The Revenge of Nature

It was midnight. But Arthur was still on the street, selling Balot while Rebecca and Aya were just at their house, 15 meters away from the river.

It was raining heavily then, from 3 pm until that time. Rebecca could not sleep. Suddenly she heard a loud rush of water with a strange sound like drumming. When she opened the window, she was startled by huge flood-carrying logs from the mountains. Other houses in the distance had swept away, and the flood was approaching them. Rebecca was confused as she cried, and she quickly took Aya. But it was too late.

The news spread quickly. And it reached Arthur, so he quickly went home. He was not afraid to die. All he wanted was to find his wife and his daughter. So he swam in the flood until he heard someone talking in a nearby coconut tree. But because it was too dark, he could see nothing, until a flash of lightning gave them light, and he saw a girl and a mother holding in a coconut tree.

Aya exclaimed as she noticed her father’s appearance, “Papa, help us.”

“Aya? Rebecca, is that you?”

“Yes, Arthur.”

Arthur swam towards them even though the current of water was strong.

Rebecca said, “I thought we were going to die, Arthur.”

Arthur replied, “Thank God you are safe. I cannot afford to lose you both in my life. It’s the fault of those loggers who illegally cut down trees in the mountains. Nature is already charging innocent people like us, because of their inhuman actions and choices to destroy the forest for their selfish interest and own benefit. “

It was dawn. And the floodwaters had subsided. Only five households remained standing; many people were missing. Corpses were hanging in the trees, and others were buried in the mud.

I hope this will be a lesson to all of us that we would rather protect nature than destroy it. Because when nature takes charge and retaliates, we do not know how many innocent lives the payoff will be.

Nature retaliates.