I step into my classroom, Tec pods lined up in neat rows. Walking into my individual enclosed space, sliding into the sleek metallic chair. My eyes glued to the wall plastered with screens where Scholastic posters used to be.

The screen registers my face as the blue lights brighten and power on. Thousands of coloured pixels form as Bridget appears online.

Her eerily detached voice explains my lesson plan for today: math and coding with a short thirty-minute slot of SE time - the only time my brain is allowed to exist without the suffocating presence of a screen.

Most kids spend their Self-Enrichment period scrolling online, an act encouraged by our AI teachers. Supposedly, it "helps us understand the realities of the world around us." But sometimes I wonder — is there anything real about online influences pumping out promos for businesses like the end goal is our time and money, not any kind of real connection at all?

Finally, SE time. I look around. Ensure the surrounding pod screens have all turned off before I sneak a pad of paper and pen out of my purse. Contraband worthy of getting me expelled.

My father says that decades ago, humans relied on paper. Now we have technology. He says the switch was made to combat the climate crisis. Secretly, though, he believes it created another kind of crisis entirely- transformed the world into a modern expanse of isolating screens. Brainwashing shows. 24-hour news feeds.

With the historic relics in hand, I start to write…

...We've become social primates, so glued to technology, barely talking without a screen to connect us. So obsessed with scrolling ahead, never looking where we're going or aware of where we are right now. In this very moment.

My sister says creative writing is a waste of time, that we're fortunate to have AI friends like Bridget to write anything we need. She says my brain power is better used on something else.

…Obsessed with scrolling. The subtle glow of a screen- hooked to social media as if it's a lifesaving machine…

Suddenly, the pod screens flicker on. My gaze darts to the online clock.
There's still seventeen minutes of SE left. Something's wrong.
Bridget's coded eyes zoom in on me, I see the moment they flicker to the pen in my fisted hand. The screen lights up red, flashing a bold message…

"WARNING."

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.