This is a different kind of post. For the first time, I am sharing a fiction short story that I wrote. Disaster Trials is a short story set in Athens 2035 written for the general public, including youth and people who enjoy creative twists on Greek mythology. While the story is fiction, the setting and heat-related disasters are based on climate projections of possible scenarios of conditions for Greece and Southern Europe in the near future, and how the urban heat island effect is experienced in everyday life.
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“Ah how shameless the way these mortals blame the gods. From us alone, they say, come all their miseries, yes, but they themselves, with their own reckless ways, compound their pains beyond their proper share…”
– Zeus, in the opening of Homer’s epic The Odyssey
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Disaster Trials. Athens 2035.
It was early morning, and still, Zoe sweated in the shade of the library building as she waited for it to open. This was not unusual these years, but today, it was impatience rather than heat that moved her hand to fan her face.
Where were they? Did they not see the newspage? After the repeated wildfire and flooding disasters that wiped out the western half of the Athens metropolitan city – including her family’s home – there would finally be a trial. A public trial. The Governor was putting the gods of Olympus on trial. In public.
Looking east, she saw two familiar figures approaching, the sun shining behind them. Finally. Would they all laugh about this or should they be worried? She was about to call out when her eye caught something on the roof of the building.
An owl? No owls have been sighted in years…hardly any birds really…it can’t be.
Thymia and Theofilos arrived. “Was the newspage hacked again?” Theofilos’s eyes flashed under furrowed brow.
“I think the AI newswriter is daydreaming, or straight mocking us,” Thymia gave Zoe a heat-appropriate air kiss near the cheek.
They had seen the newspage.
The owl watched them.
As Zoe was about to point out the owl to her friends, Librarian Sophia arrived. She smiled at them. “Kalimera, paidia. I brought you some lemonade today.” She unlocked the door and looking solemn, voice lowered, said “Let’s get inside to talk before it gets crowded.”
The building had become more day shelter than library, as the heat persisted above 38°C for over two months, and above 43°C the past two weeks. The people who lost their homes in the western suburb disasters struggled to find places for brief respites from the suffocating and deadly evacuee camps. The city’s remaining libraries were now used as cooling centres more than anything else. Only two libraries, both in the affluent suburbs closer to the coast, were new, spacious buildings that stayed cool inside and had parks with shade around them. The rest of the city’s libraries were long abandoned by governments and investments. The old buildings overheated easily, and their AC units struggled to cool the full space, often losing the struggle and breaking down.
Sophia turned on the AC and had them seated with lemonade at their usual table in no time. Lemonade was a rare treat these years due to the water shortage restrictions and rations for fruits, and vegetables, and most food, really.
The kids first met a year ago. They each started coming to this small neighbourhood library before and after school. Many kids did the same, but these few went directly into the book stacks to find whatever books remained about animals and natural environments on land, under land, in water, on mountains. Many of the creatures and ecosystems they saw on those pages were now lost, destroyed, or scarce and elusive, but they loved discovering them on these old pages.
Even in this flat, limited paper form, exploring the wonders of the natural world helped them escape the misery of the world on fire around them. It pained them that so much of it was gone, but they were drawn to this world more than any of the ostentatious Artificial Intelligence-generated contrived worlds. This table, protected by a fortress wall of books others cared nothing about, became their learning base camp.
Librarian Sophia noticed them right away. At first, she helped them find books and other materials that revealed details of nature that their schools skimmed past or had long forgotten in order to avoid the shame and sadness of explaining how so many of these creatures and ecosystems were killed off. Then she started bringing the young nature-lovers club little treats to share while she answered their questions or just listened as they expressed their excitement about what they learned and all they wanted to learn. For Sophia, they were like a cool breeze in the midst of a heatwave – or at least, what she recalled a cool breeze felt like from long ago.
With one hand Zoe touched the glass of lemonade to her forehead and with the other pulled up the newspage headlines on her intelipad screen.
The Gods charged for disasters! Governor sets public trial
New Future Developments announces innovative climatically designed urban project. Dome model to be largest disaster proof city re-development in Europe
Arrests in protest by displaced western residents
As they stared and chattered over the screen, Andreas seemed to appear out of nowhere. “You heard,” he observed.
“We heard. The question is what have you heard?”
Andreas’s father worked for NFD, which had strong ties with the Governor and his administration. He looked around as he slowly sat down, checking to make sure the crowd gathering at the front part of the library wasn’t filtering toward their table and behind the surrounding books.
“My dad was on the phone most of morning,” he whispered from under his low hat. “This trial is of course a ridiculous stunt-performance. The Governor wants to approve the dome city they want to build over the destroyed western half of the city. Huge engineering projects to change the land, but will be a luxury project. This gods trial will distract people, they say, while the Governor essentially hands them the territory. They’re hoping some people will be entertained by the absurdity of the trial and some will be kept busy with opposing the waste of resources caused by the spectacle.”
Zoe frowned. “Will people really fall for it? My parents said it’s because of this dome project that we’ll never get our home back or any home in this city. My parents are trying to move us to northern Europe, but so many people went there already, it’s impossible.”
“Yeah, and my mom was at the protest yesterday. Everyone there knows this governor is taking advantage of the disasters to basically steal that land while he gives people no alternative for homes.” Theofilos and his mother were living with his cousin Thymia and her family since they lost their home in one of the floods that occurred between drought and wildfire seasons. He and Thymia began coming to this library to get away from the crowded shared home.
They all turned to Sophia. “Children, you are right that this trial of the gods of Olympus seems absurd. It is insulting to everyone that lost their homes and everyone who may lose their homes in the next disasters. No one has thought much about these gods for decades; only some small groups believe in them. But many people will likely get caught up in the show, and the performance will help reinforce the idea that the disasters were caused by ‘angry nature’, even if people don’t believe the gods control nature. And if people believe that only nature caused the floods and fires and heat and sinkholes, they’ll accept the idea that humans have to ‘conquer’ nature with bigger and bigger projects – like fully enclosed cities.” Now she did a quick scan for any eavesdroppers, then leaned in closer. “By blaming these gods, they don’t insult the big religions, while still riling up people’s emotions at a time when many are heat stressed, agitated, and nearing despair. This trial may be more dangerous than we know.”
The kids sat silent and thoughtful.
“So…someone needs to defend the gods,” Thymia spoke up.
“My dad said the environmentalists will oppose the trial, there’s no way they’ll be a part of it. And he said probably no one will dare to do anything because they see how police are cracking down on the people protesting the dome. So the Governor will probably have someone perform the role of the defense, but we know what the outcome will be.”
“You kids have to get to school,” Sophia said gently. “I’m sorry you have to witness all this. If only the people of this city had your love of nature.” She walked them to the side door to avoid the crowd in the front of the building enjoying the AC and virtual reality distractions.
Outside, it was already hotter. The air attacked their lungs. They said goodbye to Sophia and turned toward the sidewalk. The owl perched in front of them on a small tree.
“An owl?”
“Oh! What kind of owl is it?”
“Wait, where did that tree come from? What?”
“What if it’s a dronimal? Can drones look like animals this real?”
The owl spread its wings, looking at them intently. They all stopped talking.
I’m not an owl. I’m…let’s say borrowing the form of an owl.
Thymia grabbed Zoe’s arm. Andreas looked quickly all around them. Theofilos began, “I told you, it’s a dronimal with no shame…”
Zoe did not take her eyes off the owl. “Who are you?”
A sort of haze gathered around them and the owl, not like any haze they’d gotten used to seeing from wildfire smoke and heat and pollution. This was different.
I’m Demeter, goddess of nature and seasons. But I’m not Demeter. This may be hard for you to understand.
“We want to understand,” Zoe’s curiosity was stronger than her fear and prompted her to speak for all of them without looking away from the motionless owl.
I believe you. That’s why I’m here and you can see me. Rather, you see an owl and hear me.
“I thought the goddess Athena had owls,” Thymia whispered with a quick confused glance at her cousin.
Listen, young humans: there are spirits that are a part of nature. I am one of these. We are not as humans describe us. We are not these Olympus characters. We often try to send humans subtle messages…hints to pay closer attention to something in the world around them. We often used owls. It seems humans noticed in some way, and used the owl in their gods stories.
We spirits exist together with nature – with plants, animals, fungi, water, light and heat, air and atmosphere, inner earth, fire. We exist with nature but we do not control it, we do not use it and destroy it to manipulate or attack humans.
“Why don’t you tell people so they stop blaming you – or, what they think is you?” Andreas asked.
We remain unseen to maintain an important balance. Humans are not our creation. You each have your own little spirit. Besides, we see that humans can’t be trusted with seeing and knowing us. The more they discover and understand about nature the more arrogant and greedy and destructive they get.
“Why are you here now? With us?” Zoe asked.
We are desperate. The pain of what people are doing to the living creatures and natural forces is becoming too much even for us to bear. Still we are trying to remain unseen. But now this trial! It is too much. Most of the spirits still want to remain unseen, but we had to do something.
You young humans, you have an energy that stands out. So I am here. I want to give you a small gift…
A soft ruffle passed across the owl’s wings. The haze around them suddenly cleared and the suffocating, sweltering city around them disappeared. All around them was a vision of greenery and sparkling water and their city – familiar but unfamiliar. Lively but cool and comforting and interwoven with nature. They were in the shade of a large tree in a garden. The library building was transformed, built of different materials, slightly higher with greenery peeking out from the roof. The sidewalks, the street, the whole neighbourhood was transformed. There were streams, fountains, little concrete, many trees and various canopies creating shade. There was a summer warmth but also coolness.
This could be your home if humans change. This is possible on this Earth, if the pain stops, if we heal, if humans learn from all the hints we share, so that all our spirits find a new collective balance.
The vision dissipated.
That is all the energy I could summon for this gift for you, young humans. People believe the storms and destruction are our attacks on them, but no. These happen because nature feels pain, we feel pain from what people are doing – drilling and blasting into earth, scraping and blasting the depths of the seas, suffocating the atmosphere, seeping poisons everywhere. Our energies are fading, unraveling.
You must defend us.
The owl wavered slightly. The magical haze around them disappeared. The owl blinked and flew away slowly, struggling. The small tree was gone.
The kids turned to look at each other, eyes wide. They were surrounded by the hot, thick air again. They looked at the old library building, felt the heat emanating from its wall. But the vision of the green-blue sparkling city, the possible city, held strong in their minds.
They spoke all at once: “We have to defend the gods -” “-the nature spirits-” “-in the trial-”.
They decided. Whatever the ill intentions and mischaracterizations behind the trial, the ‘gods’ needed a defense team. This young nature-lovers club would take a stand.
As they agreed, they felt a slight cooling breeze even as everything around them remained motionless in the glaring sun.
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LITERATURE REFERENCE
Homer. (1997). The Odyssey. Fagles, Robert (Translator). Introduction and notes by Bernard Knox. Viking Penguin.
CLIMATE AND RISK REFERENCES
Extreme heat projected to increase:
In its first climate risk assessment, the European Environment Agency (EEA) found that Southern Europe is a hotspot for several risks that require urgent action, including heat, wildfires and water scarcity. Since the Industrial Revolution, Europe heated up twice as fast as the global average, more than any other continent, and extreme heat and severe droughts are projected to continue to increase.
European Environment Agency (2024, March). European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA). https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/european-climate-risk-assessment
“Without action to reduce emissions, Athens’s hottest days are projected to become three times more frequent by 2050—from nine to ten days in a typical year today to twenty-seven by 2050.”
Arsht-Rock (2023). Hot Cities, Chilled Economies – Athens.
Flood risk in Attica region:
Extreme rainfall events (rain intensity) and flood events have been increasing in Attica and central Greece, and the flooding period has extended from winter months to almost the entire year.
Angra, Dimitra & Kalliopi Sapountzaki. (2022). Climate Change Affecting Forest Fire and Flood Risk—Facts, Predictions, and Perceptions in Central and South Greece. Sustainability 14, no. 20: 13395. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013395
The urban built environment with much of the Attica basin stream network and increasing and repeated forest fires contribute to increased flood risk (Chalkias et al, 2015; Diakakis et al, 2016).
Chalkias, C., Delladetsimas, P. M., Sapountzaki, K. (2015) Natural hazards and climate change risks in Athens, in Maloutas T., Spyrellis S. (eds) Athens Social Atlas. Digital compendium of texts and visual material. URL: https://www.athenssocialatlas.gr/en/article/natural-hazards-and-climate-change/ , DOI: 10.17902/20971.16
Diakakis, Michalis, Pallikarakis, Aggelos & Katsetsiadou, Katerina-Navsika. (2016). Flood fatalities in Athens, Greece: 1880- 2010. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, 47, 1407–1416. DOI: 10.12681/bgsg.10962