This story, by Devin Guthrie, is one of three winners of the 2025 Sustainability Writing Awards hosted by the Office of Sustainability. You can read more about Devin here.
Octavia removed the last piece of Estelle from her hair, placing it into the bag upon her shoulders. Her overgrown braids finally laid bare after eight years of grieving. It was never supposed to take this long. Hundreds of people from the city’s farmstead surrounded her, laying their custom decorations on the bag cradling Estelle. They celebrated the beginning of the new sun, the planting season, underneath the old white bandshell. Their connection to Estelle was felt as the bag’s weight increased with their love. With wooden chains of warm colored apples she felt hope, with statues of metal deer she felt relief, with glass carvings of the moon she felt loss. The explosions of color contrasted beautifully against Octavia’s dark skin. She raised the hooded polar bear pelt above her hair.
Octavia climbed onto her horse’s saddle with help from Lentic, her General. Beneath his blue Civil War-like robe sat a holstered pistol. Its gold crown patch cast a spell of safety as for two decades the guard stood by her side. They both moved along a gravel path, the repetitive sound of trotting clashing with the chaotic noise of the bag’s decorations. It pressed against the white pelt she adjourned as it absorbed sweat from her back. Rising homes in the distance barricaded rolling hills of farmland. Celebrations saw feasts, colorful kites, and painted metal flowers hanging from streetlights. They trotted by an empty patch, home to a future orchard for the park.
She smelt light woodsmoke on the air as she passed a candle-like tower. Woodchips and leaves inside were ready to be dispersed to whoever needed them. The mulch simultaneously decomposed over time, generating heat which was converted as a source of energy. The candles rose between budding white oaks and honey locusts; the trees fed from the deceased tied amongst their roots. Octavia would celebrate by moving Estelle to this next stage of life.
They left the grounds behind, crossing over concrete roads to descend towards the valley. Passing after electric cars and motorcycles, the horses began down a winding path towards the river. A sea of prairie plants reached upward from the sloped hills. Wooden docks on the water’s edge fenced in the saturated soils. Surrounding homes along the edges made the valley feel hundreds of feet deeper. The shaded water held few remnants of the wide industrial channel that used to hold it. Five workers at the docks waved at the two, one guiding their steeds as the current bounced the structure. The others would be their rowers, commandeering a deep wooden boat. Octavia thanked them as one placed Estelle in the center.
“Thank you for this honor,” one spoke named Lue, wearing a light brown cloak over equally brown, delicate skin. Lemongrass and pumpkin-on-a-stick were tied fashionably into the attire, the shriveled red eggplants contrasting colorfully. He wore rowing gloves whereas the others worked with calloused hands.
“I know you’re burning up under there,” Octavia playfully said. “At least I’m not the only one.” She could feel the sweat coating her skin.
She stepped in after Lentic, resettling herself in the middle. Lue untied the boat as he pushed off eastward. Octavia took in the contrast of pastel duplexes growing into steel apartments. Windchimes hung from each balcony, sounds of every frequency ringing in the breeze. They moved towards a checkpoint expanding across the waterway. Sixty stars stitched into American flags hung from a bridge topping the barrier, thousands of people getting checked before passing into the city’s heart. The Generals took blood samples of the workers, many being climate migrants who lived in the outer county. Reports showed that with rising food insecurity and populations, there was a new benefit for exceptional disease resistance, strong stomachs, and sharp teeth. Everyone had become a new food source.
Lentic signaled the station with clearance, the gate opening towards a channelized section of the water. An old brewery complex was situated behind the steel gate. With warming temperatures, it had been transformed into a seed germination plant, the old fermentation tanks becoming subzero chambers. Fake snow and icicles coated the facility, a logo matching Octavia’s polar bear pelt plastering a high wall which signified her company role. Employees with pale uniforms waved their white paper hats towards one of their directors. Octavia’s co-op could barely keep afloat with corruption, theft, and relentless competition. Upon seeing Estelle resting in the boat, the workers bowed their caps through sorrowful eyes. The patrolling Generals gave their respects, passing that message to Lentic. After leaving the facility, they continued to row until they came across two enormous iron obelisks standing on each side of the river.
Octavia clutched the bag as the valley widened thousands of feet. Miles of ancient industrial parks had metamorphosed into a metropolis propagated in water. The sight of metal foliage never failed to instill awe into every part of her mind. Ancient towers out of fashion surrounded a new equilibrium reaching towards the clouds. Skyscrapers reflecting every shade of every color rose from the marsh thousands of feet. Their glass walls generated solar energy and allowed for a stunning view. The towers were covered in murals, rising like used paintbrushes coated in pigment. Artificial islands held some of these constructs whereas others were born directly from the water. Millions of people navigated the landscape under flora flooding out from the balconies.
Train cars were melted down and reused to forge trees of steel that rose hundreds of feet. Cable cars swayed above a boundary of terraced fields as they moved towards the plaza. Underneath these vines fishermen stood on railroads that connected islands together. Deer walked alongside them, the anglers quickly placing ornaments upon their antlers. They lit incense around pools where wild rice would begin to breach. Herons called through the cattails as frogs sang from the shallows.
“Is that a green heron ma’am?” Lue asked.
“A black-crowned,” Octavia cheerfully replied while taking in the view.
All manner and size of sea vessel navigated these archipelagos, the grids themselves changing as the islands wandered. An ancient brick building floated out of their path, fully revealing the centerpiece of the valley. A monument rising over three thousand feet and reflecting every shade of the visible spectrum commanded their attention. Covering its entirety was a spiraling mural of flowers that painted the city’s past, present, and future. It was topped with a colossal prism of the child not yet born, ever reaching towards the next generation. The bio-metallic structure slowly grew on its own, leaving room for future history to be planted along its skin. A meal would ensue at the tower’s base, where the people and the future would feast alongside one another. This was Estelle’s stop, and the reality of her destination sat heavy in Octavia’s mind.
They passed underneath the longest bridge in the world, the ancient viaduct cutting across the entire valley. Supporting pillars were painted with symbols of unity, memorials, and quotes spanning its entire length. Feelings of pride and warmth stirred as they saw a group gathering at its base. On one support was a vivacious mural of Estelle. People looked up towards overalls, machinery flung over her shoulder, and deep green skin. A waterfall tumbling down the bridge threw water droplets over the dryad, her colors exploding within the sparkles. Octavia ran her hand over the bag’s decorations with relief that they could finally lay her to rest. This comfort slowly transformed to paranoia as they saw Lentic looking upward.
“What’s caught your attention?” Octavia said with a nervous tone.
“There’s something burning up in the atmosphere.” Lentic’s eyes began to change as he strained for details. His flesh was intertwined with alloys and electronics. “More specimens dropped from orbit.”
They became startled and unnerved. Everyone wanted to build a harmonious world but few agreed on how. One such group donned war bonnets and feathers regardless of ancestry. They stole collected and taxidermied animals, believing they shouldn’t be preserved for enjoyment, but rather should be returned to the land through any means. They spread their bodies throughout the world, dropping them from thousands of miles up to scatter their ashes. Octavia’s uniform was a prime target, reminding her of why Lentic sat at her side.
“Do you want to see what they planted?” Lentic asked. Octavia shook her head, already knowing what it was. The last thing she wanted to see today was a projection of a ten-foot corpse flower.
Without much pause, a familiar chime played from Lentic. Octavia locked eyes with him. Not everyone agreed with where Estelle should rest. They dreaded the chirping of a call from this man down in the frontier, almost 10,000 miles away.
“Mangdeel is trying to reach you,” Lentic said gravely. Octavia nodded with a sharp breath out as their surroundings transformed. Lentic displayed an augmented reality, coating their previous background with both the city and a scene of Antarctica. Around them stood a living room with a carpet of grass, leaves growing from every surface, and apples hanging down towards the caller. Penguin pelts hung from the branches, their excess feathers lining the bark. Octavia’s brother faced her from a golden couch.
“The fruits have really come to ripen this past week,” Mangdeel’s voice spoke through the call. Long gray hair fell over his shoulders as he took a bite of the apple, revealing corn-like teeth with colors of yellow, brown, and black. The black tank top revealed stitched lines at his biceps, the skin’s color below the line slightly darker. His body carried their parent’s remains, being reused when he had lost his limbs. It was crucial to him to reduce, reuse, and recycle; there would be no waste of the bodies.
“You’re heading for the tower? How are you feeling?” He spoke after swallowing.
“I want to show Estelle the view.” Octavia said nervously.
“When does your plane arrive? Will the ship still be on time?” Mangdeel rose, now appearing to both be standing in the room and boat.
Octavia originally agreed to place Estelle there, a starscaper worth hundreds of billions. That gift, that he had designed and funded, would be her final resting place. After much thought however, Octavia knew she should remain here with her people.
“You know I can’t bring her there.” Octavia said, rising to eye level. Lentic rose with her as the architect spoke. Mangdeel’s face twisted with sorrow and confusion.
“Did this memorial mean nothing to you?” He spoke as the projection began to slowly swirl alongside his emotions. He looked to one wall holding a display, a pinpoint seemingly highlighting Octavia’s location. Blueprints below him were displayed from a fungal computer’s horizontal screen. The tower’s green energy was transported via similar mycelium nerves. A structure shaped in the likeness of Estelle rose from the device. The tower’s green, metal hands were raised to the sky, appearing as if the building was dancing. Mangdeel moved from the table to peer out of the window, Octavia following to the boat’s edge to share that glance.
Barren soil of the thawed land provided new advantages, its reveal signaling countries from around the globe. Dozens of buildings shaped like people stood all in their own dance. They reached up towards the stars, or down to the earth, or out to each other. She could see people walking across their embraced hands. The green buildings ranged from children to elders, some stretching two thirds of a mile. They were able to absorb and channel the wind into intricate voice boxes. When they lowered their jaws and sang, the resulting harmony shook the continent. With little light pollution, a human shaped observatory interwoven with autumn-colored leaves stood tall. Its mobile eyes swallowed starlight for Mangdeel to see. He looked through its telescopes for days at a time, wondering when Estelle would return home. It had taken over eight years to retrieve her, Mangdeel’s grief rising steadily with his structure’s progress. Octavia knew he wouldn’t consider his gift complete until Estelle, the final piece, was there.
“I just want to hear her voice again,” Mangdeel mumbled.
“You know this isn’t the right thing to do.” Octavia took a shaky breath. “I couldn’t live with myself if I moved her there.”
“You can’t imagine how much effort this took, to get a spot in the frontier.” Mangdeel slowly turned towards her, rageful tears in his eyes. “The city, our home won’t last much longer. The farm, your company, all threatened and you know it.” His discolored hands were pressed against his stitches.
“I love it as you do, but we know it can’t keep going like this.” He looked across thousands of miles directly into her eyes.
“The world thought it could come together, but divides will only worsen until it splits in a million ways more. She won’t last there, you won’t either. This is the only place that you can be.”
He walked through the window onto the balcony, its fibers parting over him like streamers. As it came back together, his grey hair waved in the wind. She refused to walk off of this path, her eye’s passing that message to her sibling.
“Off-world won’t last either. You saw what happened to her.” Mangdeel said with a stern glare. Octavia flared with the comment, suppressing her bubbling thoughts in a moment. “I’m sorry. This is the only way we can move forward.” Saddened eyes turned to rage and to sadness again. The breeze failed to remove the persona’s heavy aura of frustration. “I’m sorry, it will all be over soon.”
Octavia only had a moment to feel confused as his right eye began to blink white. As he ended the call, the boat rocked with the shrinking hologram. As it came closer, a figure aligned with the projection moved towards them. Lue’s hands flung from beneath his cloak and shoved Octavia to the deck. He heaved Estelle over his shoulders, preparing to flee. Lentic’s boots quickly pushed against the seat towards the man. The strength of hybrid arms ripped Estelle from Lue’s body, throwing it back towards Octavia. It crashed towards her, rolling off on impact and fell towards the water below. Her hand shot out to grab the bag but narrowly missed. It began to sink until it could no longer be seen, Octavia’s mind becoming incapacitated with anguish.
She turned back to Lue barring his teeth, revealing abnormally pointed canines. The other rowers’ terror surged as they registered Lue’s aggression, leaping off the boat towards safety. Lentic began to draw his sidearm as he noticed Lue’s right eye was also blinking white. That eye began to ring, a burst of light exploding outwards so bright it blinded him. Lue lunged at him on the rocking vessel, an almost supernatural level of strength and balance throwing Lentic off the boat. He turned towards Octavia, shoving her down as saliva dripped from his mouth. The vampiric canines quickly lowered to her neck as Octavia screamed. She used her regained focus to keep his head away, tightening every fiber attached to her bones. She could feel his breath on her neck, feel the eye pulse, when suddenly Lentic’s arm rose over the boat. Holding the gun, the metal in his arm contracted for perfect aim. As he pulled the trigger, the bullet left the chamber and ended the flickering of that eye. Lue fell over edge and sank towards the depths. Lentic crawled back in and gained his bearings with Octavia.
“Are you hurt?! Where’s Estelle?” Lentic panted as water dripped from his body. His eyes darted over her and the scene in a frenzied scan. Octavia looked up towards him in shock, in pain, in confusion. She stared in disbelief as her heartbeat pounded throughout her veins. They heard a deep gasp for air near the boardwalk as one of the rowers surfaced. They looked over to see him rise with Estelle on his back. Mangdeel’s actions strengthened something inside of her, to bring Estelle to the right place amongst her people. With a shared determination, they sailed for the tower without looking back.
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Octavia shook anxiously, heavy breaths and restlessness radiating from underneath her pelt. Tears fell as her hurt escalated with the rising floor. Dozens of dancers and musicians stood on a circular elevator spanning the entire tower 600 feet wide. Carvings of humankind singing lined the walls of the shaft. After parting ways with the boaters, she was now barefoot on the dirt floor. Many of the decorations were lost, few colors remaining in Octavia’s hands. She placed her fingers into the bag, feeling Estelle in thousands of soaked pieces. Shaky palms of embryos raised to be seen: darkly colored apple seeds. Estelle nourished dozens of the trees throughout the city, their seeds taking on the name of their caretaker. The new sun would witness the tradition of their planting. Estelle would finally lay in the soil to grow. After almost a decade her recovered body would rest with these seeds as their continuous steward. Estelle would become fruit trees, while others would create flowers for the outer wall’s mural. Mangdeel instead wanted her to join his new version of living. Octavia stood with resolve, knowing she would never let that happen.
Estelle sailed for the moon, but would never arrive at its mystical, multicolored gardens. She touched the vacuum of space while accompanying these crafts, repairing the mollusk-like designs during their voyage. Her altered skin created a home for chlorophyll, the energy from direct sunlight powering her photosynthesis. Returning her body home saw unforeseen complications when she found herself on a vessel hijacked for its collections. Octavia covered her mouth at the thought, her sobs echoing inside the tower. She never deserved such a transition to the next life. The intruders made sure that everyone returned back to nature.
What Lentic offered to show on the boat would be Estelle’s fate. The hologram would show a projection of a corpse flower. A ten-foot stalk topped with an opening flower bud. Stitched to the sides of the stem like leaves were human beings. The color completely left their skin, leaving drowned colors along the plant’s waist. As it absorbed their nutrients, the bodies flattened and raised outwards like wings. Each flower petal was a unique shape and shade that commanded attention. Octavia wished the bouquet Estelle decorated never bloomed.
Disbelief, fury, and sorrow rushed through Octavia as she tightened her grip on the seeds. Her emotions didn’t draw attention to herself however, the other dancers experiencing heavy thoughts as they prepared their loved ones. Octavia wanted to drop everything and race to the frontier, planting Mangdeel’s seeds somewhere they would never grow. Her head was being torn apart from relentless thoughts, her pupils dilating as her vision swirled. She didn’t notice the elevator had reached the top. The walls of the tower head were opening to the city.
Jones Islands, a web of floating structures tied together, infinitely expanded east into Lake Michigan. She saw a hydroelectric dam standing at the water’s edge, the river’s flow being reversed for its operation. Water flowed through concrete mimicking the appearance of human arms. Above the structure, a parade moved over a tied-arch bridge. She saw icons dressed as flora and fauna containing compost that would be opened for the season. They moved south towards many communities Estelle worked tirelessly with, their churches new and old standing tall. Northward stood a fortress where Octavia and Lentic were first paired together. One of the dancers, the Executive General, stood at the tower’s edge and saluted towards the castle. The sun cast light over every building she could see, but not all of the land blossomed green. As elevated passenger trains moved outwards, that color would begin to fade, crammed housing fighting towards the sky. She wondered how far the green reach of the valley would expand, or whether it would keep that color for itself.
Musicians and vocalists began to create sounds to comfort the seeds along their journey. The choir of the walls began to sing a frequency unheard by the dancers. These sounds provided a melody for the fauna to dance along with. Octavia began flowing with the ensemble, hypnotically sprinkling Estelle beneath her feet. She dug in rhythm, moving through motions of planting alongside the others. The polar bear head bounced in delayed motions as she spun around. The Executive General beautifully chimed as he danced, conveying the emotions of thousands of minds. The seven-foot-tall man was decorated with dozens of golden crowns hanging from his limbs. Underneath his blue and black military gown, almost every part of the man was metal. His heavy footsteps and beautiful chimes created a rhythm she couldn’t ignore. Octavia’s vision became more distant through tear-coated eyes and weakening limbs. She continued to flow like a river through new lands, carving the way for Estelle with every motion.
The dancers slowly emptied their bags as the music picked up. A woman with a red flag sticking up several feet from her head danced in a duet. The bow on her back signaled her huntress status, a dog with fur grown in white and red stripes digging holes for her seeds. The city’s mayor danced nearby dressed in custom textiles. Each neighborhood weaved a unique design for his outfit, representing every identity in the capital. He looked normal until they made eye contact. She wondered if he saw the world through the present or past, as his eyes belonged to his grandfather. Octavia’s motions were guided by the music like pollen being gusted by the wind. Her movements became less precise as the music continuously quickened. Octavia blazed under the fur, but she endured.
The monument began to rumble as flora heard the call. There were more dancers just outside the tower. The flowers of the outer walls dramatically swayed as they identified the rhythm. The special varieties were bred to best attract pollinators with their hypnotizing movements, the best dancers continuing to the next generation. Michigan lilies, hydrangeas, and coneflowers called emerging and migrating hummingbirds, bumblebees, and butterflies home. The vegetation emitted new smells as their leaves’ movements added another melody to the performance.
As the song began to swell, the roof added a chime to signal rain. Droplets showered down her hydrophobic pelt, flying onto the seeds in every direction. The mud forming beneath her feet strained her muscles further, the burn worsening alongside her effort. Hotter and hotter, the jingling of the dancers became muffled in her ears. Octavia panted as the sounds of the dancing flowers began to fade. No longer hearing the symphony, her dance faltered as she could no longer hold the bag’s weight. It fell to the soil from a weakened hand, but Octavia continued through short breaths and a mourning heart. She would endure for the world, her home, for this land. Brighter and brighter the final ingredient joined the festival, a ball of light from the ceiling shining downwards. She used the last of her devotion and love to plant Estelle’s concluding seed before collapsing to the earth. The final witness was a child laying between her tender fingers.
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The tower sealed itself and lowered its internal temperatures. It stewarded the seeds until the first radicles rose from the soil. To care for the water, other monuments scattered throughout the city followed suit. To care for the land, the farm to the west danced underneath the bandshell. To care for life, Octavia planted Estelle in the park’s empty orchard. Amongst droughts and floods the seedlings clung to vitality. In storms the saplings remained standing through violent winds. Underneath smoke blocking out the sun the trees continued to breathe. Estelle transformed into steaming cider, fell onto the heads of those basking in her shade, and provided shelter to those needing a home in the rain.