Once Upon a Time in a Covid World
written by: Linda Collier
Mother Nature bowed her head as a tear rolled down her beautiful face. “It’s time”, she whispered. “It’s time” whispered the trees as their leaves rustled in the breeze. “It’s time”, whispered the forest ferns and moss and wildflowers. “It’s time” whispered the birds as they flew from tree branch to tree branch quietly spreading the word. “It’s time” whispered the deer, their ears up and alert. “It’s time” whispered the oceans and the wind carried these whispers all around the world. “It’s time for what?” asked the brown rabbit huddled inside a hollow log. “It’s time we take back what is rightfully ours,” said Mother Nature. “It’s time to take back everything mankind has managed to destroy…our homes, our green space, our resources. They have mined our earth, filled our oceans with oil and plastic, and garbage. They have killed our animals, some to the point of extinction. And still, they want more. “It’s time for them to see what their world will be like when they lose everything”. “But how can we do that?” they all asked Mother Nature. “I am the Mother of Planet Earth. As we begin to thrive again, the world will fall into great despair. It will be something that will be talked about for years to come. Something humans have never witnessed in their lifetime”.
And so it began. A great plague descended upon the earth. Humans began to get sick. “It’s what they are eating,” said some. “It’s the way they live”, said others. “It’s not going to happen to us”, said everyone. And the world sank into darkness. As people were dying everywhere, everyone became afraid of each other. “Don’t walk so close to me”. “Don’t cough, don’t sneeze, don’t touch me”, don’t go outside, go outside, wear a mask, clean your hands, stock up on food…the world was at war with itself.
Children were getting their education over a computer screen, and the aged population was so lonely from the isolation they were dying of heartbreak.
And all the while Mother Nature watched as animals ventured back into places that had long been taken from them. Sea life was swimming joyously in clean waters, and the air cleared itself of pollution from factories, cars and planes, and ocean liners and slowly the earth began to rejuvenate and heal.
Scientists around the world worked together to try and find a way to stop this plague. People were spending more time with their loved ones. Doctors and nurses were the heroes taking care of the sick and the dying. Flour and yeast flew off the shelves as baking bread became a form of comfort, and homes smelled like memories of gramma’s house. Children’s birthdays were celebrated by relying on the kindness of strangers who decorated their cars and drove down city streets honking their horns making as much noise as possible for a small moment of joy for a child who could not have a party with friends.
And then it happened. These scientists made a discovery and the medicine needed to heal the sick and to start making people healthy again was available and people around the world rejoiced. “Here is the cure,” they said. And people lined up for hours to get this medicine and as the plague slowed, there was a collective sigh of relief worldwide.
But alas it didn’t take long before old ways set in. “You can’t make us take that poison,” they said. “The only people dying are the old and frail, so why should we care?” they said. “I’m not giving that to my child,” they said. And it continued. And there was fighting in the streets, and fighting in homes, and families were divided. And the believers took the medicine and the non-believers did not. Eventually, enough of the people in the world were healthy and everyone opened their doors and they ran back to their cars, and they got back on the airplanes and everyone was going everywhere again.
And the animals retreated back to their diminished homes, the oceans filled with garbage, and the air was filled with pollution again. And it seemed no one learned anything from this plague.
Mother Nature once again shed a tear as she watched the people go back to what they always did. She whispered to her earth “don’t despair. I promise you”, she said, “very soon there will be a generation of young, intelligent, and incredibly caring human beings who will work hard to find a way to work with me so they can teach generations to come how to live in harmony with nature and the earth will thrive again”.
- Once Upon a Time in a Covid World - April 5, 2023
