Hazardous waste: Hazardous waste is Dangerous!

LIM JIA YIE
AMIR HAMZAH SHARAAI




“Hey,Joseph. That is not yours. Give me back my toy.” Andy shouted to Joseph and pushed him away. Andy snatched the toy from Joseph.
“Andy, this is mine, not yours…” Joseph shouted to Andy.
“My two boys, please don’t fight. Come to Nyny here.” Claire heard the fight and came over the living rooms.
“Nyny, Andy snatched my toy, and pushed me down.” Joseph complained to Claire.
“No, Nyny. He steals my toy, which is mine…” Andy claimed to Claire too.
“My boys, please don’t fight with each other. Come over here, Nyny tell you the story.” Claire pursued her boys to have a seat and listen to her.
“Nyny, I want to listen too.” Tom said.
“Tom, come here as well.” Claire said to Tom.

One Saturday afternoon, one granny named Claire was telling a story to her grandchildren, Andy, Joseph and Tom after the brother’s fight. Andy was her youngest grandson and Tom was the eldest while Joseph is in between them. They were the same age but different by the birth time. They only differed by a few birth minutes.
Three of them were concentrating on the storytelling because Claire is telling her own story to them…
Time flew back to 2006… Claire started her story telling… When Claire was 10 years old…
“I was going home by bus. After I reached the bus stop near my house, I walked back to my home. In the meanwhile, I heard a sound.”Claire started her story telling unhurriedly…
“Meow, meow, meow.”Poor kitten‘s sound appeared around the area Claire passed by.
Claire is looking for the kitten. She looked all over the place and finally she found cage under the trees.
“Meow, meow.” the kitten looked at Claire. The sound just seemed as a sweet greeting to her.

Claire picked it up and looked at the kitten. The kitten is white in colour and it is very skinny. Its fur was stained by the dust and looked filthy. The kitten just stayed calm in her hand and snuggled in her hands.
“Awh, you are so cute. Uhh, your leg hurts. You must be in a lot of pain.” Claire spoke to the kitten.
“Meow, meow.” The kitten answered her.
“You must be very hungry.” Claire spoke to the kitten and she decided to bring it home. She put it back in the cage and brought it back to her house.
“Mama, I am home.” Claire shouted when she was home.
“Sweetie, you were home. You go to the bath first and mama prepares lunch and dessert for you.” Her mother said.
“Mama, look.” Claire picked up the kitten from the cage and showed it in front of her mother.
“Sweetie, where did you get it from?” Laura asked her.
“It is under a tree, inside the cage.” Claire answered Laura.
“Mama, can I keep it home?” Claire asked Laura.
“Sure, sweetie. But you need to take care of it. Okay?”Laura spoke to her.
“Yeah, I can keep it.” Her hands dance and feet trip around her home.
“Sweetie, go to bath now and bath your kid as well.”Laura asked her to do so.
“Okay, mama.” Claire took the kitten to the bathroom and bathed together.
Claire told her papa, Sam as well to keep it as our new family member in our home. They named the kitten Loma…”
One month later, after Claire’s caring, Loma became fatter and fluffy. Its fur became whiter. Loma became more active and more interactive…
Back to the scene in the house, Andy’s face looked weird because he is curious about the name of the kitten.
“Nyny, why the cat‘s name is Loma?’’Andy asked his granny.
“Loma means love mama.”Claire said to him.
Claire continues her story…
Claire brought Loma go out to have a walk after dinner. She met two other friends in the neighbourhood. They went to the nearby nature park and play around there.
“Summer, Steven look. There are fishes in the river.” Claire spoke to her friends at the river bank in the nature park.
“Claire, Steven let’s get into the river. Let’s go.” Summer spoke to them.
“Yeah, let’s go.” They said,

In the river, they spilled the water to each other. They romped around the river bank in the park.Almost 8’o o'clock in the night time, three of them went back to their own house.
Another month is over. The day and night are still the same. Three of them still went to the nature park to play since it was their so-called playground.

In the summer evening, they went to the park and played around. They played on the river bank since the day was really hot. The recent news announced that these few days’ temperatures have attained the highest Degrees Centigrade in the past 10 years.

Claire, Summer and Steven went to the park as usual. They played in the river since the temperature was really hot. They swam in the river and played with each other. Claire even had drunk the water in the river. After that, they went back to their own house before dinner time.
These few weeks, they played in the same places since the temperature was really high this summer. River water helped them to relieve their body heat and this activity was their favourite activity for them too in the summer. As usual, Claire would drink the river water to relieve thirst. They would just get back home every evening before dinner time.

After the dinner, Claire was not feeling well and she went to her room to rest. In the wee hours, Claire went to the toilet because she wanted to pee. With her very dizzy and giddy head, she felt it was very hard to do so. Just a few steps to the toilet, she took almost 10 minutes to get there…Her footsteps were not really steady. She walked by holding along the wall. She fell down and held her stomach. She crawled to the toilet and she finally got into the toilet. Inside the toilet, she leaned on the sitting toilet bowl to support her feeble body. She was sweating. Cold sweats discharged around her pale face.
“Oweh, Oweh.” Claire vomited. She felt her stomach turn over and cannot endure the pain in the abdomen. Suddenly anoxia and chest pain hit her weak body. First time, she felt that the Grim Reaper is just around her who can take away her life easily.
“Arh, Sweetie. What happened to you?”Laura heard the sound in the toilet and came to the toilet anxiously. She saw Claire leaned against the wall in the toilet flabbily. Her face looked pale and colourless.
Laura shook Claire’s body to wake her up but Claire seemed unable to endure the illness and fainted.
“Dear, dear…” Laura Got shocked and shouted for help from her hubby.
“Hu...Hu…Hu…, Claire please wake up. Don’t scare mama.” Laura cried.
“Dear, what happened to Claire?” Sam worried about her daughter too. He straight away got the car key and held Claire in arm. They straight away sent her to the hospital.
They straight away went to the emergency lane in the nearby hospital and Claire was now receiving the treatment.

After a few hours of sitting outside the emergency operation area doing nothing, both of them felt even more anxious and worried. A man came out from the emergency operation area with a very serious face. When both of them noticed a pair of formal shoes in front of them, they moved their heads upward and stared at the man. The man with white coat, a pair of round spectacles, a broad shoulder and an intelligent face was standing in front of them. The man was the doctor who treated Claire.

Both of them were concerned about their daughter's situation. The doctor was telling them the diagnosis which took them a few hours. They looked unpleasant and they seemed unable to accept the facts.
“We doubt that your daughter has severe heavy metal poisoning since her blood test showed excess heavy metal in her blood and her situation fulfills the characteristic severe heavy metal poisoning. We still investigate the type of surplus heavy metals inside her body. Both of you should have the mentally preparation that your daughter might…because her situation is quite severe, she may not pass these few weeks if the remnants inside her body cannot be removed.” Doctor spoke to Sam and Laura.
“Oh no dear…Hu…Hu…Hu…” Laura cried even more vigorously and swooned.
“Dear…Dear…” Sam held Laura in hand. Sam felt powerless. But he needed to be strong since he was the only backbone for her wife and daughter. He lay down Laura on the seats and he stared at the doctor and asked.
“Dr, any solutions or mitigation for my daughter?” Sam asked with hopes.
“Mr Sam, we have done the intravenous injection to your daughter. We will still observe her situations. Only if you can get the antidote, then only your daughter can be saved.”Doctor spoke to Sam.
“How long can Dr sustain my daughter’s life during the period of finding the antidote?” Sam saw the hopes and asked.
“The longest will be half years or will be one month for the shortest, please keep fighting for your daughter and do not give up. Now, you can visit your daughter in the ICU and take care.” Doctor encouraged him.
Sam glowed with hopes and he brought unconscious Laura back home. After he got home, Sam was not going to rest since he worried about his daughter. He took a shower then started his research on heavy metals.
Sam started to search the sources and the area of heavy metal poisoning where Claire accidentally got.Three days gone. He finally finalized the areas that Claire went through yesterday and he targeted a few potential places.

His first targeted area was his laboratory since Claire was brought there after her class in school that day afternoon. Next will be the nature park because Claire was not feeling well after she had been there in the evening. School was one of three targeted areas too but this is the lowest risk place because if school were the poisoning sources, there should be more cases popped out. The news would be spread around the school areas and the ministry will also take the actions to solve it. But, no news popped up.
So, he focused on the nature park and the laboratory area. He collected the samples from the nature park and tested to find out the main cause of the heavy metal poisoning. He then checked all the CCTV in the laboratory side to search for the place Claire passed by. At last, his testing came out with a result that the river water contained contaminants. He then tested the particular contaminants.
Another week passed. Hospital had passed Claire’s blood samples to the Laboratory. The staff in the Laboratory tested the samples with every reactant and these experiments took around a few days. They found out the substances that did not have any reactions in those experiments. They were frustrated with the current situation, especially Sam. Sam is the boss for the Laboratory but he was Claire’s father too.
For Laura's part, she took care of Claire in the hospital and had the discussion with doctors as well. They can just take good care of Claire and pray to god which they can really do now.

Two months later, Claire still lay on the same bed but she was transferred out of the ICU. Laura became wan and sallow since she took care of Claire day and night within these months. She also went to the lab to do the research which related to Claire’s diseases.

After two months of hard work, finally they found out the pollutants. But they were still in the worry stage since they had no resolutions to tackle the problems.

They found out that the remnants inside Claire’s body were Arsenic. Arsenic poisoning was a serious environmental case in the area since there was no precedent before. After the discussion with the doctor, she went back to the lab and had another discussion with her hubby, Sam.
In the office of the laboratory, Sam and Laura are discussing…
“Arsenic is used in the manufacture of pesticides. The gas from arsenic also has some industrial uses. Overexposure may cause headaches, drowsiness, confusion, seizures, and life-threatening complications.” Laura spoke to Sam.
“Arsenic was a perfect murder weapon because the symptoms of death mimicked other causes and, therefore, were hard to trace. Severe poisoning and possibly death can occur from just 100 mg of arsenic.Hmm, do you have any idea on that Hazardous Waste?” Sam asked Laura.
“Dear, no idea. But we need to rush to find out the antidote; if not, Claire will…” Laura’s eyes filled with tears.
Sam hugged Laura in arms. He consoled her and he promised her to save Claire. Sam and Claire were really tired and they had mentally and physically tortured by Claire’s allotment. These few months, they did not have sufficient quality sleep which they carry out the research day and night. They still continue work on the research, they flipped over past 20 years’ records to search for the ideas.
Five hours of records reading, Laura’s eyes closed for taking a break. But, the tiredness of these few months caused her to fall asleep on the office table.
“Dear, look. Here is a similar case in 1994.” Sam spoke to Laura but did not get any reply from her. He turned his eyes away from the records, he looked at his wife's sleeping face, felt pity towards his tired wife, while looking at his wife and his thoughts flew back to the beautiful moment…
Time flies back to 1993… When Claire did not exist in the timeline…It was the time for Sam and Laura, future parents for Claire. Both of them are still young and just got married at the age of 26 and 28. They met each other in the same working space. Before they enrolled in the research company, they were interviewed by the boss of the company. But, the boss only wanted to hire one of the employees otherwise there would be a surplus employee in the company. After discarding a few interviewees, there were left both of them in the seats. The boss was really tired on the interview day. So, he decided to interview both of them at one go.
In the interview room, both of them were required to do an experiment which needed to figure out the discharged pollutants sample.This experiment was vital for them since it was the evaluation for them to get the job.

Laura, freshman with honours from University of Cambridge, England;
Sam graduated with honours from Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, USA.
After the introduction and the terms and conditions set by the authority, they were brought to the lab for undergone the experiment.

In the laboratory, the cold and lifeless ambience made the situation even more stressful.
Laura felt disdain to compete with Sam since she thought that she would win this game. Sam felt pressure too since this experiment determined his first future blueprint in the working area. Sam controlled his own anxiety and carried on his experiments in the lab.

Two hours later, they were brought to the waiting room after they finished the experiments. They were there for another half an hour. The door was opened and the boss came in with the two written reports.
Kingsley, a Native American with a pair of brownish eyes, goatee and sideburns, broad shoulders and ….. a long straight hair. He was the boss for King’s Laboratory in California, USA.

Kingsley asked them for their opinion on the environmental issues that are faced in the USA.
“Sam and Laura, what do you think you can do if you face a world environmental war?” Kingsley asked.
“Investigate the resolution to ease the war and help to reduce the burden of the residents in the country.” Laura said.
“Become the leader to lead the people towards a better environment while signing the agreement with the country involved to stop the war.”Sam said bashfully.
“Okay, both of you are hired. Congratulations, both of you are too excellent for us. Now we have one pollution area investigation to be carried out next Monday, both of you handle this case. Hope both of you can have good cooperation between each other.” Kingsley instructed.
When they first officially met, they were contacted by their boss to carry out a research on a pollution area. They have to fly to Arizona, which is next to California.

In Arizona, they have collected the samples and carried out the experiments to identify the pollutants. This took them about one month. They stayed together in one chalet but in the nether giving way to the other, they always arguing in the research.

They finished the research and sent the collected data to their company. Surprisingly, their cooperation gained applause from their boss since the data was very accurate and the new perspectives they proposed were really impressive.

They were getting more jobs from their boss since they were getting more engrossed in their jobs. From every single research or investigation they carried out, we can feel their passion inside the report they sent out.
Their relationship was getting better since every moment they went through together, Laura would gain some new perspectives from the man who had been disdained by her when they first met. She knew him for his knowledgeable, sense of humour, preparation in advance for every job, frugal and so on. Sam knew her personality better and deeper. He knew her for her frank and sincere, hardworking, earnest in job, love of beauty and so much more.

They started their loving relationship because of Sam's ex-girlfriend, Lucy. Lucy,his university girlfriend who had broken up for ages because she betrayed him. She dated another rich boy while having a relationship with Sam. Sam knew it and he broke up with her because he wanted to set her free. She now wanted to get back Sam who she thought could be the spare boyfriend for her before. After she realised Sam was a guy who can be trusted compared to the rich guy, she muddled Sam hopelessly because she wanted him back.
Coincidentally, Laura saw them at the attic of the office in the evening and they were hugged together. Sam refused the hug and pushed Lucy away. Lucy was pleading with Sam to go back with her since she regretted breaking up with him. Sam had explained to her not to continue the relationship since he did not have the same feelings as previous and he hoped she can live well with her new boyfriend.

Laura cannot endure to see their untangled relationship. She wanted to save Sam from the messy situation. She walked toward them and started calling Sam.
“Dear, your mum just called me to have dinner today, what time do we want to leave huh?” Laura ignored Lucy and held Sam’s arm intimately.
Sam looked at Laura strangely since he was blurred for the intimate skinship from Laura. Laura gave Sam a glance.
“Oh ya. I almost forgot tonight’s date. We want to go back right now; if not, we will be late, dear.” Sam knew the signal and continued holding Laura's waist and answered her softly.
Laura was shocked by his action but she still acted as normal. Now only she pretended to know the existence of Lucy.
“Owh sorry. I do not notice you guys are talking. Hi, I am Laura and who are you?” Laura spoke to Lucy with a provocative glance.
“I am Lucy, Sam’s ex-girlfriend. Nice to meet you and hope you can look after Sam tightly since he is too excellent to be someone’s boyfriend.” Lucy spoke in no way conceding to Laura.
“Haha, I believe him.” Laura looked at Sam staunchly and gave him a sweet smile. Sam glanced at her, and suddenly heartbeat quickened. Sam was very happy with those words and his smiling even more glitter. Sam held Laura even closer. Laura felt the intimateness.
“Dear, let’s get back home, don’t let elderly wait for us for so long.” Laura spoke to Sam with a big smile. Sam’s heartbeat quickened and he just felt that he wanted to have Laura as his real girlfriend.
“So, Lucy, nice to meet you, we have to leave now. Bye.” Laura then spoke to Lucy with intention.

Both of them were holding each other and got down from the rooftop of the office. Sam appreciated Laura’s help and he had a different feeling after the day. Sam believed the sincere words but he was afraid Laure was just in on the role play. After the day, he would glance at her secretly every time they engaged since he wanted to know more about her. As well as Laura, she would also notice him because he knew he would be a very good partner in her life. They just stayed in an adulterous relationship for about one month by texting each other, having meals together, making jokes within themselves and so on…Their tacit interaction makes them a pair of well matched couples, enviable by others.

They were very happy to have each other since they had a good relationship. But they were struggling very hard for their shady relationship. Sam cannot stand the situation since he knew Laura had a lot of admirers. He decided to propose to her since he wanted her to become his girlfriend. He invited her to have dinner in his own house with a feign excuse which was he wanted to thank Laura for the helping. Laura accepted the invitation. She was very happy since he wanted to date her.

On that day, Sam prepared dinner as early as possible. With his skilful hands, he managed to get ready the candle light dinner. He then went to have a shower to prepare himself. On the other hand, Laura also prepared herself.

With light makeup, long light blue lightweight gauze, and a pair of five inches high heels, she managed to come to Sam’s house five minutes earlier than planned. When she got down from the car, with glowing gauze, elegant footsteps and gorgeous movement of body, she walked toward the gate of the house. At the same time, Sam was coming out from his home because he had noticed her car just now. He saw she was walking toward his house, the graceful movement made him stunned for a few seconds. He saw a smiling fairy who had just come toward him…
“Hi, Sam.” Lucy first started the conversation since she noticed his stunning. She was very excited innermost being since she knew he was stunned by her dress up today.
“Hi, Laura. You look gorgeous.” Sam smirked and groped his head.
“Thank you. You look handsome too.” Laura praised him.
“Thank you. Let’s get inside. It's cold.” Sam ushered her into the house.

They came to the dining table and Sam pulled apart the chair and asked her to have a seat. They sat down and had the main dish. They shared a lot of interesting issues related to their childhood, their previous university life and also discussed some work.

After having their dish, Sam invited her to dance Waltz. He turned on the record player and the music started. He came to her front and gave her the invite gestures, she held his hand to accept his invitation.
The music was playing and the couple was dancing. The romantic ambience was all around the dining area. Under this atmosphere, they cannot help kissing each other. Sam took the initiative to be more proactive toward Laura's responses. An endless night, they spent with each other……

They coupled after that night. They became more tacit after that. One year later, they came to the end of friendship. Their intimate relationship changed to a piece of certificate. Yes, they got married. They started their new life with a good opener—their marriage.

In 1994, they got a job which was related to the trans-boundary hazardous waste crisis between the United State of America (USA) and Mexico. They were really interested in the crisis since it was challenging work. They flew to the Texas-Coahuila boundary area and carried out the research there. After one month of researching, they came to a further discussion.

In the laboratory, two hazardous waste researchers were discussing the recent trans-boundary hazardous pollution in Texas and Coahuila areas. In that particular area, there was a hazardous waste factory explosion in Texas but the leachate has leaked to the nearby Mexico Coahuila River.
“Sam, how can we tackle these radioactive contaminants?” Laura asked her hubby, Sam.
“Laura, we need to remove the radioactive substances from the contaminants first then only dilute the remnant contaminants.” Sam answered.
“Dear, yes I know. But, how do we remove the radioactive parts? It is very dangerous and harmful to the environment.” Laura asked.
“Hmm, let me think about it.” Sam looked at the report that they obtained from the sites.

Sam and Laura work as a scientist for this project after one year of being a scientist assistant. Currently, they are working out the solutions for the trans-boundary hazardous waste pollution with the scientist team in the USA and Mexico areas. There is a massive hazardous waste pollution occurring within these two countries. So, this situation messed them up a lot.

Few more weeks later, they found out that the aquatic life in the river near the contaminated sides had died abnormally. They recollect the samples nearby the river and also the dead body in the river as well to have some related studies. After the investigation, they found out the dead fish contained some radioactive hazardous waste residues inside their stomach. The phenomena have shown them the leachates have leaked out from the polluted sites to the nearby river. The aquatic life such as fishes have consumed the leachate particles and caused the massive death.

During the research, they found out the particular radioactive hazardous waste was Caesium-137 and it released the radioactive gamma rays to the nearby aquatic life. They tended to have the solutions for the river. So, in the next month they fully focused on the solutions which can rejuvenate the river at one go. With hard work and efforts they have finally come out with one trial experiment which required the plants for the experiments. From the following week for the trial experiments, they have successfully proved that Caesium-137 can be removed by the phytoremediation.

From the success experiment, they planted the plants that can remove the radioactive hazardous waste along the river bank. They kept track of the following month and the radioactive hazardous waste had been removed from the river.

After that, they have a long holiday after the four to five months of excessive workload in the Texas-Coahuila boundary area. They took two months for their holiday. They flew to Florida for a honeymoon. Along with Hawaii, Florida is one of only two states that has a tropical climate, and is the only continental U.S. State with a tropical climate. They had enjoyed a beach vacation because they love the beach side so much. At the beach side, they went through all the water sports that they like. Sam and Laura love irritant activities so much.

They went to Sabah, Malaysia too since they want to be close to nature and have a relaxing vacation. They had visited the tropical rainforests which have the equatorial climate with abundant animal and plant species. They went to the long mountain ranges on the west side which form part of the Crocker Range National Park.Kinabatangan River, second longest river in Malaysia runs through Sabah and Mount Kinabalu is the highest point of Sabah as well as of Malaysia. Because of these famous natural places, they have a great and excellent vacation.

After they came back from vacations, they got back to work. One day afternoon, Sam and Laura were having lunch. They ordered a cheese chicken chop spaghetti set. But, Laura felt disgusting when she wanted to eat it.she felt dizzy and wanted to vomit when smelled the cheese.
“Dear, I am not feeling well. Can I have some pickled plum?” Laura asked Sam to buy for her.
“Sure, just wait for me for a while”. Sam went to the nearby grocery shop to buy the pickled plum.
“Dear, nah. Here you are. If you still don't feel well, you must tell me. I will bring you to the hospital.”Sam passed the pickled plum to Laura and spoke to her softly.
“Okay, dear.” Laura felt warm due to her hubby’s caring.

Laura ate the plum and felt better. Her nausea relieved a bit since the sour taste cover the disgusting cheese taste. She refused to eat the lunch and she ordered another set of lunch which was lighter than the set lunch before. Avoiding wasting the food, Sam took over the food and put it into a natural disaster—his stomach…
This situation continued for the next morning and Sam brought Laura to hospital since he was worried about Laura’s health. After the long queue, now was the turn for Laura. Sam accompanied her in and had a body check-up…
“Congratulations, Mr. Sam and Mrs. Laura. You were pregnant for two months. Now, you have the omen of early miscarriage since your progesterone is lower than the normal mother-to-be. You need to have enough rest, eat the hormone pills and relax to provide a suitable condition for the embryo to grow strong.” Doctor wrote down the prescriptions and instructed Laura with a joyful voice.
“Really?” Laura stayed unbelievable. Her hand put on the underbelly and she could feel the movement there.
“I will be a father…” Sam was very excited and looked at Laura. He held her shoulder tightly.
“Okay, please follow the nurse to take the medicine.” Doctor spoke to them.
“Thank you doctor.” Both of them followed the nurse to get the medicine and footed the bill. They went back home in a pretty good mood.
When the boss knew Laura was pregnant, he reallocated the task for her since he wanted her to have a good rest too. So, the workload was fully loaded to Sam, who was very happy to do so. She was now staying in the office which just took care of the documentation part for every report they sent into the office.

Time flied. Sooner, Laura would become a mother. She felt complicated since sometimes she would welcome her but sometimes she would worry that she cannot bring her to this world. Yes, inside Laura’s belly was a baby girl. But the doctor asked her to stay calm and relax.
One day in the evening, Laura and Sam were having a picnic in the nature park near their house. She was having the fruits and chatting with Sam. Suddenly, she felt belly pain. She held Sam’s hand and told Sam she was very pain in the belly side. She was anxious since she did not know what to do.
Sam was very disconcerted too but he forced himself to stay calm. He asked Laura to control the breath with him and relax. Then he went straight away, the princess hugged Laura up to put her into the car and was sent to the nearby hospital. Sam asked the pedestrian to help him to drive the car since he wanted to accompany Laura in the back passenger seat.

With a speedy driving, they reached hospital and straight away set to the pre-delivery ward. The doctor checked and asked them to wait for the birth canal to open till 10 inches.
These feelings suffered her a lot since she had endured the labour pain about 12 hours before the baby girl was delivered. In the next early morning, the sound of weeping came from the delivery room. Laura touched and cried when she saw the baby girl successfully came to this beautiful world. The excitement cannot be described in words.

They named the bay girls as Claire, and they hoped her life was just as the name given,luminous, simple, and strong. The baby girl grew up peacefully and she was trapped in the midst of hardship because of the hazardous waste pollution issue that she faced recently...

When Claire was five years old, Sam and Laura gained enough knowledge from their boss and tried to have their own business. They resigned and started up with their own laboratory business. Their boss welcomed them to kick start a business since the environment needed them.

Sam’s mind got back to reality. He was still in the laboratory.He felt pity for his daughter since he cannot relieve his daughter’s pain. He noticed his wife who was sleeping on the table and he wanted to bring Laura to the restroom to have a nice sleep but he failed to do that because she woke up from the sleep when he approached her.
“Oh sorry,dear. I fell asleep. Let us continue with the discussion.” Laura urged Sam to do so.
“Okay. Just now I have found the past 10 years records and have a scan on it. I found out that there were some similar cases, especially the case in 1994, in the US-Mexico trans-boundary polluted river. We can have a look at it.” Sam was showing the documentation to Laura and pointed out the key found of the research.
They started to do the research in that direction and they faced a problem which was that experiments cannot use plants to test but using human beings. Human beings will be the tester. The tester was needed to have the same conditions with Claire which means had the same blood group and needed to have the relationship with her as well.

So, Laura would be the tester since she fulfilled the conditions stated. This experiment was risky since no one tried this experiment before. When Laura knew this was the only choice she could save her daughter, she never regrets doing the experiments. With a very strong mind and will, she wanted to save her daughter just like other parents who protected their children as much as possible.
Two months later, Sam went to hospital to visit Claire. Claire was awakened from unconsciousness for about four month from the day the incident happened. Her condition was getting better after they treated her with the tested medicine. Shewere required to do the physiotherapy.She needed to train her muscle as well to strengthen back her walking muscles.
“Daddy, where is mum?” Claire asked Sam with a weak voice.
“Oh, she is in the Lab testing the medicine for you. I will ask her to visit you afterwards. Don’t worry dear.” Sam answered Claire softly.
“Okay, wake me up when mum comes.” Claire pleaded with Sam.
“Alright, I will.” Sam promised.

By the way, Sam almost cried when Claire looked for Laura. He endured the sadness hardly since he really missed her a lot. Every time he leaves he is in a complex mood since he cannot lie to Claire anymore. This was not the first time Claire asked about her mum, every time Sam was finding different excuses to console Claire. He walked along the ward area and stopped in front of one door. He knocked on the door and came into the ward.
Laura stayed here. On the bedside, her bald head and thin and pallid face showed her current condition was not really in the right path of getting well. Her torment started during the second tested medicine since the second medicine was really resistant to the first medicine in her body. She started to have side effects which were massive hair loss, vomit, thinner, loss of appetite and so on…

Because of her daughter, she remained strong to endure all the sufferings since she wanted to relieve her daughter’s pains. She became weaker and weaker after every testing treatment and finally, she got the medicine to cure the hazardous waste inside Claire's body. But, these pushed her to the edge of dying and she will not be able to recover from the current body conditions since her kidney was malfunctioning.
What she did for the moment was waiting for the day of death. She accepted the fact because during the first testing medicine, she knew she didn't have any much time to enjoy with her family. So, every time she had the interaction with them, she would feel so gratified and she enjoyed the moment very much. She never regretted having them, especially Claire, she was willing to give up all her things to secure her from the danger.
“Dear, Claire wanted to meet you.” Sam spoke to Laura with a weeping tone.
“Okay dear. Please help to prepare myself.” Laura Spoke to Sam.
“Okay dear. I will do it for you.” Sam cried and he hugged Laura in arms sadly.

In the ward, the moment was so quiet and peaceful, but the sadness was around the air... She knew she might not get to live long, so she decided to meet her daughter for the very last time. Her inner part of the heart was “bleeding” because her life no longer continued after this…

After the preparations, Laura looked more lively, but still with a weak body. She wore in black dress, with a wig, heavy make-up to cover her weakness and a pair of flats. Sam held her in arms and walked toward Claire’s ward on the same floor. In front of the door, Laura left the embrace and tried to walk to the ward. Her steps were not really steady since her legs were trembling.

After she got into the ward, she saw her daughter sleeping peacefully on the bed. She felt touched. Sam woke Claire up and they finally met.
“Mum, these few days have not seen you, where have you gone?” Claire asked her mother.
“Oh, I was busy with the medicine experiments. How do you do, my sweetie?” Laura lied to Claire.
“Pretty good. But, still…I need to take medicine.” Claire Grumbled.
“Never mind dear, you need to take it to ensure you can recover from the poisoning.” Laura consoled her softly.
Claire was asking for a hug from her mother and Laura hugged her tightly. Sam snapped the photos as the memories and he asked someone to help him to have a family photo shoot too. He was afraid that his wife was no longer able to have this photo shoot anymore.

In the photos, they smile happily although the scene was truly sad. They did not even expect when Laura would pass away. After that, Laura went back to her own ward and she finally got to meet her daughter. She held the photo in hand and looked at the faces in the photo. That was her family and she was glad to have them. Her condition was not really good… That night, she exhaled her last breath and left them behind…
In the room, Sam held Laura’s cold hand and wept silently with a shaking body… His lovely wife is no longer able to be with him. Claire lost her mother without any acknowledgement… She was now in another ward, having a smooth and steady sleep…
He came into Claire’s ward.
“Claire, your mum has passed away.”He told Claire about the fact that Laura had passed away.
“Daddy, you must be kidding me. Yesterday I just met mum, how can today she passed away? You must be kidding me.” Claire was smiling bitterly.
“Claire, it’s true.Your mum has left us.”Sam spoke to her softly.

Claire cannot accept the facts and wants to escape from the ward to see her mother. She believed her mother was still alive because she just met her yesterday. She struggled to run out from the ward but she failed to do so. Because of her powerless legs, she fell on the floor. She cried bitterly and crawled on the floor.
Sam grieved and went out to console Claire. After Claire calmed down, he brought her to the mortuary. In the mortuary, a pretty quiet woman was lying in the corpse box. Claire cried even more aggressively till fainted. Sam brought her back to the ward and asked the doctor to come to have a look at her.
Doctor said she was fine but needed to calm down since she was still a patient. Sam stayed in the ward and waited for Claire to awake. Few hours ago, Claire awaked and she was in a bad mood. Sam pulled a chair and sat beside her bed.
“Claire, do you feel hungry?” Sam asked Claire.
“No. Daddy, I want mum. Please ask her back. I only want her.” Claire pleaded.
“Claire, it is impossible. Just stay calm and accept the facts.” Sam consoled her.
“No. It is because of me, she…” Claire’s eyes were filled with eye drops.
“This was her decision. She hoped you would stay healthy after this.Then, it is worth what she had done for you.” Sam explained to her.

Claire kept quiet and huddled herself together. She felt warmer and safer to do this. Few days passed. Laura’s funeral also came at the end of a phase. Claire was sad since she cannot attend her mother's funeral. The day Laura was buried, the day was raining drizzly. The god seemed to pity her and started to cry in the morning.
Claire still cannot relieve herself since she thought she was the one who caused her mother to die. From that day on, she kept quiet and behaved like a corpse…

She was discharged and got back home after a few weeks. She went to her parent’s room to reminisce about her mother who she missed a lot.Inside the room, there still remained her mother’s smell which just felt like her mother was still here. She helped her father to tidy up her mother’s remnants.

She found a diary when she cleaned the desk area. She started to read the diary. It was her mother’s diary. The diary was just started a few years ago. She had just started to read, two pieces of red paper fell out from the diary. She picked up and she started to read the paper which had her name in the top left side of the paper.
“Dear sweetie Claire, please do not feel sad when you know mummy has left you. Just stay strong and have a good life after this. Mummy willing to sacrifice my life to save you, don’t feel so burden about that. Just promise me you can take good care of yourself and your father as well. I hope that you can help me to accompany your daddy in the future who I cannot accompany him for the rest of his life. I am really sorry to have to leave both of you so early and hope for the best for both of you. Mummy always loved you.”
Lots of love,

Mummy
Claire held the paper in front of the heart which she wanted to rub into her body. She wept until there was no sound. She was relieved a lot after an excessive cry. She continued her cleanliness job until late at night. She got back to her room and had a sleep. She cannot have a good sleep since she was too sorrowful. She got up from the bed and wrote her own diary.

In the diary, she promised herself to be an environmentalist who can empower others to love nature and reduce the harmful effect towards the environment. She would like to keep mum’s wishes to become a very good person in the future and to take good care of her father. She swore to achieve that in the rest of her life.
After she recovered from the health issues, she started to search for the hazardous waste issues and the solutions for the particular issues. She found out that the household cleaning items also contributed to the hazardous waste. She started to learn how to do household chaos by using the natural way which means using baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and so on. She also got some new information about the usage of enzymes on the internet. She was so happy to have the super natural ingredients for the household chaos. She practiced it and now her home was categorised as zero waste house.

She even became more aggressive when she started to practise zero waste lifestyles which she did not generate the waste inside her house. She would bring her own food containers, tumbler, stainless steel straw, handkerchief, own cutlery, and shopping bags. This action can actually reduce the plastic waste in life since these actions replace the one-used packaging like the takeaway container, plastic bottles, plastic straw, tissues, plastic cutlery and plastic bags. Claire's own thought was if everyone practices like her, this world will reduce so much waste and hence reduce the personal consumption rates as well.
She even visited the zero packaging shop or market such as the local wet market and local grocery shop to buy the food, ingredients or even she made her own body wash soap and natural skin care products. She used the essence, baking soda and coconut oil to do the toothpaste while for the body waste soap, she combined the enzyme and soap basic ingredients to make the soap. It is an amazing way to have these things happen in her life. She enjoyed doing those DIY products instead of buying the ready-made products because by making own products she can reduce waste created.

Few years later, Claire thought that she wanted to share the knowledge with her neighbour, so she became the founder of Zero Waste California, USA. She started her community during her high school year. She started to conduct some small workshops in house and invited her classmates to come. She spread the messages to her classmates since she knew youngsters were the forces to move the things out. She would not give up any chance to promote this business to others such as her neighbourhood and teachers as well.
Besides not creating waste, she also started to join the Eco-Bricks organisation which reduced the current created wastes. The Eco-Bricks organisation was established to tackle the plastic waste issues. She would go to the neighbourhood area to pick up the rubbish that was being thrown everywhere. She collected the wastes inside the plastic bottles and packed them tightly. It would become the hard bricks and become the building materials. It can be used to build any house or any DIY products such as chairs, tables and so on. It only needed creativity and the creation of arts would just appear.

She made a round table and round chair which she put on the open balcony of the house. In the house, her father was very happy she had put in so much effort to do the stuff and began to empower others in terms of doing good deeds. Sam was very great to have her since he was too lonely after Laura died. Claire became more cheerful and she accompanied Sam a lot since they were the only two in the house.
Sam would do the DIY and carpentry with Claire during weekends to build up her designed stuff. They would also discuss environmental health and issues. Sam even encouraged Claire to join the environmental camp during her first year in university. She was happy to be there, so she accepted the invitation.
In the Building Bridge for Sustainable Environmental Camp (BBSEC), Claire met a guy, called Jack. Jack was her senior in California University. He and she just met for the very first time. She never noticed him in their university. She cannot escape from being attracted to him because he was too excellent. They started to cheat chat since they came from the same university. During the BBSEC, they shared lots of experiences, especially Claire.

They got close at a very fast pace when they exchanged contacts. They discussed lots of environmental issues because both of them were environmental activists. Claire invited Jack to join her community as well as Jack asked her too. An amazing thing was Jack was the founder of the Eco-bricks Organisation. They cooperated with each other and they tackled the surroundings to join them as well. They change the community’s lifestyles and hence create a big and good impact on the environment. With their efforts, they managed to reduce the plastic waste to about 500kg in the first few months.

They built a lot of DIY facilities in the nature park which were the DIY dustbin, benches, a small pavilion, and a small pathway along the nature park. Since the hazardous waste crisis happened, they were abandoned and no one wanted to go there although the river had been cleaned up. They wanted to rejuvenate the nature park which they wanted the people to visit there again. They have created some events there and invited the youngsters in the neighbourhood to attend the events. Zero Waste Market, Free Book Sharing Day, Eco-friendly Moment, Car Free Day and so on were on-going in the nature park. These kinds of events got the attention from the nearby neighbourhood and they were excited to attend the events since the events were fun. In these events, there will be many experts to share their experiences and there were many enjoyments.
They even rehabilitate the nature park with many new fresh inputs like vegetative farming, educational areas and the park bridges which can be the new tourism places. Both of them got the award from the state government with their achievements in the community. They suddenly become very famous in the community.
One day evening, Claire and Jack were walking in the park. They come to the bench and sit. They were looking at the sunset. Suddenly Claire disappeared.

“Claire, what do you think about the sunset?” Jack was asking her. After a few seconds, he did not get the response from her. He turned his head but she was not around. He was looking around but still did not find her. He was worried but he did not go away from the area. He called her and there was no answer…
He was looking around and she came out from behind him.
“Jack, I am here.” She was calling him. She held a bouquet of roses. She was wearing a dress with a pair of heels. She had make-up on and she looked warmer and flawless. She was much prettier than the previous day. She was now very nervous because she wanted to do something related to her future as well.
At the same time, Jack was stunned by her changes. She acted like tom boy before. She never has dressed up like this and she has never put on make-up since he knew her. He was very surprised to see her in a dress.
“Jack, could you do me a favour?” Claire asked with a shy tone.
“Yes, sure.” Jack promised.
“Could you…be my partner for tonight‘s party.” Claire was shy to ask for the request.Inside her heart, she almost wanted to give up because she knew it was hard for him since he never attended any prom night before although he was a third year student.
“Okay. I will be your partner for tonight’s party.” Jack promised her. She was very excited to have him as a partner since he was so famous in university. All the girls in the faculty were interested in him but he never gave the responses to any of them.
“Thank you. Meet you at 8pm.” After Claire finished her words, she passed the bouquet to him and she ran away because of bashful… Jack was looking at her action, his corner of mouth arose.

At 8pm, she got ready at the gate. But, she was wearing another dress which was longer and sexier. He was there by 8pm sharp. When she came out from the house, he noticed her, he came down from the car and opened the door for her. She was so pretty and gorgeous. She was different from the usual day. He was impressed by her, not only her beauty, but also her hard work. He felt very happy every time they met because he felt comfortable every engagement with her.

They reached the venue and they got into the ballroom. When the door opened, all the insights were focused on them. All of them were impressed by both of them because they were too well matched. They walked into the centre of the ball room and walked toward their friends. They were chatting around. After a while, the prom night started. They danced together and Claire had noticed that all the girls' insights were always at their side. Nope, they were only looking at him. She felt jealous but couldn't do anything…
Prom night was over. Jack sent her back to her house. When she got down from the car, he asked her to open the bonnet. She went to the bonnet and opened it. When she opened it, she blanked because she saw a bonnet of pictures… Their pictures. Every picture has their own story behind and these were their moments. They have gone through every moment and they exist in each other's life… Tears came down Claire’s face. She was so touching…

He got down from the car and came to her side.
“Claire, would you be my girlfriend?” He proposed to her sincerely.
“Jack, are you serious?” Claire was very surprised that he had the same feelings as her. Her fantasies came true. She hoped Jack could do this to her so much. She even imagined he would propose to her.
“Yes.” Jack spoke it firmly. He was waiting for her answer. She never answered him but she hugged him. In response to her hugging, he hugged her even more tightly. They seemed very sweet at this moment.
“ehem, please return my daughter.” Her father’s sound came from the house. They were awkward and separated from each other. They said goodbye to each other. Jack went back home in an excited mood when he successfully proposed to her which he was afraid she might refuse him in return. Luckily she did not.
That night, Jack proposed and Claire accepted…
That night, they officially became a couple…

That night, Claire became famous on prom night…
The second day, they held hands and went to school together. Yesterday, their existence was explosive news in the university forum. Today, the pictures of their hands held together in the university were spread to the whole university area. They were categorised as the most matched couple 2017. They got a lot of praise from their friends and the lecturer as well…
But, Claire was besieged and insulted by Jack's so-called girlfriends. They were really jealous about Claire and wanted her to leave him by these stupid actions. They did not even know Claire was good at Kung Fu. She counterattacked them. All of them were flattered by Claire and she warned them not to meet her next time. If not, their end would not just end like this, but another state…
After Claire settled it, there were no more these kinds of threatening issues…They were envied by others since they were truly matched in appearance, their studies, their behaviour and background as well…
Two years later, on graduation day…

On the stage, Jack was the class representative and he was giving a speech. She cannot leave sight on the man who was now giving a speech on the stage. Claire was very proud of those achievements that Jack achieved in the past 4 years.
“Congratulations, Jack.” Claire hugged Jack to congratulate him who had officially graduated. She still had one more year in which she was in the final year now and she was busy with her Final Year Project (FYP). She was now investigating one type of hazardous waste in the area of the food production industry.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Jack kissed her lips. Jack was now working in Claire father’s Lab which acted as the first steps in working space. He learnt a lot from his future father-in-law. Sam had a good impression of Jack because of Jack’s attitude and aptitude.

In Sam’s mind, Jack was hardworking in the job and also very sincere to his daughter, Claire. He treated him as a future son-in-law. Their relationships were getting better...even better than the relationships between Sam and his daughter, Claire. Claire was jealous about that so Claire made some efforts on dealing with Jack’s parents. Jack’s parents were very satisfied with Claire who would become the future daughter-in-law.
Another two years gone, Claire also graduated from the university. She worked as the environmental officer in the food production industry. She managed to get the job offer from her previous lecturer after she worked as the environmental officer for another 3 years. Her lecturer invited her and Jack to be involved in the research and they accepted the invitations since they wanted to challenge themselves.

During the research, they applied for the Doctor of Philosophy (PHD) in the Environmental Hazard area. Both of them were really focused on the PHD studies and also the research…
They skipped the master stage and applied to PHD, they knew it was the tough way but they would not give up. They are busy with two fields which are research and also PHD studies. 5 years later, when the research came to the end, their PHD studies also almost completed. They were promoted to Doctor after they finished their thesis and came to the graduation day…

From 2017 to 2030, they first met during the BBSEC; they studied together; they joined each other's community; they conducted activities together; they danced together; they did research together; they became Doctor of Philosophy together… Almost 14 years, Jack thought that he needed to come to the end of their relationship.
“Claire, we break up. I Don't think this couple's relationship still suits us…” Jack spoke to Claire during the celebration dinner among both of them in the restaurant.
“Jack, are you serious?” Claire held stubbornly so as not to flow out the tears.She was worried but she performed does not matter.
“Yes, Iam serious.” Jack said. He was thinking of teasing her and observed how long she can endure. Claire was a strong girl and sometimes she would speak the other way round which she cannot express her true feelings. She just stayed calm and did not care about the issues.
“Okay, let’s break up. Our relationship comes to an end after this dinner. Just enjoy the last moment between us.” Claire spoke to Jack.
Jack knew her so much. Since she armed herself, he knew she was anxious and worried but she just showed no care at all and she would just express her feelings against her own heart.
“Okay Claire. We end here. Let’s get into another stage of life. I Want more from you, not only partnership, classmates or couples. I want your rest of life. Would you marry me?”Jack stood up and came to her side and kneeled on one of his knees to marry him. In his hand was not the diamond ring, gold ring or any other ring but it was a handmade wood ring with a line of green lab grown gemstones in the middle of the ring. He went to the eco-friendly wedding ring workshop and made it out. He proposed using his handmade rings, it was an amazing proposal.

Claire was stunned there and her tears were coming out from her eyes. She cannot expect to have this after the sad scene just now. She got back to reality and she nodded her head and said yes.
Jack took out the ring and put the ring into her ring finger and hugged her agitatedly. After finishing dinner, they went back to Claire’s house. They met Sam and Jack asked Sam to entrust his daughter to him. Sam trusted him and they have the dealing of men.

Jack and Claire held their wedding in their own house. They invited all their friends and family to attend their wedding. Their wedding was vintage styles which did not create a lot of waste and it was so warm to be in the wedding. In the wedding, they all were focused on their videos which Jack did with his Lab’s scientists. These took a long time since they all were not really professional on video editing. They all even attend a video editing class to learn how to make a high quality video. They had a lot of fun during the video editing…
Their first two kids were born the year after their marriage. The two kids were non-identical twins and they were one boy and one girl. The boy was named Christopher and the girl was named Jacqueline. Their names were the opposite of their parents… Their boy and girl grew up so fast and they came to the toddler period. Their kids were so smart and learnt things faster than other kids of the same age. They blanked their two years of studies and followed their parents to travel around the world after they finished high school…

They have been to South East Asia countries like Laos, Cambodia, Thailand,Malaysiaand so on. They have also been to Japan, China and India to observe the environment there and have a long vacation there… Along the journey they enjoy seeing the clean environment and they would jot down the improvements needed to be done to have a more excellent environment. They have the documentation for their visits and they tend to send the documents to the authority there.

After they came back, Claire still contributed to her own research in hazardous food waste production while Jack continued his own studies in the lab. They even sent the offer letter to the government that the places they have been to have the environmental movement in their country… The government which received their letter would like to collaborate with them to improve the environment in their own country…
They got the Nobel Prizes in terms of peace and chemistry area.Nobel Peace Prizes were given to Claire in 2050 while the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry were given to Jack in the year of 2049, a year before Claire got the prize…Their passionate and efforts towards the Hazardous waste had come to an award day. Their efforts paid off but they would still continue with the business they were doing. They would not give up contributing to this better world.

Christopher and Jacqueline came to the age of marriage and they had their own partner as well. Without any accident, they had their marriage together. Very surprising were these two non-identical twins found another pair of non-identical twins, Catherine and John…

In the next winter after their marriage, Catherine and Jacqueline almost come to the birth delivery; they were all in the hospital to get ready.
In the delivery room, two pregnant mothers screamed in pain and held their husbands’ hands fiercely. Their husbands were also in pain together. Catherine’sfirst baby came to the world was Tom; their second baby, Andy, came after Joseph who was Jacqueline’s babies.

Tom and Andy were identical twins for Christopher and Catherine while Joseph was the only child for John and Jacqueline… Three of them were always playing around since their parents were siblings.
They always came to Claire’s house, which was their grandmother’s house. They always fight together, especially Joseph and Andy. Claire was so patient with them that they were too lovely. Jack and Claire were now having the fun with them which they really hoped for. They can have a good rest after this…
…
…

Claire’s life started with a hazardous waste crisis and ended with a peaceful hazardous free world…