Chapter 10: Pollution
The bus stopped and Arthur hopped off the bus. He realized he was the only one descending at that particular stop. He turned around and saw the rest of the passengers looking at him like prisoners being hauled off to the penitentiary.
In that vulnerable moment, Arthur felt sorry for them but when he realized he might lose his life on this trip to Blue Lake, he didn't feel that sad for the workers anymore. Granted the legends said that Blue Lake's guardian spirit was a friendly one but Arthur knew better than to trust the stuff of legend. He needed to meet the spirit in person before forming an opinion on her personality... that is if the spirit really did exist in the first place.
Perhaps Arthur would return with nothing but a renewed understanding of the lesser known tourist attractions around Armana, or in other words, empty-handed.
The bus ambled away after spitting Arthur out. It disappeared down the rocky road, leaving behind a trail of dust.
Arthur surveyed his surrounding and realized how stranded he really was. Other than the bus stop that was really nothing more than a pole with the picture of a bus on it, there was no sign of civilization around him.
All he could see were trees, trees and more trees. 'Now, where am I supposed to go from here?'
Arthur believed in the axiom, when there's a will, there's a way. Therefore, instead of giving up, he looked around the area and good fortune rewarded his hard work.
Amidst a thicket of bushes, Arthur spotted the edge of something brown poking out from it. He walked closer to examine it. It was supposed to be a wooden sign but vines had crawled all over it that it was impossible to tell what it was supposed to say.
Arthur got to work immediately. He used his bare hands to pull off the vines and the sign underneath said, "Blue Lake, this way."
He looked around the area and soon spotted a trail of pebbles leading into the forest. "I suppose it's talking about this."
Arthur trekked through the thick undergrowth using his hands to swat the low-hanging branches away. Thankfully he had the forethought to wear jeans because the young man predicted he might be spending some time roughing it up in nature.
The trail went deeper and deeper into the jungle and soon the sunlight was blocked off by the thick canopy. Arthur found himself getting disorientated because without a compass, he couldn't really tell where he was going. The only thing he could do was to stay on the trail and trust that it would lead him to Blue Lake. However, for all he knew, Arthur could be going round and round in circle.
After what seemed like a long time, finally the sun dappled through the leaves again. The winds in the air had picked up, meaning Arthur was reaching the edge of the forest. Another positive change was the sound. Along the trek, all Arthur could hear was the crunch of the leaves as he walked through them and the choir of insects. Now, Arthur could hear the sound of water lapping against the shore. He must be close to his destination already.
After Arthur waded through another area of shrubs, the scenery finally changed. The trees fell away to reveal Blue Lake... and the place looked nothing like advertised.
Blue Lake on the city's tourism website boasted a pristine waterscape and that was definitely not what Arthur was greeted with. Instead of crystal-clear water, the lake was murky with what looked like cluster of plastic waste floating on top. The water was so thick with grime and sludge that Arthur suspected the presence of marine life. To his knowledge, no aquatic organism would be able to survive in habitat this harsh.
Arthur walked to the lake bank and the smell that hit him couldn't be described by words. It was not smelly like sewage but pungent like the smell of chemicals. Arthur tried not to breathe but the stench coated his nostrils stubbornly. It almost choked the young man.
The water that lapped against the bank left behind a black layer with shiny coat that looked suspiciously like oil. There was no grass ringing the bank and this caused serious erosion as the water pulled the soil down into its depth, making the lake even murkier.
Arthur couldn't help but shake his head. The picture that he saw of Blue Lake on the internet couldn't have been from several years ago and just what had happened between this short period that a piece of pristine nature could be polluted to this state?
Now Arthur understood why the city council wouldn't promote Blue Lake, this was a shame, not something to take pride in.
Arthur walked around the lake and soon discovered the source of the problem. There were several metal pipes that fed directly into the lake. Arthur saw them ejecting chemical waste into the water. Even though Arthur couldn't tell for sure where the pipes lead to, he had a fairly good guess. The industrial area must have used Blue Lake as its own private waste disposal ground.
From an economic standpoint, it made perfect sense. Dumping waste into a lake that people seldom visit was much more cheaper than finding the appropriate plant to reprocess the chemicals. It saved a lot of money but at what cost?
Arthur was mature enough to understand that this was probably a decision that was made by the executive and most of the workers weren't even made aware of this.
This was also why even though he felt sorry for Blue Lake, Arthur knew he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. He was just a kid from the countryside, how was he going to make the powerful business executives listen to him?
Arthur sighed and told himself to focus on his task. He should know better than to mind other people's business especially those who were much powerful than he was.
He walked towards the pier and noticed a little girl sitting at the end of it.
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