“Nature Spirit”
Samaira is ageless as the air and water that sustains both her and her jungle home. She is lithe of limb and prehensile of tail, much like many of those that live in this place, and like these creatures, she traverses her forest home by the grace of her own four limbs through the interlinked canopy treetops. Ageless as she is, she can recall the days of her relative “youth” - when the trees were small and the ferns just a whisper in the breeze.
She thinks of the times when the only sounds around her were the the rustle of the trees in the wind, and the gentle bubble of the streams.
She revelled then, in the tranquility, the smell of the rain cascading through the green canopy of leaves. She loved the warm rain falling from the leaves on her face . Her mother had told her and her sisters that she would be the guardian of this jungle, and her sisters - as her - custodians of their natural realms. Mother gave the instruction to observe, wait and endure until the time was right. What that meant, she did not know, but she was honoured to do it all the same. All was well and peaceful.
Then the insects came, chittering and scuttling. She was unsure at first, but they added to the orchestra of the trees and the water. Some of the insects cut the leaves and chewed the trees and Samaira despaired, but she saw that they had young to look after and homes to build. The insects ate from the blossoms, and she saw that the blossoms spread wider across the forest floor and grew abundant because of their action. So, she thought - they were acceptable.
Then the birds came; ravenous but so beautiful. They devoured the insects at first, but became more respectful as they realised they would always find more to eat the next day. Oh! They were a worry to the insects- but with time their iridescent feathers and mellifluous songs warmed Samaira and they spread the trees’ seeds and helped the insects to blossom the flowers. So, she reasoned - they were acceptable.
Then the animals came; large and powerful; with four limbs. Ones much like herself but with fur and always preening each other, and many more - small scuttling ones, almost as quick as the insects, so numerous that Samaira panicked and cried out for her sisters. They - like her - were scattered across the world, the beating heart of each tundra and terrain. They of course heard her and felt her distress but could do nothing, tied to their own plains and mountains. They could all but observe and absorb. Her pain was theirs also, and that they could not come to her aide made it all the worse.
Their duty was to observe, to wait, and to endure. For now.
It took much longer for Samaira to come to the conclusion that - like the insects - the animals too had young to raise, and that they too loved the trees and even took delight in the sounds of the birds and the insects. She observed that with the animals’ arrival, the birds took less from the insects and the insects took less from the trees. And she reasoned that the animals were acceptable.
As time went on, Samaira took stock of her jungle home and for all that she had tenure. There was peace, and it was good. The river fed the stream which babbled and enticed the birds to bathe and chase each other in the water, screeching and chattering as they went. The animals played together on the forest floor and in the canopies, and they were amusing to watch. Time passed and Samaira’s spirit calmed.
There was not much time for calm before the humans came. Samaira looked at them at first with interest. She had seen the insects arrive and give her concern, but her fears had allayed. The same with the birds and the animals. She would watch the humans and see what they would do to help the forest, through she expected the temporary damage they might cause to the animals, birds, insects and trees. For, every time a new being entered her jungle home, these guests always worked to coexist with each other.
She watched as the humans caught the birds in traps they made from the bark of the trees. They ate the of the birds like the animals did - but they took the feathers and tried to make themselves beautiful like the birds by wearing their feathers. The animals did not do this. Strange, she thought. These humans could never be as beautiful as the birds. But maybe this behaviour would help the insects, or the trees, she thought.
Then, the humans hunted the animals, and ate their flesh. They took their skins and wore them, and lined their beds with them. They ground up the bones. Strange and barbaric, she thought. These humans could never be powerful like the animals, but maybe this could help the birds? Even as she tried to justify this to herself, she grew more and more uneasy.
After a time, Samaira grew more and more puzzled with the humans. The insects, birds and animals had all worked, together in their own ways to enrich the jungle. It filled her with joy to see them. She felt silly when she recalled how she had panicked when she thought they would destroy her jungle home. They did not, not after many eons. But the humans, they were odd. She had yet to see what they contributed.
Nevertheless, Samaira obseved and waited. Endured. This was her duty. For now.
The humans didn’t cease their odd practices, and showed no evidence of enriching the animals, birds, insects or trees. Their ways seemed to benefit only them.
After a while, they even tired of themselves and formed small groups, no longer able to stand to live together like the mice or the ants. Their small groups moved to other parts of the jungle, and when the wrong humans moved in too close, they were killed. Yes, some of the animals did this too, so Samaira decided this meant that they must be a kind of animal. Maybe they just needed a little longer still to learn how to be of use to the jungle.
So she observed. And waited, and endured. She watched as she always did. The jungle and it’s inhabitants grew and generations passed. This all happened in the blink of Samaira’s eye and she was patient. But the humans still continued their odd practices.
No matter what changed; the trees grew different seeds and different fruits. The birds’ beaks changed to suit the new seeds and fruits. The animals moved away from the jungle, and new animals took their places, but the humans continued to become stranger and more barbaric as time passed. There was an unsettling rumbling that Samaira began to feel in her core - and she knew her sisters could feel it too.
Then, the behemoth animals came - large and angry, belching foul matter as they passed - the roars and screeches unparalleled by anything she had ever heard before; breaking through the ancient trees and turning them into splinters, displacing every insect, bird and animal living inside them and raging through the jungle at a pace she could not fathom.
What were these things? What good could they possibly do! Were they here to hunt the humans as they had done the animals before them? Samaira gingerly crept to the front of the large grove she was hiding in and took a closer look at the animals causing this horror. She saw humans inside of them! They were hunting the humans! Wait.. no… not hunting…. The humans were controlling the behemoths? The humans were destroying the jungle. Samaira was heartbroken. She had given the humans the benefit of the doubt. Yes they were odd and yes, they had yet to prove their worth to the forest, but like the other life in the jungle, she had always hoped that this would change. It had not.
It was time to act.
There would be no more observing, no more waiting and no - this was not something that she could endure any further.
It was time to act....
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