Margaret Atwood from the UK 10:10 project

ROM THE UK
The project is called 10:10. The goal is to unite every sector of British society behind one simple idea: that by working together they can achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010.
http://www.1010uk.org/#what_is_1010

To support the launch of the 10:10 Climate campaign in the UK, the Guardian newspaper http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/series/10-10-climate-change-special
asked authors to write new work in response to the climate crisis.

Canadian author Margaret Atwood, whose most recent novel is a powerful cautionary tale of catastrophe brought on by genetic engineering and global warming, submitted the following story:
TIME CAPSULE FOUND ON A DEAD PLANET

1. In the first age, we created gods. We carved them out of wood; there was still such a thing as wood, then. We forged them from shining metals and painted them on temple walls. They were gods of many kinds, and goddesses as well. Sometimes they were cruel and drank our blood, but also they gave us rain and sunshine, favourable winds, good harvests, fertile animals, many children. A million birds flew over us then, a million fish swam in our seas.

Our gods had horns on their heads, or moons, or sealy fins, or the beaks of eagles. We called them All-Knowing, we called them Shining One. We knew we were not orphans. We smelled the earth and rolled in it; its juices ran down our chins.

2. In the second age we created money. This money was also made of shining metals. It had two faces: on one side was a severed head, that of a king or some other noteworthy person, on the other face was something else, something that would give us comfort: a bird, a fish, a fur-bearing animal. This was all that remained of our former gods. The money was small in size, and each of us would carry some of it with him every day, as close to the skin as possible. We could not eat this money, wear it or burn it for warmth; but as if by magic it could be changed into such things. The money was mysterious, and we were in awe of it. If you had enough of it, it was said, you would be able to fly.

3. In the third age, money became a god. It was all-powerful, and out of control. It began to talk. It began to create on its own. It created feasts and famines, songs of joy, lamentations. It created greed and hunger, which were its two faces. Towers of glass rose at its name, were destroyed and rose again. It began to eat things. It ate whole forests, croplands and the lives of children. It ate armies, ships and cities. No one could stop it. To have it was a sign of grace.

4. In the fourth age we created deserts. …
continued at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/26/margaret-atwood-mini-science-fiction