This piece is by Nicolas Knight.
That night inside the rainforest trees, many things were thrumming and chirping in all sorts of ways and all sorts of different kinds of unique things to nature buzzing and filled with happiness to be alive. Though below the forest greenery and on the ground lived one extraordinary thing no one knew about in the forest. With the impossible earth and its creation, filled with trillions of organisms and friends to nature, no one would know about her, but she would still be there, just waiting to be discovered in time. Her name was Luna, the poison frog, and just as nature Luna was beautiful, but when you tamper with her, there can be consequences. Though fragile and small, as small as the thumbnail on your hand Luna was a beautiful, deep blue with black spots and carried a lethal toxin that, when touched, killed within minutes. Because of this, she was afraid of someone finding her and her beautiful colors and poison and wanting it all for themselves to keep.
This night just that would happen as a man named Kasper was traveling there searching for the rainforest’s wonders and beauties. Kasper would go there to discover things, and he had long black hair, blue eyes, and wore a cape around his shoulders that went down to his toes. Kasper spoke in a gruff voice and knew of all sorts of things; that night, he was cutting through the forest with his machete. He heard all of the rainforest noises and thought to himself – “This is the place! The place of opportunities!” He would go to discover things and then collect them sometimes. He traveled on and on through the forest, looking for stuff on the ground and up in the trees. He was particularly interested in the trees’ things, but little did he know that before him now was something magical. “What do we have here?” Asked Kasper. He looked to the foliage on the ground and saw the most beautiful thing. The poison frog shined almost like the moon with the sun reflecting on it. Luminescent in the night and shrouded in deep midnight air vibes. “I’ll have to be careful with this one!” Proclaimed Kasper.
“NO!” Shouted Luna. “If you touch me, you’ll disrupt the balance of the rainforest and its beauties!” “W…W…What!?” Stuttered Kasper; he looked down, face widened and horrified, “I don’t know anything about that! I was just wanted to put these gloves on and take some color and poison from you!” He said. “Don’t you see!” Said Luna. “From the snakes and spiders below to the most beautiful birds in the trees, none can be touched without consequence!” Kasper looked at himself for a second and then thought about how many things he had touched without consequence and was amused. He then picked up Luna with his gloves and collected the things he wanted. “NO!” Horrified, Luna cried out. “UGH!” Then in the distance, he heard a huge roar and voice that cried out, saying, “IT IS DONE!” The night turned dull, and the trees laid silent for the most prolonged period. The horrible deed then replaced the ambiance with a dreadful poison that illuminated everything and swallowed the forest whole in fear. Kasper then regretted what he had done and said, “what’s the big deal?”
“Can’t you see?” Said Luna. “You placed me here so that if anyone found me and touched the forest, there would be consequences just as there are for all things you tamper within nature! Species go extinct! Pollution can dissolve the planet!” Said Luna. “But I just wanted your colors and poison.” Said Kasper. “There is no consequence for that!” “But you stared straight in the face of me and didn’t heed my warning!” Replied Luna. “I’m not just a frog; I’m a guardian and magical poison frog! The poison you collected represents the cost YOU will have one day for violating YOUR NATURE AS PART OF THIS EARTH AND THE SPECIES THAT THRIVE HERE!” At that moment, Luna disappeared, and Kasper was on his own. Kasper then went back to his home that night and found his horned owl named “Fate” and talked to him. “I don’t see why one little mistake was so important to the whole rainforest.” He said. “But I guess if I weren’t the only one here, then it would be different then, wouldn’t it, huh, Fate?”
Fate looked sad, almost as if Kasper had wronged him too. It then dawned upon him that the earth was huge, and, in its majesty, he would never dream of ANYONE, not just him finding a frog-like that. He wondered how long it would take to see only that one impressive frog, and with the collections around him and the rainforest on the brink of destruction, he said, “Trillions of organisms on this impossible earth… She was sitting there in front of me. Impossible on her own as life because of how this world can be.” Kasper started writing in his notebook and then vowed never to retake life from the forest and disrespect the forest in specific ways. “Animals can be better than people sometimes!” He said. “They are smart and wise and only kill for things like nutrition if you think about it… Or when they need to defend themselves!” As he thought more and more, he realized how the rainforest was before he got there and that it would never have gone away on its own, so Kasper wrote this down too and went back to the forest to search for Luna through every path he remembered and could find.
“HELLO?” He called out. “IS ANYONE THERE?” Out hopped a frog, and he was much relieved and humbled by this presence of the forest finally. He told the frog this and asked for its name. As the sun started to rise, she replied, “Luna.” He took the poison, rubbed it back onto the frog, and proclaimed it was wrong to hurt this magical being. The rainforest felt familiar, and he smiled. He then threw his cape over his shoulder and said, “The names Kasper and I’m not looking to discover anymore but rather to admire and observe.” “Good.” Said Luna, and with the first man that came, Kasper decided to build a second home in the forest with her to protect her and the rainforest and make sure no one would harm it ever again.
— END