The Great Barrier

Chapter

: A Prison in Disguise

Ophelia The boarding school was hot at night, especially for a girl wearing hot and stuffy pyjamas. The school was too overprotective; Ophelia loved seeing the sky at night, and she couldn’t do that unless she finally broke the rules. Her heart was beating way too fast – maybe she shouldn’t have left her room ... No, she couldn’t back out now. She missed home and lying under the stars, the school rules were suffocating. Part of her wanted to turn around and run away. Away from the restrictive walls, away from the stuffy dormitories and daunting great halls. From the outside, Miss Roger’s Academy for Gifted Children looked like a palace, a place Ophelia would read about with princesses and dragons with towering pillars and green courtyards. But it was nothing like what she had hoped. It was filled with strict teachers and kids who only cared about themselves, and being on an oil rig, there wasn’t much freedom. Oh, what she would give to send Ms Doyle far, far away. Ophelia just wanted to be home with her family – she didn’t belong here. But she couldn’t run. Because she’d promised she’d behave at this school. Because she wouldn’t be able to meet her parents’ eyes and say she’d wasted this opportunity. Because the school was situated on a massive abandoned oil rig and unless she found a speed boat and a day’s supply of food, she wouldn’t be able to get anywhere. This school wasn’t a palace, it was a prison. The air was humid, Ophelia was sweaty, but outside, everything was beautiful. She walked to the side of the rig and dipped her toes into the cool water. Smiling, she breathed a sigh of relief, looking up at the map of stars above her. Her eyes slowly drifted shut. Owen For someone so accustomed with the North Queensland weather, Owen was struggling in the immense heat of the night. His sticky arms made things difficult; the air felt heavy and humid. Looking out of his window to see the reflection of the moon on the far-reaching ocean, he knew he had important work to do. Grasping the landline phone in his hand, he called the boarding school principal. “Good evening, Mr. Daly, it’s Owen Davis, the weather forecaster … I’m sorry for the late call, I just wanted to check that I’m still speaking to the children tomorrow? … Excellent, thank you.” He shuffled his palm cards anxiously, making sure the humidity did not let them stick together. The title, written in strong bold text, stood out on the front: The Dangers of Coral Bleaching. Owen had performed this presentation numerous times before, yet the issue persisted. Soon, he thought to himself, the consequences will show. The Great Barrier Reef will be in ruins, and they will all regret not listening to me. Coral bleaching was a new phenomenon, in which the rising temperature of the world’s oceans caused the bleaching and destruction of vast aquatic life. The Great Barrier Reef, being the largest living structure in the world, was at great risk from this. Speaking to the younger generations, Owen hoped, would allow them to grow up and fix the problem. Too many people brush off this problem and don’t do anything to fix it, he thought. I want to fix it!