Point Nemo Island
Population: 500
Year: 2071
The Great Melting: 2046
Earth has sank beneath the waves of thousands upon thousands of glaciers melting, no longer the green terrain the world once knew. Now, Earth is a planet made of mainly water, that led to civilizations that survive by mainly using the aquatic ecosystem. Instead of large continents, there is clusters of islands spread around the planet. The way of survival is something akin to a giant tropical trading post, ships voyaging to and from islands in a mad search to make their own lives more comfortable.
Point Nemo formerly Asheville, North Carolina sits on Mount Mitchell and is the largest port for hundreds of miles of ocean. The villages at the base of Point Nemo known as The Tide are constructed with bamboo & palm trees and many are floating homes situated off docks in the ocean. This is where the unskilled and lower class live and work to survive. They are always in fear of being wiped away by the aftermath of The Great Melting. The middle class housing is mainly situated on the grassy shoreline further inland than the lower class, going up the mountain and arranged in tightly packed, multi-level units designed for space conservation and made from metal scraps and harvested pinewood. The structures are stacked vertically with shared walls to minimize material use and have many open windows. Narrow walkways and suspended bridges connect clusters of homes, allowing for clear pathways through the town. The middle class are mostly rebreathers who are skilled divers who are forced to dive and explore the sunken buildings searching for treasures only to be seized by the Elites when they come up to land. The upper class live at the peak of the mountain where they may be the safest from the rising water. They control the only hurricane shelter. There is a short list of Elites who are granted enough status to utilize the hurricane shelter in the event of a storm.
Point Nemo is under constant stress of attack from pirates, the unskilled and outcasts, and sea thieves, resources stolen in seemingly random patterns. The Elites, also known as Mountaineers, are a small portion of the population who hold all the power and set out to stop these pirates from ever stealing from their island again. The council is heavily influenced by the Elites, a treacherous balance where the powerful coordinate to stay in power. The Council decides who deserves the resources, the food, the good life. Propaganda is spread across the town, warning of the pirates' schemes and wrong doings.
But is there another side to the story? Are the Elites as powerful and good as they say, or is there more to uncover?
Rules
These rules are in place for the betterment of the citizens of Point Nemo.
Failure to follow these rules will lead to exile.
NO free diving without a permit. It will be assumed you are stealing resources.
Efforts to leave the Island without a permit will be stopped.
Failure to identify and report outcasts will be punished.
Follow the laws of the Council.
Do not swim outside of legal beaches.
Do not take more than the Council gives.
Efforts to steal resources will be punished.
Follow the rules, or be punished.
Created by Meredith Teuber's 1st period Creative Writing Class
@ Mundelein High School (c) May 2026
Special Thanks to Mrs. Stacey Klemstein (Author of Dead Silence, Ghost Station, & Cold Eternity) Instructional Aide at Mundelein High School for helping Mrs. Teuber and her Creative Writing students with this project.