"One can only ask if such a creature, bred of the darkest, most contaminated parts of the Earth, can represent anything other than our sins against the planet that gave us life."
- Alexander Siles, Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

The waves crashing into the beach are the same slick, black goo they've been for the last century. Only the barest hint of the natural blueish-green colour of the ocean can be seen under gallons of raw petroleum and oil as the water ebbs and flows. Gramps liked telling me stories that his gramps told him of how gorgeous the oceans used to be — shades of blue, turquoise, sometimes yellow or brown, of seasonal rainfalls caused by the ability of the ocean's water to evaporate and fall somewhere else. I suppose there is a sense of beauty in the tragedy in front of me. After all, the oceans of old didn't sparkle in all shades of the rainbow, did they? Cloud seeding has mitigated the impact of the ocean on the water cycle.

I, like others for generations, had been taught that life no longer exists in the deep. A lesson my little sister just learned. I can hear her high-pitched voice revising for her test in my head. "Because of the thick layer of oil on the surface, the sun's rays can't penetrate the water. This killed all the organisms that depend on sunlight, which in turn killed the organisms that predate them. To save the seafood market, governments around the world, starting with Peru, authorized the inland farming of all seafood."

She is going to call, and I will have to stop myself from telling her that her textbooks may be out of date. The vibrant coral, school of fish, and other beautiful creatures of the oceans are still dead, lost to time and man's greed, only preserved in print, film, and the occasional exotic aquarium. And yet, there has been evidence pointing to movement, not caused by currents or submarines, in the waters, hiding inside the deteriorating figure of the Statue of Liberty.

If this movement is what I believe it is, then I have no idea what this spells for the future. One can only hope that this spells the beginning of better days.

- Asa Amari, Marine Zoologist, Duke University

CBC Books asked students to give us a glimpse of the great Canadian novel of the year 2174. They wrote the first page of a book set 150 years in the future, with the protagonist facing an issue that's topical today and set the scene for how it's all playing out in a century and a half.

Two winning entries — one from the Grades 7 to 9 category and one from the Grades 10 to 12 category — will be chosen by middle-grade author Basil Sylvester.

They are the co-author of the middle-grade novel The Fabulous Zed Watson and the recently published second book in the series, Night of the Living Zed.

Both winners will receive a one-year subscription to OwlCrate, which sends fresh boxes of books to young readers across Canada on a monthly basis. In addition, each winners' school libraries will receive 50 free YA books.

Last year's winners were Christian A. Yiouroukis for his story Where the Maple Leaf Grows and Bee Lang for their story One Question.

The winner will be announced on CBC Books on June 12, 2024.