what the world once was

              There was once a place called Earth, where animals and plants lived in harmony with each other. The food chain and the ecosystem ruled all, and the Earth went through slow, natural changes. The single-celled water creatures gave way to fish, who turned into bigger fish, until great sea-monsters crawled onto the shore and became land creatures, evolving into dinosaurs. There were then mammoths and saber-toothed tigers who feasted on small antelope-like mammals. The willow, with its great, long, green leaves stretching to tickle the fox let the wind massage its ancient trunk, as the rushing river polishes its roots, and the fish jumped into the fox’s face playfully splashing him. The wolf lay low in the grasses, waiting patiently for the opportune moment to pounce upon his prey. The willow saw the rodents develop into monkeys and then…
         
         Then, there was man. The willow knew of his ideas of God and his love of war, of this Man who has forgotten about the wondrous nature, man who killed for fun, man who lusted for power. The willow watched him, aware of his impact on the planet, did little to stop the catastrophies from coming.
         
         At first, man lived amongst the animals, killing them for food, unaware of the world around him, and the willow not alarmed, continued to tickle the fox. Man lived as any mammal might, and thought only of survival. Slowly, man evolved. As the willow watched him, still letting the wind massage its trunk, Man learned to master fire, and build weapons. He created Gods in the image of himself. Man became dangerous and destructive. The willow slowly became alarmed, and his roots stopped growing into the river. Man did not yet harm the Earth, but merely imposed himself on it.  He began to domesticate wild things, and bring them under his power.
         Man then erected large monuments, but still did no damage to the Earth. He built beauteous structures and created civilizations and made important discoveries. The willow became afraid, and lost its leaves. Man started to ask “Why?” and wonder about the things around him, questioning the God that he had created. Man started wars with himself, creating eternal conflict. Man now killed for fun; for the look on the animal’s face as it dropped dead to the ground, for the sound of his hounds ripping ripe flesh apart and then leave it to decay slowly. The willow stopped tickling the fox, for the fox was gone. The willow became angry. Man became cruel. He tortured and enslaved his own kind. Man polluted. He killed and destroyed rare species. As the fish died and the rivers dried, the willow’s anger turned to cold indifference, and now the dry wind stings the willow’s forgotten body.          
         All of man’s actions caught up with him, in the form of hate, incurable sicknesses, global warming, global poverty, mass famine, fear… That is why the willow no longer flourishes along the winding river, and the wind no longer sings in its branches as the fox catches the fish and the wolf stalks the fox.

         I am not saying that man should not have evolved, and that he has ruined the Earth. I am saying that we need to become more responsible. It is time to act and save our future.  I believe it is time to remember the willow, and fix our mistakes.