[act]ductapes *dpm*'s mouth shut[/act] It's for your own good. :nod:
I am really sorry about all the stories I have been throwing on here lately, but I just can't seem to help myself. But who knows, this might be the last time for a while, so I might as well make the best of it. ;P
Okay. Here is the promised other one. It is for a competition, though I'm not really sure what competition because my teacher is organising that. He just said to write a maximum of 1500 words on the topic Man Vs. Nature. And we had to be creative. So here mine is.
The sun beat fiercely down, hot and unforgiving, but neither the woman or her young daughter felt its harsh touch, as they walked through the cool, dimly lit forest. It would have been obvious to any who watched, as the two wandered down the worn path, that they were very familiar with the forest, though the girl was no older than five. Neither of them payed any mind to where they trod, as if they had walked the same way so many times that every stick and stone were committed to memory.
They didn’t speak as they made their way slowly down the path. Instead, the little girl focused her ever-wandering attention on the song her mother was singing softly. The deep, husky voice of her mother, accompanied by the soft sounds of the forest and its inhabitants, filled the girls mid, and she tried to commit it to memory. The girl promised herself that, one day, she would sing just as beautifully as the woman she looked up to.
Finally, the little girl spoke, her sweet, innocent voice echoing softly through the surrounding trees. “Mummy, is Daddy going to get better soon?â€
The woman’s song cut off in a sort of sobbing choke. She had been dreading the question, had even hoped that the young girl might forget. A foolish hope, given that the subject was so important to both of them, and the fact that her five year old daughter was extremely intuitive for her age. She saw and understood far ore than she should, something that the woman had always cherished. But maybe it isn’t always a good thing, the woman thought darkly.
“Mummy?†her daughter asked, confused as to why she had hesitated.
“I heard you Allie. Your father...†again the woman hesitated, thinking of the best direction to take with the five year old. Allie was looking up at her with moss green eyes, bright with curiosity and worry, for both her parents. The young woman sighed, knowing that she would tell the truth, no matter how painful. “Your father is very sick.â€
“Will he get better?â€
“No sweetie. He won’t.†Allie tugged at her mothers sleeve, worried at the sadness in her voice. The woman gave her a small smile, and they walked on silently, the girl thinking through what her mother had said.
Eventually, the two came to their destination, a small clearing. A bubbling stream ran through it, and the young girl gave a delighted laugh, running straight to it. The woman smiled at her daughters carefree laugh, but it was quick to fade. She sat down in the shade, enveloped in familiar, dark thoughts. Worry for her dying husband, and for how she and her daughter would fare, entertained her every thought, mixing with the aching that she tried so hard to hide form her emphatic daughter.
“Mummy!†Allie’s urgent voice brought her back to the present, and she got up and hurried over to where her daughter stood at the edge of the clearing, staring down at a small, huddled lump.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?†Suddenly, the woman was close enough to see what the small lump was, and she gasped. Slumped sideways on the forest floor was a small, pretty bluebird. It’s eyes were half lidded, and it was obvious to the woman that it was close to death.
“What’s wrong with it, Mummy?†the little girl asked, worried. She knew the bird was not supposed to be sitting there like that, or looking as sickly as it was. Instead, it should have been flying away, scared and irritated that humans were so close to it.
The woman studied the bird carefully, not sure if it was illness that had got to it, or if it was just really badly injured. Either way, she knew that it was going to die. “I’m not sure Allie.â€
“But we can help it, right? We can make it all better, can’t we Mummy?†The woman was saddened by the innocent questions of her daughter. Even though she was an extremely intuitive child, Allie was only five, and still believed that you could make any hurt better by just kissing it away. The woman hated that she would have to ruin that innocence, but her daughter had to learn sometime, and now would be the best time, to prepare her for her father’s death.
“There’s nothing we can do for it sweetie. No matter what we do, it is going to die.â€
Her daughter stared at her for a second, then the tears started falling down her face. Her mother had never lied to her before, and Allie knew she was telling the truth when she said there was nothing they could do for the bird. But it still shocked her that such a pretty little thing would have to die, without them doing anything to try and help it.
Her mother pulled her daughter gently into her arms, crooning softly to her as she wiped the tears of her face. “Hey, don’t cry sweetheart. It will be okay.â€
“How? It’s dying.†her daughter asked miserably.
“Death is not something to be scared of Allie. Every living thing has to die, animals, plants. We are no different. It happens to each one of us at some point. It’s not something to fear, or to hate. Death comes to us when it is ready for us, and nothing can stop that. Death is natural. Death is nature. And nature is something to be loved and cherished. Not feared.â€
Her daughter looked confused. “Then why do people resist death? Why do they fear it, and hate it?â€
The woman looked sad. “There are a few reasons why humans fear death. One of them is that, when someone dies, those close to the person are so upset, in so much emotional pain, that they associate the whole of death as a bad thing, a painful thing. Another is that sometimes, people die painfully. The other reason is that people fear the unknown.â€
Allie frowned. “What has this... um-no-en... got to do with death? What does it even mean?â€
The woman smiled slightly. “Un-known,†she corrected. “The unknown is what we don’t know. And for humans, death is the unknown. People don’t know if death is painful, or what comes after that, and so they fear it. For all they know, it could be painful, or scary. And when people fear something unknown to them, they try to trap it, destroy it, or if they can’t do that, they try to resist it, to run from it.†The woman was sad as she admitted this to her daughter, and Allie patted her clumsily on the cheek, reacting to the emotion.
“So then death is a bad thing?†she asked, staring at her mother with wide eyes, trying to take in the complicated things her mother was telling her. While some of the words where new and unfamiliar to her, she understood at least part of what her mother was telling her, and the emotions behind it. What she didn’t understand she tried to commit to memory, so that she could think about them later.
Her mother shook her head adamantly. “No. Death might not be a good thing, but it isn’t a bad thing either. It’s nature, it doesn’t have to be good or bad. Death just... is. But humans don’t see that.â€
“Do animals?â€
The woman nodded. “I would guess so. Animals are actually very intuitive, despite what humans think. They might not be smart, but they are more aware of this world than we ignorant humans are. Animals submit to nature, to life, to death. They accept things the way they are, and don’t question it. But humans fight nature.â€
Allie picked up on her last words. “They fight it? You mean like a war?â€
Her mother grimaced. “Exactly like a war. A war of Man vs. Nature. Human’s either resist nature, or they kill it. One of those battles against nature is death. People fight death, try to resist it. But in the end, you can’t beat death. Death always beats you. The animals know this, and they don’t resist it. See?†she pointed at the bird in front of them, lying still, barely breathing. “He does not resist, even though he knows he will die. He has accepted he will die, and now he awaits death.â€
Her daughter thought about that for a little while as she looked at the dying bird, understanding a little better now that her mother had put it in simpler terms. So daddy dying isn’t really a bad thing?â€
Her mothers eyes softened. “No sweetie. Not bad. Just a little painful and upsetting.â€
She started singing again, softly, as the birds eyes finally slid shut, and it stopped breathing altogether.