito Adonis passed away. He went fishing one morning and he just never came back. We all assume he drowned, but we never found the body. However, we did find his boat with fishing gear, and decided to set that along with some of his belongings on fire to honor his memory and say our final goodbyes to him. He was a great person, always so full of life and outgoing. Abuelita Chloe took it harder than anyone, she was only 60 then, and Abuelito Adonis had been her childhood friend and high school sweetheart. It was hard from her moving on without him, but she clung on to the hope that he was still alive somehow and looking for us. She would tell us about the nights that he would “visit her” after his passing, and how he’d reassure her that he was alright and would come to her again soon. We all attributed it to probable dementia, but we had no real way of knowing if it was or not. Following the Great Flood, all major hospitals and laboratories had drowned and could no longer operate, so we had floating infirmaries. Nearly everyone had floating houses now, and the main form of traveling became through boats. Sure you had your swimmestrians here and there- our version of pedestrians- but they were very uncommon. We also managed to secure some livestock from the mainland and built floating farms for them to live on- you never know when the mainland could flood too. The government itself is now located in a place that once held the name of Wynwood, Florida, and is preparing to transition from mainland buildings to floating offices, as Wynwood was projected to flood within the next 10-15 years. The government’s whole motto was to embrace the changes happening to our country, instead of fighting against them- it’s only 6 inches of water now but who knows what the future may hold? While we suffered a recession at first because of the Great Flood, we found new capital in fishing ports, marketing floating houses and other such activities. We began accepting tourists again in 2100 after we built water parks with underground tunnels for people to see the wildlife surrounding us. Our most famous attraction was the “Water-Palooza Funtown”- an entire floating city built solely for entertainment purposes. Abuelita Chloe told us that Water-Palooza Funtown was the 2100’s equivalent of stories her own mother had told her about what used to be known as Walt Disney World back in the 2000s.
We appreciated all the hard work they did for us, and I planned to become an architect to help with the government’s plans at recovery for our country. I’ve already attained my degree in architecture, and have started the process of applying for a government position, but it was highly unlikely that I would get it. However, on a fateful sunday afternoon, our mail was delivered from the mainland and dropped off at our door through delivery drones, and there it was: a letter from the FSAHQ (Flooding States of America HeadQuarters). My stomach churned- I didn't know what to expect. I gathered everyone in our family to the kitchen and showed them the letter, explaining that my anxiety did not permit me to open the letter, and that I wanted one of them to do it. So, they did. I handed my mom the letter, and as she opened it I started tearing up from a mixture of excitement and pure panic.
“We regret to inform you that...,” my mom started. I didn’t want to listen any further. My heart dropped and I felt hopeless.
“Just kidding!” my mom piped up again with a teasing tone. “CONGRATULATIONS HONEY YOU MADE IT IN!!”
I snatched the letter from her hands, refusing to believe that she was being truthful and read it for myself.
“OH MY GOD I MADE IT IN!” That day everyone cheered for me. Everyone except Abuelita Chloe. Her reaction confused me, but I tried not to pay too much mind to it. I knew she had her own mental struggles and I didn’t want to add on- for all I know it could be her dementia getting worse by the day. To my surprise, though, when the nightfell and everyone wandered off to bed, Abuelita Chloe pulled me aside and told me to wait with her for Abuelito Adonis in her room. I was tired, but I wanted to please her, so I agreed. As I was zoning off on her bed, I heard a rattle come from her window.
“There he is,” she smiled adoringly. “Adonis! My Beloved!” A man who looked exactly like Abuelito, but much older and slightly fitter, appeared to be entering the room through the window from before, but stopped when he saw me.
“Chloeita, what’s Jamie doing here? I thought we agreed not to tell anyone, my love. No one can know I’m here.” My head felt like it was ringing- I thought abuelita was just bluffing when she tried to warn us about their nightly visits. But apparently, she just forgot that no one was supposed to know. I stared in utter disbelief as my grandma started speaking again.
“Adonis, it was an emergency. I'm sorry, I had to. She’s taking up the position in the government and I don’t know how to warn her against it, could you please explain why she shouldn’t?” Abuelito Adonis then turned to me again and grabbed me by my shoulders.
“Jamie, look. The reason I’m not allowed to be with you is because of the morning. When I went fishing that morning, I stumbled upon this building that seemed to be abandoned because of the Great Flood. I fully believed that it was one of the few pre-flood buildings that had been scheduled to be taken down later, and allowed my curiosity to get the best of me. I indulge in exploring here and there- yes I’m aware it is now considered illegal with the new FSA regulations, but I didn’t really care. It was one of the many rules I never agreed with. So, I went exploring in this building but I found something that I was not supposed to see. I swam further down to try to see if I could find any old 2000s items, however I was greeted with a pocket of air when I swam down to the first floor, followed by a functioning elevator. I went inside and pressed the “garage” button and that’s when I saw it: hundreds of cryogenic chambers filled with people from the past. There were two ex-presidents from the old government- Biden and Trump- along with a bunch of other influential figures from the past. At the very end of the chamber, there was a lit up map of “old” Florida, along with papers on the desk that revealed everything that the government has done to us. Jamie, they’re the ones doing this to us. They’re the ones flooding us. It was their way of first pulling back the economy and then booming us out of a depression. As soon as I saw everything, I planned an escape and took pictures of everything, but before I could go, an official ran into me and brought me down to a different location for questioning. They knew of everything I saw, and made me sign an NDA. I could not see any of you anymore because of it, nor live with you all. I was terrified. I managed to get them to agree to night visits to your grandmother, and they were surprisingly lenient about it because she has dementia, and trusted that she wouldn't remember enough to say anything. Since then, I have been forced to work in the abandoned building during the day, and am let out at night for visitation. Don’t say anything but, Jamie, you can’t take on this job.”
Tears were swelling down my face. The government is behind everything, she thought. How could they? Why would they? I couldn’t even wrap my head around this notion, but Abuelito Adonis wouldn’t lie to me. Not about this. Never about this. The real question now was what am I supposed to do about this.
“Abuelito, I have to take this job. I must. With both you AND I working for them, we could take them down and expose them. I’ll rise in ranks and get my hands on more classified information. Then, we’ll publish everything we know, and flee the country. You, myself and Abuelita Chloe. Abuelito, what else can we do? We can’t live like this. We can’t live knowing every shitty thing they’ve done to take power from the old government. Their entire campaign is based upon lies. “Embrace the Flood,” more like “we’re causing the flood.” I can’t believe this, we can’t just sit around and watch it happen. I have to do something about it. We have to do something about it.”
They both agreed on this, and decided that they’d meet up in Abuelita’s room every night to further strategize and get straight to work. It became our own secret, and it took years to reach a point where I was high enough to obtain access to deeper plans within the government.
The cryogenic chambers were there so that these people could later be unfrozen and made to run the FSA when their final plans were complete. They were the true founders of the government and had been planning to take it down ever since they came into a position of power. They were supposed to be released back into the world in 2300, hundreds of years from now when their flood plans are through. They were meant to flood the entirety of America, to the point that the FSA would take control of neighboring countries like Canada and the majority of Latin America. I was flabbergasted with every piece of information that I learned, but I pretended to be surprised yet fully on board with the information presented to me. They trusted me enough to allow me to execute further flooding plans. I didn’t want to do it, but in the name of keeping up appearances, I had to. I couldn't just let them get away with all of this, but I couldn't let them find me out either.
When I was high up enough, abuelito and I got to work. We gathered all of our information and wrote analysis and broke down documents for the benefit of reporters. We explained what certain code words were, and detailed everything that the government had been planning out. We included proof that ranged from pictures, to copies of documents and recordings from debriefings. We were sure that we’d be able to make them uncover their scheme. Then, we found trusted individuals who ran news cites and were willing to publish all of our claims. FSA Today! was the news site we went to to do this, since I’d grown up with the current CEO of the company. I told my old mate that she could not tell anyone, no matter who, where she got this information from. I dropped it off at the peak of dawn, before anyone could notice that I was gone and let her know to hold off a week or two before publishing it so that Abuelito Adonis, Abuelita Chloe and I could escape in time. We kept the rest of the family in the dark of what happened because we didn’t want them to suffer from what we did. If they knew nothing, the government could do nothing. They’d assume that we (abuelita Chloe and I) drowned, just like abuelito. They would move on from our deaths eventually, and though that hurt a million times more than I could imagine, it was what was best for them. I planned to return eventually, once things were politically under control again and I was no longer prosecuted by the FSA. Honestly, from the first day, I was terrified of everything. I stopped trusting nearly everyone around me, and I isolated myself. I feel like that is what made me stand out from everyone else that held my same position. They noticed that I kept my circle of friends close, and didn’t allow myself to indulge in fruitless activities with my coworkers. To them, I was a no-nonsense person, and they liked that.
The night came along, and I managed to sneak out Abuelita, myself and Abuelito onto my government issued yacht. I left our family a note to fully cover our tracks that read:
“Gone fishing. Took Abuelita with me because she wanted to go. I love you all so, so much. x x.”
I fought back tears while writing it. It was my final goodbye, my last farewell. I found an undercover con artist to make us Swedish IDs and falsified papers to live there. Our names would change upon entering Sweden. I would no longer be “Jamie Nicole Gonzales,” and I was now “Alejandra Michaela Gomez,” while my grandparents took the names of “Jacob Gomez” and “Colette Gomez.” My grandma was barely conscious of what was happening, but we took her regardless. We couldn’t risk her telling the government everything when they questioned us, and Abuelito wanted to spend his last years with her by his side.
I took us to a nearby island by 7am. I knew the government would be searching for Abuelito by now, so we had to change his appearance. On this island, we all dyed our hair, cut it and bought obscure clothing for the trip. It took us a week to reach our destination of Sweden, and 3 days later the story broke out. We watched everything unfold from the news of Sweden, and I felt happy. After a couple of months, people were revolting against the FSA, but they stood their ground. They denied everything, dismissed it as “conspiracy theories,” but the people knew better. I watched as my little cousins grew up and fought with what became known as “The Resistance.” They led armies of water warriors, and I kept every newspaper article I could find about them saved in a scrapbook for my future generations. Behind each picture in the scrapbook, I wrote about my experiences and everything I went through. I didn’t want my children and grandchildren and more to look through scrapbooks and wonder what went down. I love the idea of fostering their imagination, just as I had when I was younger, but I needed them to know what really happened these last few years, and what our family did for the future of the Flooding States of America. I hope that someday they’ll seek to reunite with our family, and that they love each other as much as I loved them. But for now, I settled in Sweden, married a lovely woman named Priscilla Bon Jovi and had a child with her. I saw the future in her eyes, and knew that she’d become everything that I ever wanted to be someday. For now, we watch our families lives through pictures and articles, but I hope that one day we can all reunite, so that I can tell them all what really happened, and why we left so abruptly.
Collection
Citation
“Surrounded,” Everything Speaks To Me , accessed September 18, 2026, https://everythingspeakstome.com/items/show/74.