Author: Bitania
Dearest Oxygen,
It is with deep condolences that I inform you that today is the last day anyone will cherish your existence. Just like they chose to forget me for the past centuries, they will forget you… none of them will be here to cry out your name and shower you with gratitude. Because, today, March 15th, 2057, marks the day that the last human took their breath. And it’s all because of me.
My story doesn’t begin with humans mere centuries ago, however. It begins with an explosion – a supernova – that happened billions of years ago. Do you remember? When you and I met and declared earth our home? When did it stop being our home and started being just yours?
I blame the humans. They’re the ones who divided us. They came, and they loved you more. Oh, how they loved you! No day passed when a human has not mentioned your name alongside countless praises. They thanked you constantly – oh, their audacity to claim that you were the only one they needed to be able to breathe. Did they forget that exhalation is also breathing?
With their praises, you became bigger and bigger. You were much stronger than I could ever hope to be. “Is that why they love you? Is that why they always pick you over me?” I asked myself. I wondered if making myself bigger would make them love me more.
So, that’s exactly what I did. I made more of myself. I took from you so that I could be bigger and bigger. I didn’t realize then that this would make them hate me more. They called me a “pollutant” and said that I contaminated their perfect air. In an effort to make them love me, I made them hate me more.
I only wanted them to love me, but now they are all dead and there is no one left to love me.
Yours affectionately,
Carbon Dioxide
