In the beginning

 

A long time ago - before even something like a calendar existed - the Earth was created. Who made the Earth? That was Gaia, Mother of All. She chose a beautiful location, a young star with a couple of planets. Between a yellow planet and a red planet, She created Earth. A planet with land and water. A planet with mountains and valleys. Circling round the planet She made a rock that would be lit up by the star at night, that way even the darkest night would have some light. The rock orbiting the planet would also have an influence on the movement of the water on Earth.

 

On Earth, She created life. Fish swam in the water, big and small, in all shapes and colors. Whales and octopi, sharks, jellyfish and starfish also swam there. A lot of plantlife grew in the water.

On the land She made flowers in more colors than you could count, such beautiful creations that would make you speechless - at least, if you took the time to enjoy it. She made trees. Some were so tall that you couldn’t see the top; others were small and were called shrubs. Millions upon millions of plants grew, carrying numerous edible goodies; some trees too had delicious fruits.

 

The fruits, the vegetables, the legumes, the berries, the nuts, the seeds and all the other offspring of the plants had - apart from being responsible for spreading the species - the extra function that they were nutritious and edible for the many animals.

On the land there lived a whole variety of animals; deer, lions, ants, monkeys, goats, cows, wolves, spiders, … way too many to mention; but also the air was filled with creatures great and small, such as owls, bats, butterflies, vultures, … There was life everywhere.

While one kind of fish ate seaplants, the other kind of fish ate fish. The same happened on land and in the air. While certain species loved to eat all the nuts and seeds and berries and fruits; other animals had to eat the flesh of the former animals.

 

And so there was balance. Everything was perfect, just like Gaia had foreseen it. In her chaos, it was perfect. In her chaos, there was order. The Mother of All enjoyed watching how her creations happily frolicked across the plains, or climbed trees or ran through forests. How a small seed grew out to the most amazing flower. How they overcame vast distances to mate. How they swam through the water or soared through the sky.

 

Hundreds, thousands, millions of years Gaia watched life on Earth. Didn’t her children need her? Was everything going as planned? It all surpassed her expectations and she amazed herself. In every creature, in every life she had put the ability to adapt itself, to evolve into a more fitting creature. What didn’t work, would disappear; what did work, only got better. A smile appeared on her face. Gaia was glad. But She was also tired. She worked so hard, creating all that life; and all that observing was tiring too. The Mother of All deserved a nap.

 

 

The dawn of Man

 

Gaia had been asleep for thousands of years, Earth itself and life on Earth were good. Due to the possibility of evolution, life disappeared, but new life appeared as well. Those new forms of life were sometimes more suitable for the conditions on Earth. Sometimes, however, the new forms of life weren’t that strong and they in turn disappeared again.

Mushrooms grew smaller, trees grew bigger. Some fruits got more juicy, while other fruits became less tasty. One fruit became poisonous for a species, while it tasted heavenly for another species.

 

In this long process of evolution, something changed in the line of the apes. Some started to walk on two legs, they grew less hair. They lost their tail, they developed speech, … they made houses to live in, to find shelter from the rain. They made beds to sleep better. They made clothes to protect themselves from the heat of the sun, the cold of the winter, or the rain. They made tools to build better houses. This new form of life would later be called “Man”.

 

Not everything Man did, was good. Man made weapons to hurt one another, or to hurt animals. They made slaves of each other, of themselves and of the animals. Man evolved into creatures with a free will, and their will … was very destructive. They destroyed life, they destroyed plants, they destroyed animals, they destroyed each other. Everything Gaia worked so hard on to build, that she had poured so much love in, Man destroyed.

 

Man was skilled in inventing things, especially if it brought on more destruction. Like that, Man invented “war”, or humongous machines that cause deforestation on an enormous scale. Or stables where hundreds up to thousands of animals were trapped in together. Or factories that polluted both the air and the water.

 

Anything and everything that represented nature had to go for anything and everything that was Man. Forests became cities. Pathways became roads. Everything was burned down and destroyed, everything had to serve Man.

 

 

 

A voice in the darkness

 

The echo of a small voice reached Gaia’s ear. “Help us! They are killing us!”

The voice sounded very sad. Gaia thought she had a bad dream. She woke up sweating and she looked around confused. She rubbed her eyes. 

Another small, sad voice cried out. “Help us! They are destroying our home!”

Gaia jumped up. A barrage of millions of sad, little voices cried out. All of them had a similar message. “Help! Death! Hurt! Sad!”

 

Gaia became angry and sad. She got really angry! The Mother of All created earthquakes, floods, pandemics, fires, … anything she could think of to keep Man on a leash, without causing too much hurt to her own sweet creations.

Gaia wept for hundreds of years while trying to make it clear to Man that they had to lessen the destructive behavior.

 

The Mother of All tried to send messages to Man. “Dear Man, please stop what you’re doing. You are causing so much hurt and grief. With your actions you are also destroying yourself. Surely that cannot be your intention? You need the trees to breathe, yet you cut them all down to plant crops to feed the animals you eat later. There is no logic in that. Are wealth and power so important that all life should give way? Even your own life? By living in harmony with Earth, with the life that I created, you will be rich with love, you will be rich with warmth. By living in harmony with Earth and the life that I created, you will be able to live and enjoy life. Please stop this hungry greed for wealth and power and take the time to enjoy the wonders that I created.”

 

Man kept on doing what they did. They destroyed the forests, they depleted the oceans, they bred and killed animals on a gigantic scale, they waged war, … all had to bow down to the will of Man.

 

Gaia’s patience had run out. She sent them a clear message. 

“Man. Listen to me. I will not bow down to your will. I do not need you, but you do need me. Treat me and my creations with the necessary respect or suffer the consequences. If you take me down, I will take you down with me!”

 

Man did not respond, Man continued on their own destructive path. Some people did listen and tried their best to live in harmony with Earth, but most … they continued on selfishly.

 

Gaia let out a deep sigh while the tears rolled down her face. “Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good,” she said, comforting herself, “let Man destroy themselves, even though it will bring on so much suffering for animals and plants and all non-Man life.”

Earth will recover once Man is gone. Earth will rise again, even though it will take a long time, Earth will recover. Man is not worth saving anymore. They are too devoted to wealth, greed, power. Maybe it’s for the best that they bring on their own downfall. It’s a shame that so much life has to die because of that. And it’s a shame for those few people who do understand that Earth and life on Earth are important and who can bring up the necessary respect for Her. Shame … that Man ever existed. What a waste.

 

Gaia swore to let out a tear for every non-Man creature that would die before Man finally disappeared from Earth. With all those tears, Gaia would be able to repair Earth, on which all life would restore itself, and Man would not be welcome anymore. Only then would life and Earth be safeguarded from such a destructive force. This was something Gaia never intended or expected.

 

It took decades before Man had vanished from Earth.

Only now, peace would return. The flowers started to bloom again. The trees had space to grow and the forests grew in size. The fish in the almost depleted oceans could breed again and their numbers grew. The animals could roam freely. The air was clean and breathable again, the seas were clean and fresh, land was free from concrete and garbage. Earth flourished. Life breathed again. Gaia blinked away the last tear and smiled again. For the next thousands of years, Gaia watched her creations live again, she watched Earth and the plants and the animals. And She was happy, because no Man was there to throw a spanner in the works. 

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