2053 (by Kristine Diekman)

Set in Southern California in 2053, an isolated woman composes letters to her friends in the form of underground transmissions about the daily struggles of living in an environment scourged by human-caused environmental disasters. Seeking connection, she searches the airwaves for a recipe for water, news about global collapse, small hints of regeneration. Already plagued by drought and fires in 2021, California’s ongoing severe drought punctuated by heavy rains caused by climate change is an unremitting reality. 2040 is considered the year of the global tipping point, when 1.5 C (2.7 F) of global heating will bring irreversible changes in global ecosystems, food networks, extinctions, air quality, floods and droughts. The letters convey a life just beyond the tipping point, with the last one implying a farewell along with a plea for collective vibrations for healing.

Excerpts of audio from 2053 narrative