Do you ever wonder why, exactly it is that, even thought it was nice and warm and sunny just yesterday, suddenly it’s bitter cold and rainy today. Why sometimes there are sudden snowstorms in the middle of the Nevada dessert? Why lightning seems to be striking the houses of corrupt politicians far more often nowadays? Why did it rain fire on the wedding of a corrupt oil tycoon? And why has climate change suddenly reversed?

Well, that’s all thanks to me. I am the Weather Girl. I can manipulate the weather at will, and have been doing it for years now.

It all began when I was a grade schooler, living in Arizona, cursing the blistering heat even in mid-December. More than anything, I wanted to see snow for Christmas, but after Earth had hit the tipping point, governments and companies gave up any pretense of pretending to care. They stopped investing in green energy. They stopped recycling. They got rid of the so-called red tape around environmental laws, giving companies the green light to green house the planet. And then, of course, they blamed the immigrants and gays. Yeah. Okay.

Anyhow, the winter of 2169 was an especially vicious one, and it was seemingly more likely to rain radioactive waste (thanks Switzerland…) than snow any time soon. But still I prayed every day. Of course, part of that was government mandated, but I digress. I prayed for snow. I prayed, and I prayed, and I prayed, and then… it happened.

No weather forecast could have predicted it. It was 120 degrees f on Christmas Eve, and yet, the following day, it had dropped to only 30 degrees f, and snow began to fall, despite there being no rain forecasted for months. People were awestruck. Most kids of my generation hadn’t seen snow, save for those that lived in the arctic regions where it snowed about once a year. Even adults had rarely seen snow, the last snow to have naturally fallen in the United States having been back in 2064 after the eruption of Yellowstone. That caused some cooler temperatures for some time, but the 6 inch thick ash across the entirely of North America kinda put a damper on our two inches of snow.

In Nevada, the winter of 2169, it snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed. People couldn’t even leave their homes. People died, exposed to the elements, as over 50% of the American population at the time was homeless. Others starved. There was looting and murdering. My bad. I hadn’t yet managed to control my powers.

Eventually the snow melted, and things returned to normal. Extreme heat, blistering sun, and radioactive burns. We were slowly dying, and so were the flora and fauna of Earth. Meanwhile most billionaires had already fled to mars, where they terraformed a “perfect” planet. As if the Earth wasn’t perfect before they got their hands on it.

Oh, but not all of them are safe up on Mars. Sure, I may not be able to harm them there, but when you spend too long on Mars, you get Martian Sickness. I’m just a plebian, so I don’t get all the details, but it seems to be a mix between the different gravity, the different atmosphere, solar winds, and the alien ships beaming toxic fog onto the planet. Yet it’s still nicer than Earth.

Most people can live up to 10 years on Mars before coming down with Martian sickness. Others, particularly the old or sick, tend to need to return to Earth after a year or so. Generally, a few months on Earth helps bring people back to normal, though there are fringe cases. Also, there’s a tendency for people to die when they return to Earth. Not just from my storms, but also from various assassins or people with grudges. All of us harbor grudges against them.

The Earth is still a toxic hellhole that is only barely suitable for human life, but things are starting to change thanks to me. Grasses are starting to grow. Flowers are starting to bloom. Trees are growing leaves and fruit. Life is starting to return to Earth.

Things will never be the same as they once were, for better or worse. Mostly for worse. But I’m working to make a future where kids can play outside. A future where the people of Earth don’t have to live like peasants while the rich thrive (for the most part) on Mars. A future full of hope. A future full of happiness.

With my powers, I will change the world. But our predecessors didn’t need magic powers to change the world, just corporate greed leading to negligent environmental impacts. Likewise, those that come after me won’t need powers to continue fixing the world. They just need hope, and that’s what I hope to give them.

I am the Weather Girl.