Terranovus

The screens behind the Commander lit up and a luscious green island appeared glimmering amongst blue water. The crowd gasped and a buzz of excitement filled the room.

What? How? Was that really a new island? The screen zoomed onto the island and flew across hundreds and thousands of acres of empty land - land filled with trees, bushes, plants and so much grass. I had never seen so much green in my life. And sand! Golden shimmering sand lined parts of the shore. It was incredible.

The Commander was grinning profusely and he leaned forward into the microphone.

“Three years ago our HQ detected an earthquake in the North Atlantic Ocean. The earthquake was so severe the Earth’s crust created a small volcano island. A year later the volcano erupted and stretched the island to 110,000 square kilometres. We sent our best botanists, zoologists, marine biologists and architects to the island and two years later I can proudly announce we have produced a first-class country our ancestors would be proud of. Rich with nature, abundant with life, we have provided Terranovus with all of the technology it needs to be sustainable and innovative.

“It has been fitted with modern self-sustainable homes-”

The screen behind the commander flickered and a modern bungalow house appeared, complete with a garden that was twice the size of the house. It was beautiful! The house itself was made of sustainable eco-friendly materials, even from this distance I recognised some of the materials I wrote about in my e-learning assignments – solar panel tiles, resident-friendly wind turbines and tinted windows that retain heat in winter but kept the house cool in summer. The gardens had tall trees, shrubs and roses and cute little wooden white fences surrounded each property.

“We have built hospitals, offices, markets and even physical schools complete with playgrounds,” continued the Commander.

At this the room whispered in excitement. The screen flew down streets, through quaint suburbs and town centres filled with large spacious buildings. The tallest building looked to be perhaps only seven stories high.

At that moment my Ingo buzzed and I looked down to see a message from Tommy, asking if it was true the Army had discovered a new island, apparently it was all over social media.

“Now, as you may be wondering – who will live here?” continued the Commander. At this everyone stopped typing away on their Ingos and leaned forward keenly. “We spent months pondering and searching for a solution that was fair, equal and unbiased for we knew everyone would want to live here. Unfortunately, Terranovus’s capacity is currently only 100,000-”

At this news the room erupted in loud whispers.

“Bullshit,” someone muttered from the table behind me.

“For a reason,” said the Commander, his face stern and strict. The room fell silent again. “Currently only 10% of the land is habitable, we’re working on the other 90%. As with a new land, there will be hiccups and setbacks which is why within the first year we want to obtain a 100,000 person population, then another 100,000 the following year.

“To ensure everyone is given the equal chance and opportunity to move to this new island, we have created a lottery system which will come into effect tomorrow evening. Once a day a family from each Sector will be drawn from a lottery and announced as new citizens of Terranovus. More information can be found online. Now, I think that is enough talking from me, let the celebration begin!”

The room erupted into a round of applause. I clapped too and watched the couple opposite me smile lovingly at each other. It would be a dream to move there. To see grass in real life would be wonderful. But only 100,000? My chances had to be 1 in a million or something crazy like that.

“So what do you think?” smiled Alfred. I turned to him and smiled back.

“It’s wonderful, it’s beautiful!” I told him. I gazed up at the screen which continued to show snippets of the new land.

“The Commander is a great man,” said Alfred fondly, “he wants to bring back the meaning of life. He appreciates art, culture and tradition.” Knowing he was soon about to rant about art again I excused myself and went to search for a bathroom.

Quite quickly the stage and lectern was packed away and a small orchestra settled in. Within moments of the first note played, couples, filled with joy and hope, stepped onto the dance floor. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of my parents dancing. I had never seen them look this happy before. Next to my parents, was the stuck-up girl with the torn dress dancing with a boy who did not look pleased to be dancing with her. She seemed to be chatting away to the boy who was nodding but looking behind her at a chocolate fountain.

To distract myself from bursting out laughing, I looked over towards the back of the room where a small crowd had gathered leaning over a large table. Curious, I walked over and saw a large holographic model of Terranovus. My Ingo buzzed again and I saw another message from Tommy, he really wanted to know if Terranovus was real. Reaching the table, I craned my neck and could just see the tops of the tallest towers. The couple in front of me smiled at each other and moved away so I darted forward and took their spot.

The sight of Terranovus in its whole made my insides tingle with excitement. The buildings were sleek, smooth and built in such a way that nature and modernism intertwined into one. The one and only city, Primus, was located in a valley which had luscious green mountains on one side and a beautiful beach with golden sands on the other. I aimed my Ingo, took a picture then sent it to Tommy. Yup it’s true, I typed underneath.

“Just remarkable,” spoke a voice to my right. “Wonderful engineering don’t you think?”

I glanced to my right and gasped. It was one of the Toff’s that had chased Tommy, Simon and I the day before. Yelping, I spun around and knocked into a young man holding a glass of champagne. The champagne jerked out of the man’s hands and onto the floor.

“Oh gosh, I am so sorry!” I apologised. I bent down and picked up the glass flute, “please, let me get you another one!” I looked up and found myself staring into a pair of beautiful bright blue eyes. The man was young, perhaps in his late teens with swooping light brown hair. The man laughed. I blushed and could suddenly feel the Toffs eyes staring into the back of my head.

“Please, don’t apologise,” he said, “if anything you’ve probably saved me from a stern talking from my father about under age drinking.”

“I’ll go put this away for you,” I said quickly and beelined my ass out of there as fast as I could. I made it to a waiter’s station and carefully placed the flute on the bench. Thank goodness I had avoided that catastrophe.

“So what’s your name?” asked a voice behind me. Jumping, I spun round and saw the young man had followed me.

“Tilly,” I replied, “about before, I’m really really sorry.”

“I’ve told you before, don’t worry about it,” he laughed. He then glanced at the dance floor then back at me, “would you like to dance?”

My eyes grew wide and I vigorously shook my head.

“I don’t dance,” I replied so quickly it sounded more like a bark. He had to be joking! I was Tilly the tomboy, not a ballerina!

“Just one,” he insisted, “to make up for my lost drink.” He was grinning profusely and I sighed and looked back down at the empty glass. Damn you, I silently cursed at it.

“Fine,” I said. The man smiled and held out his hand with the other behind his back. Glaring at him, I took it nonetheless and together we made our way to the dance floor. Emotionally blackmailing me was not going to get anyone on my good side.

“My name’s Philon, by the way,” he said. Who the heck calls their kid Philon, I thought.

“Nice to meet you Philon,” I said through my gritted teeth. Philon laughed, knowing full well I was not liking this.

“Just follow my lead,” he gently said. Thankfully it was a slow song so I placed my hands on his shoulders and followed my feet where his went. After a few moments of awkward silence he praised my dance skills.

“I’ve never danced before,” I admitted.

“Really?” asked Philon shocked.

“Actually on a normal day you will never find me in a dress. This is the first time ever I’ve worn one of these,” I told him with a small laugh.

“You’re a quick learner, you’ve got to give yourself that! First time here?” he asked. I cringed at that and my mind flashed back to the stuck up girl.

“Is it that obvious?” I asked.

“Not at all,” he replied with a grin as I accidently trod on his foot.

It wasn’t long before we started asking questions and got to know each other on a personal level. He was eighteen, was working as an engineer for the Army and hated these fancy balls as much as I did. I told him about my passion for architecture, we laughed about Alfred’s passion for art (turns out he knew him too) then we talked about Terranovus and the endless opportunities it had. He seemed smart, kind, funny and an adventurous type of person.

“Philon,” a voice interrupted. A man appeared by our side who wore his tie knotted incredibly tight. Philon looked annoyed.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Your father requires your presence at the table,” the man said and briefly glanced at me. Philon sighed and let go of my hands. He looked down at me sadly and thanked me for the dance then quietly walked away with the man. In the corner of the dance floor, I spotted the stuck up girl throwing daggers at me with her eyes. At that, my spirits lifted and as I smirked at her then walked away back to my dinner table where my parents were sitting.

My mum smiled as I approached them.

“Where have you been?” she asked. I wrapped an arm around her and laughed.

“Just causing havoc as usual,” I responded.

“That sounds like my girl,” joined dad. I rolled my eyes.

“We’re thinking of heading home now, Dad has to start work early, you ready?” asked mum. I nodded, already dreaming of taking off the dress and putting my favourite baggy cozy trousers on.