The Tales of Man

My name has been many things over the years, Nature, Natura, Terra, Earth, Flora and Fauna. For as long as I can remember, my emotions have been the soul of this place. When I am joyful, good things happen. Trees are more abundant with fruit, there is more grain in the fields, flowers and trees spring up where ever I walk. When I am unhappy, fires begin, rivers run dry, forests die.

The most dangerous of any of my emotions is heart break. As Mother Nature, I have a need to protect everything, and when I can't protect something of mine, my heart is broken. The first time I felt it, I was so incredibly unprepared.

It was when the race of man had started to rise up. I was walking through my creation when I saw something in my one of my forests. It was a strange thing, bundled in the furs of my precious animals. Its eyes were a bright blue like one of the vast oceans of my body. Its skin was the color similar to one of the plump peaches that growes from my trees. The sound it made was indescribable, like a shrieking bird or something. I remember thinking it must've come from man since it looked like one, just, smaller.

As I got closer, it started to quiet as it looked into my eyes. It was almost felt as if this thing needed me somehow or in someway. Those eyes were begging for me to help it, to care for it. At that moment, I felt the need to protect this animal thing, whatever it was. I didn't care, I just needed to protect it.

I picked the bundle up and into my arms. I don't know what came over me, but I began to rock it, hushing it. It was strange, but felt so natural. The thing fell asleep in my arms like the way a fawn or pup would when cuddled against its mother. It was so beautiful, tears rushed to my eyes. I had never experienced this type of feeling before. It was so new like happiness except more than that. It was so overwhelming it had caught me completely by surprise. It was frightening, comforting, and odd at the same time. I named the feeling love.

I carried the tiny thing to a place where I knew it would be safe, a place I viseted many times. It was a vast land of meadows and streams as far the eye could see. There was a large rock structure there that formed itself into a cave, creating the perfect home for my new love.

I took a seat on the rock looking at the tiny face as it slept. It looked so peaceful. Me, being a goddess, never knew what sleep was like, but now I could see. I watched the thing in my arms as it twitched and shook a bit before falling completely still again. A smile spread over my lips as I thought of possible names for this new creature. I certainly didn't want to name it "Man." I didn't know what to call it at all. I chose Child as a temporary name until I could come up with somthing else. I ended up leaving it named Child.

I took care of Child and watched it grow. It would play in the fields I created and create things with its vast imagination. Whenever it needed something, Child would say say so in a way different from humans.

I don't necessarily speak in words or in the way humans do. I talk through the sounds that my trees make when they are moved by the wind, or in the sounds that burbling brooks make. Sometimes I speak through how my forests grow or the way a flower blooms. Child spoke to me in the way I did except with his own twist on it. He would make the sounds I made or draw out the way a river curved to get my attention on a certain matter. This is how child would speak to me this way every day, copying my manuerisms and movements as to make it easier to communicate.

As it grew, I watched child become more beautiful. It had gone from a chubby, fat, round thing to something lean and slender. Its body curved like mine and its hair cascaded down its back like a mahogany river. It made me realize how quickly time had passed since I'd found Child. It made me happy yet sad. I never stopped loving Child and I don't think I ever will.

I can't help but cry what when I think about what happened. I remember it so vividly, it haunts me daily. I had left Child in the home I had created for it to go and something. Probably to make sure equilbrium was still maintained. I don't remember how long I was away, maybe a day or two. It was not much time I was gone from Child.

When I returned to the vast meadows and small streams, I was confronted by I scene that shakes me to this day. As I arrived to the small cave, I saw Child, motionless on the ground. I decided to leave it there, thinking it was just asleep. I few hours later, I wondered why it wasn't waking up.

I went over to Child, nudging it, trying to get a response. Nothing happened. I started to shake Child, trying to wake it up. Still Nothing. I picked up and that's when I noticed the dark pool of red liquid underneath my love. I realized Child wasn't as pink it used to be. Child's skin wasn't as warm as it once was. I cried for Child to open its eyes, but I was terrified to see what they had become. Summing up every strength I had, I lifted one of my Child's eyelids.

What I expected to see was the bright blue eyes I had encountered the first time I saw Child. Instead, I saw pale, almost white, translucent eyes, completely lifeless. The light which once shone in them was gone. The eyes which once shone with wonder and imagination were now vacant.

I caught glimpse of something in the corner of my eye. It was a blunt, crude object with a handle and a point. It was the first time, this entire day, that I realised this object lying so close to Child. I picked it up, studying its form. In the dark I could see its shape, but the details it held.

I didn't recognize what it was at first, but as I studied it, it became clear to me exactly what it was. The red liquid I'd found under Child's body was also on the point of this tool. The way it was bound together with skins and ropes led me to believe it was something of man's creation. It was like a spark which lit my heart on fire with a burning anger. Man had killed my Child. Man had destroyed my love.

I coud feel the rain begin to fall as my heart darkened. I questioned why it had to be Child. Who or what in all of nature could have done such an awful and heartless thing. I knew everything had its time. That was the balance Time put in place, but this was not Child's time. Child was too young, too full of spirit and the will to live to just stop breathing. My Child's life had been taken. It had been stolen.

I crumpled around Child, holding it close to my heart. My heavy sobs shoke the skys as my crys carried on the winds. The earth trembled with my lips as they quivered from pain. This was heart break. The feeling of being torn in two. My chest heaved as I sobbed, trying to cry out my pain. The way my hear felt so heavy in my breast caused me to scream. The winds wailed as I screeched, trying to find a way to end the hurt of losing the thing most precious to me.

The ground shook beneath me has I gasped for air, feeling it rush into my being. That's when I felt the crack. Not only was it in my heart, it was underneath me in the dirt I sat upon. From one end of the cave to another, it stretched. From one side of my heart to the other, it split.

My screams echoed through the world that day as I felt myself split open, as I felt a canyon form beneath me and Child's body, which was still secure in my arms. This was the cause of my heart break and my heart break was caused by the world of Man.

Today, Man calls my broken heart the Grand Canyon, calling it a work of art, a place of wonder. How can they praise their own actions without a thought? How is it they can live freely without knowing how much pain they caused? If they hadn't had done what they did, they would have seen the actual beauty of the place now called the Grand Canyon. There I would have stood for all to see, with my Child, my love, running through the vast meadows. There they would have seen the complete and loving heart of Mother Nature.