A Minor Adjustment
One couple of all existing species had been summoned to the meeting. Nobody knew the reason for it, but as they gathered, rumors started circulating. Words such as “wrath” and “punishment” were whispered, and several of the animals started worrying. The cats felt ashamed for their habit of chasing mice just for fun, the bears for robbing honey from bees, the cuckoos for putting their eggs in other birds’ nests, and a female spider for her nasty habit of snatching her husband’s head off after copulating.
The two humans were casually speculating.
– I think He’ll exterminate all those that aren’t edible, the woman said. Why keep them? They don’t serve any purpose.
– I wish He would wipe out all the dangerous species, the man answered. Crocodiles, scorpions, mosquitos, and lions. And bugs! I hate bugs!
Suddenly, an intense light illuminated the sky and a thunderous voice shook everybody, even the invertebrates, to the bones.
– I AM your omnipresent Creator!
The rabbits started trembling.
– I gave you an earthly Elysium!
The donkeys stared blankly at each other.
– I created cyclic changes with constantly renewed supplies of food, fresh water, and clean air, sufficient for everybody’s needs!
The humans agreed, nodding and smiling.
– But one species has broken My Holy Balance! With their megalomania, greed, and egocentricity they are causing devastation, threatening life itself!
The humans stopped smiling.
– Therefore, I have decided to adjust My Creation!
A deafening “SO BE IT!!!”, seemingly coming from everywhere, followed. Then, darkness and a compact silence fell over the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
At dawn, a Bengal tiger located a slender deer grazing in the high grass, a Chinese giant panda found a fresh, juicy bamboo shoot, and a male Emperor penguin carefully checked the egg lying on his feet.
No featherless biped was to be seen anywhere, but in the oceans, members of a previously unknown species appeared. They looked like oversized, grey, soft walnuts, supplied with a single, desperately staring eye.
With no limbs, they were aimlessly and harmlessly drifting around. All they were capable of doing was watching, remembering, and thinking.
They were thinking really hard…
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleGreat story, Christer. I’ve been saying for years that the world would be better off if the human race had never emerged! I’m very much in agreement with your omnipresent Creator!
Certainly, the world as a whole would be better off without us, Carrie. Of course, we shouldn’t overestimate neither the peacefulness nor the happiness of indigenous people, but at least their kind of society could go on for millennia without jeopardizing the future of the planet. Thanks for commenting and for your kind words.
From Elysium to resembling a giant walnut like creature with only the abilities to watch and think! Christer, you have painted a powerful picture of Noah’s ark in reverse.
Yet right up to the end, humans were too arrogant to think that they were to blame and would be punished.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleI’m glad you caught the hint of human arrogance in the story, Margarida, and also that the biblical Noah myth was playing in the background. I was tempted to call the human species “nuts” in the story, but I chose not to. Thanks for reading and commenting.
You certainly captured the arrogance of mankind Christer, well done.
Thank you, Julian. I think the worse the environmental situation on the planet gets, the more evident is it going to be that we have been very arrogant, looking down on other species as of lower orders, while believing that we are superior.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleA fantastic way to re-imagine the Noah’s Ark, Christer! I loved the description of the doubt descending on all animals, their re-thinking of their sins. The final organisms leave me with the idea that their evolution is just the new beginning… after all that’s how it all started, wasn’t it?
Thanks for your generous comment, Greene. You have an interesting thought there! It might be possible that in a far future of the situation described in the story, the “walnuts” could grow limbs or other means to manipulate their environment to their satisfaction. It’s a fascinating challenge for a creative mind, don’t you think?
Hi Christer – As I drink my morning tea, your story is also quite refreshing. Just like you mentioned “members of a previously unknown species”, I have also been thinking really hard, for many years, specifically about clean air. I have also come to the same conclusion, as you stated “one species has broken My Holy Balance! With their megalomania, greed, and egocentricity they are causing devastation, threatening life itself!” It seems… Read more »
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleI hope that my story went down well with your morning tea, Chris. But it’s indeed sad that intelligence not always includes a capacity for taking the consequences of one’s behavior. If future generations have to pay the price, it seems as though humanity can’t refrain from making what profit they can today.
The arrogance of the humans really resonated with me, Christer. A hard hitting, thought provoking story.
Yes indeed, Linda, and because of their arrogance, they were severely punished. Now, they might regret their behavior, but the question is if it will help them. Thanks for reading and commenting. I’m glad the story resonated with you.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleI thoroughly enjoyed your story, Christer, and agreed with the Creator! My Clean Air story also removed the humans to allow our planet to thrive. I like the fact that many of our new, younger members had wonderful suggestions and ideas for healing what ails us. I hope they are right and we older folk are wrong!
I am very pleased to see that you enjoyed my story, Julie, and that you agree with His decision, even if it was harsh.
It will take a different approach from the younger generation to steer our future in a different direction from the one we are headed towards now. Let’s hope that the writers here are indicating that there is such a shift going on.
Hello Christer, you present a very depressing picture of our future. I agree with your picture of humans as a collective as arrogant and as total ignorant of the natural world. But, your depiction isn’t accurate for so many individual humans. Are we all to be banished to your one-eyed walnut purgatory? If there really was an omnipotent creator, I think she would have the sense to ban the human institutions, not… Read more »
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleI actually was considering what you are referring to when I was writing, Alan. There are so many people doing what they can to improve the environmental situation and they certainly deserve acknowledgment for their work. Greta Thunberg is one example that I used in a previous story with this theme. But this time, I decided to try to create an allegory (using a couple of Bible myths as a base), so… Read more »
Hi Christer – You said above “There are so many people doing what they can to improve the environmental situation and they certainly deserve acknowledgment for their work. Greta Thunberg is one example that I used in a previous story with this theme” I am not sure, but it also seems that there is an opposing force who actively denounce the work of people such as Greta Thunberg. I do not really… Read more »
You are correct, Chris. While Greta was doing her best to create an awareness for the climate change, gaining worldwide attention, a movement against her started. All kinds of lies and slanders were written about her on the net in order to discredit her and diminish her popularity among especially young people. Of course, those attacks were based rather on envy and fear than on truths since they came from climate change… Read more »
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleHi Alan – You asked above “But, your depiction isn’t accurate for so many individual humans. Are we all to be banished to your one-eyed walnut purgatory? If there really was an omnipotent creator, I think she would have the sense to ban the human institutions, not the humans.” Unfortunately, Yes, we will all suffer the affects of climate change. All innocent people and especially disadvantaged populations will suffer, and in fact… Read more »
Thanks for your input here, Chris. I was also a bit confused by Alan’s comment, since he is an expert in this field and I am not. In a parenthesis in my response, I wrote something similar to what you are saying, ( “…the good ones … wouldn’t be spared in a worst case scenario…”) If Alan reads your comment, I would like to see his reaction to it. My thought is… Read more »
A well-told story. We, the humans, deserved all the punishment and wrath from our omnipresent Creator above after all that we did to all His beautiful and balanced creation. Well done.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThank you, Lotchie! I’m glad you liked it. It might be a too severe punishment for good guys (like you and I!), but now we have to accept to be just brains, drifting around without being able to destroy anything. Maybe we can learn to be happier in that shape?
You are right, Christer. We should learn to be happier without destroying anything. Everybody should adjust to save the world.
Christer, I’m new here to voice.club. I am reading a few or more stories daily. I’m enjoying everyone’s writing style, etc. This read is understatedly great! The level of accountability you have created is met with a great understanding of how each of us can do better in even the smallest of changes for a healthier planet. I try to see the best in everything!
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThank you for your comment. “Understatedly great” sounds like a very good qualification to me, so it is received with gratitude and blessings to the giver..
Omg, Christer, I’m still a work in progress! My sincere compliment to you, should have been described as “Great!” It was not understated in any way! Need a vacay soon, Lol.