The Beginning of Mother Nature

This story is by Soul Dachuk and was part of our 2023 Fall Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.

Once, many moons ago, before our ancestors ever looked upon the stars, the world was void of sound.

There were no twittering birds, no rustling leaves, nor any roaring rivers that fed into the sea.

There was an eerie silence. The kind that made one’s hair stand on end or their teeth chatter with unknown fear. Enveloping the world in a suffocating, unceasing horror. The silence lasted for millions of years, and the earth remained unchanged by time.

Then, one day, as the sun stared down at a wasteland of stone and fire, there came a sound. Quiet at first, like a gentle sigh. It gradually grew from a single whispering voice to a cacophonous chorus. For the first time noise broke the ever-persistent silence.

Curious, the sun began to explore the rotating earth with vigour. Searching for the source of the noise, it inspected every crevice of the rotating earth. Until finally, it found the source of the sound. A large precipice of crumbling grey stone was buzzing with pandemonium. Each wave of sound is like a blacksmith hammer striking down, and cracking the stone.

Boisterous noise escaped from each widening crack. It filled the world with increasing noise, erasing the silence with unrestrained joy. With one last thunderous crack, a single stone fell from the centre of the precipice and tumbled down the large structure, landing with a colossal thwack.

For a minute, all was silent, and the world held its breath.

An eruption of noise cascaded from the hole the stone left behind, shattering the rest of the precipice. As the stones crumbled to the ground, a beautiful green woman as tall as a mountain stood engulfed in the symphony of her own song.
At first her eyes remain closed and her body motionless. Eventually, she took a deep breath in and exhaled a melodic hum. Her eyes open to reveal two large honey coloured irises that observe the world around her with wonder. Frowning at this world of fire and stone, a dissatisfied trill escaped her lips.

Standing, her long vine-like hair cascaded behind her, and she began to journey across the barren earth. With each step, the desolate plains of the earth were replaced with vibrant green life. As the stone and fire disappeared, an angelic smile blessed the woman’s features.

She surveyed her work with pride and began to laugh. From her bubbling laughter the birds were born, and from her hand the animals of the land and sea were carved. Each of her children was blessed with the gift of song. Some could bark and growl, some could coo and chirp, and others could purr. She loved all her children equally and conversed with them regularly.

She enjoyed the life she had created with her gift; and for a time, all was well.
Many moons after her birth, the embodiment of Life noticed something strange in the utopia she had created. A sickness that poisoned her children, stripping them of their vibrant greens and replacing them with sickly browns and whites. Only the vegetation had been affected, but she feared it would soon spread to the animals if she did not find a cure.

Determined, she laboured to devise a cure to save her children, but with every attempt she was met with heartbreaking failure. Anxiously she surveyed as her trees rotted and snapped, and her precious animals withered and turned frail with old age.

After many failures, Life is trying another remedy to heal her trees, when she hears a commotion in the sky that draws her attention. A single goose helplessly plunges from the sky. Its distressed flock called out to it, but received no answer. Life reached out and caught the wheezing animal in her gigantic hand. Pulling it close to her, she hummed a soft melody to the frail little bird. Seconds passed, and the goose did not respond. Life urgently tried to communicate again, but still it did not answer. The small bird’s breath came in quiet little puffs, before going silent.
Life gazed at the motionless goose in her hands, as her body began to tremble and her vision blurred.

Her head filled with a torrent of thoughts asking “What did I do wrong? Why is this happening?” She wanted answers, but could not find them.

For the first time, Life felt an emotion that was not joy or wonder. It was an ugly feeling. One that made her want to curl into a ball, and forget the world; but, how could she? She knew her children needed her, and she had failed to protect them. She felt hopeless and grief-stricken as she laid the goose to rest.

Tears fell from her eyes as she cried for the very first time.

Hours went by as she wept, her tears descending to the earth and creating rivers, and oceans. She wept until she felt hollow. The darkness grew around her as the day faded into night. A song of lament flowed from her, for the first child she ever lost.

She heard another unexpected voice singing alongside her own. She looked up alarmed, searching for the source with wild eyes. In the distance she noticed a shadowy figure hanging over the forest. Rot spread across the forest floor where it stood. Immediately Life understood, it was this thing that was harming her children. Standing with purpose she approached the shadowy figure. He was taller than her, with pointed black eyes and long black hair that wisped around him like smoke. His skin a pale grey, and his fingers sharp and bone-like. He touched the trees infecting them with death. Life looked on with horror, as another one of her beautiful trees became brittle, snapping apart in the wind.

She knew she had to act now. Taking a deep breath, she sang to him a song of great sorrow, pleading for him to stop killing her children. His eyes gazed into hers, as his shadow encompassed her. Life was scared, but she remained unmoved. She would not run now, her children needed her; she would not fail them again.

His answer, however, was not what Life expected. In his deep baritone, he simply replied with ‘why?’ Life thought it was obvious, and looked at him with a puzzled expression. She sang a small hymn in reply, revealing how she thinks they are beautiful alive; in turn, Death chanted that he believes they are beautiful dead or covered in rot. Life could not believe her ears. The words “beautiful dead” filled her with alarm.

A dangerous melodic hum escaped her lips as she observed Death with distaste. She wailed at him to stop as he tainted yet another one of her children. In return he howled for her to leave him alone. Life grabbed Death’s hand to stop him, and he threw her off with a growl.

Trembling with rage she let out a tumultuous cry, striking death to the ground as he reached for another tree. In response he roared and lunged at her raising his fists with rage. Both sought to obtain control of the world. Both sought to shape the world in their image. They began to punch, push and drag each other across the earth. Their songs clashed in an explosion of cacophonous noise, blending together as their battle continued.

Death struck Life to the ground and she closed her eyes and waited for death to attack her again, but he never did. Life opened her eyes with surprise, and perceived Death listening to something. She hummed an inquisition, and was met with an unknown song. Death gazed at her with bewilderment. Enraptured by the new melody, their battle was forgotten. It seemed to be everywhere like a limitless symphony. It was an ethereal sound so beautiful it moved Life to tears again.

Death observed her battered form with guilt, and seemed to ponder for a moment before extending his hand to her. Life gazed at him warily, eventually placing her hand in his. Forming an unspoken truce as Death aided her to her feet. The new song crescendos at the unifying action, sending vibrations coursing through the earth and drawing their attention to the world around them.

They both stared in astonishment. The world was no longer a flat expanse of rock. It had been shaped by their battle creating unfamiliar formations. Each time they threw each other they constructed mountains. Life’s tears became rivers, oceans, and ponds. When Death took a life he generated room for new life to be born. Together they shaped the world and gave birth to a new song that represented balance, and they named it nature.

It has been many moons since the battle that shaped the earth, and the world has changed many times over, but Life and Death are still here.

They are ever watching and ever ensuring the balance of the natural world never fades.

The balance of life and death is important, because without one we cannot have the other. So, always remember children. There is beauty in both life and death, and together they are Mother Nature.