My summer vacation had started so my friends and I planned a visit to Clifton, Karachi, one day. The water shone underneath the hot sun and the blue sky stretched endlessly above us. The waves of the sea were calling us to come into its arms.

When I got into the water, something strange happened. Something big caught my feet and I felt as if I were being pulled. I shouted for help. All I could think of was that a shark had gotten hold of me and it would eat me up sooner or later.

To my relief, my friends eventually pulled me up and I discovered that what seemed like a shark was really a polythene bag tangled on my feet. I became very annoyed. I had panicked for no reason! How did a polythene bag end up in the water! Who would be such a fool throwing it here?

That night, I had a weird dream. I dreamt that I was swimming with the fish in the sea. They were quite miserable because their home had become contaminated and they faced difficulty in swimming because of our frequent deposit of waste into the water.Next morning, I woke up and thought of what we could really do to stop this mishap. Throwing garbage on the beach and into the sea! What a ridiculous act! I also came to know how greatly it was affecting aquatic life and felt sorry for those poor creatures.

So guys, I understand the fact that it’s summer and a craving for picnics and cold drinks has become immensely common these days. But throwing of garbage into lakes and seas is polluting our planet and deeply affecting aquatic life.

So in order to overcome this crisis, I have decided that I am going to spend my vacation organising a clean-up of my neighbourhood as well as placing dustbins so that people can leave waste there. It will be a difficult task, so I need everyone to join me on this mission. It is our job to look after and save our planet Earth. We have to take care of it ourselves. After all, the future of Mother Earth rests in our hands and no one else’s.