by Alison Munro
Highly Commended entry in the Energy Stories Competition, 2026.
The quiet click of the car door unlocking woke Sam from a restless sleep and for a moment he thought he was back in Dubai, that he had taken a driverless cab from the airport and was at his apartment building. But then he realised it was his other home, the one he had shrugged off like a snake leaving its skin on a dusty path when he had raced towards a new life. The interior light came on in the car, plunging the grey skies outside into utter blackness. Sam opened the door. It was raining hard and a sharp wind blew through his thin coat. At least something hadn’t changed. There was the house, a single light blazing in the kitchen. He considered stepping back inside the anonymous comfort of the car, returning to the city airport and getting on the first plane to... only there was nowhere to go. He watched the taxi’s tail lights wind along the lane. There were many more lights here than he remembered. Lights in the sky to warn drones of turbine movement, lights on the ground marking the access roads and empty cul de sacs beside the huge warehouses which now surrounded the house. And not far away, a pleasure park of sparkling stars which he guessed must be the electricity substation they were going to build the last time he had been here. How long ago was that? Ten years, fifteen? Or was it twenty. A wave of loneliness washed over him and for a moment he was a young man again, setting off to conquer the world, not realising there would be no glory for anyone. Now he was back on the doorstep. The prodigal son. He watched his father hold tight to the kettle as it came to the boil. He barely recognised him. His father looked hollowed out, exhausted, dulled by events. So much older than his years. But everyone seemed to be drained of energy these days. Himself included. Sam remembered a time when everything seemed possible. His mother had been alive and Sam had been young and open to life. There was little luxury in their home, but there was space to breathe and room to dream. And Sam had loved to dream. Climbing the hills around their house, he had looked out over the sea and longed for far-off places. The desire for travel, money and goods, cars and clothes, burned in him and he knew he had to leave. The industry had just been starting then, in a small way. A few windfarms here and there, some larger pylons. But not like now. The journey north had shocked him to the core – the AI and crypto mining, the endless rain, the flooded rivers. The forests of turbines on land and sea. Sam watched his father gripping the kettle and knew why he had returned. That there was nothing left to desire in the world, except forgiveness.
Energy Stories
Energy Stories is a funded pilot study in association with the University of Strathclyde, the University of Stirling and the University of Glasgow for the Scottish Research Alliance for Energy, Homes and Livelihoods (SRAEHL).