The Wrath of Mother Nature

In a forgotten forest, far away from human life, a bolt of lightning strikes an ancient yew tree; the archaic branches absorb the electricity as the flaking trunk begins to glow, illuminating the forest through the storm. The air is alive with static and an ancient power; a dormant presence, hibernating for millions of years, begins to stir . . .

An ear-shattering crack of thunder strikes, silencing the forest as the old tree goes dark. The wildlife, temporarily blinded and deafened by the storm, wait in frozen anticipation. A glowing hand breaks through the packed earth and overgrown roots as the petite form of Mother Nature rises, opening her inhuman eyes, her frail frame radiating power. She can smell the poison in the air, see it in the oceans, and feel it in her children as a wave of crippling sorrow drives her to her knees.

Long ago, before her deep slumber, she gave life to the planet. She formed the oceans, rivers, mountains, forests, canyons, deserts, and skies. She then designed billions of living creatures to inhabit her world. She is the mother of all nature. Except for humans. They were a lesser god’s toxic creation; contaminating her world long after she laid to rest.

She felt only pain and suffering from her children; so many extinct, never able to walk, swim, crawl, or fly again. Her inhuman eyes fill with tears as her sobs break the silence. The creatures of the forests go to her in a futile effort to console the tortured Goddess. They put their instincts and rivalries aside, surrounding her protectively. Mother Nature raises her head, grief, and gratitude in her heart, as she embraces her children’s descendants.

She spends the next day in mourning, grieving the loss of countless lives. Her sadness evolves into an uncontrollable rage the day after.

The Goddess rises, her power gathering around her dainty form. She vows to end corruption and pollution on her firstborn: the Earth. Then she will avenge her children’s pointless deaths by ensuring that none of them go extinct or become endangered ever again. She uses her power to grant her children new abilities, giving them the leverage they need to overthrow humanity.

She utilizes her most desperate creatures: the nearly-extinct, turning them into her weapons. For her largest primates, the gorillas, she designs beautiful wings that carry them and others to safety. Polar bears gain the ability to create icebergs, which allows them to replenish the planet’s polar ice caps while also expanding their diminishing habitat. She grants the gift of wind to her fastest children, the cheetahs, allowing them to summon powerful tornadoes and the incredibly rare derechos (tornado walls) capable of leveling entire cities. She gives her armored rhinoceroses power over the ground, enabling them to create catastrophic sinkholes, landslides, and earthquakes.

Mother Nature turns to the majestic tigers, imbuing them with electricity that generates a protective force field designed for rescuing survivors. She bestows the powers of fire and lava upon her lankiest primates, the orangutans, assigning the task of destroying the infinite amount of garbage rotting her planet. She grants her amphibious reptiles, the sea turtles, teleportation and purifying abilities, enabling them to transport animals to safety while cleaning the ocean waters. She gives water powers to her largest mammals, the blue whales, allowing them to summon raging tsunamis, hurricanes, and typhoons; catastrophes that can and will obliterate entire countries.

She grants winter abilities to her remaining snow leopards, enabling them to summon powerful blizzards and ice storms that blanket millions of acres in snow and ice. She crafts a green thumb for her giant pandas, providing them the skills to grow any plant, tree, bush, or vine in any climate on the planet. She gives the rains to her hippopotamuses to create cleansing monsoons and devastating floods. With her power waning, she gives one last gift to the empathetic elephants: telepathy and time, allowing them to communicate through thought and the power to stop time when attacked.

Her preparations complete, the Goddess embarks on her world-saving quest. The now all-powerful endangered animal kingdom is ready for war.

The polar bears get to work creating colossal icebergs in the north and south poles. The humans monitoring the area believe they are witnessing a miracle. Technically, they are, but they give credit to the wrong god. The efforts of the arctic titans halt the warming climate, giving the Earth’s o-zone a chance to heal.

The gorillas in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries set to work freeing the other captive animals. The winged primates fly their companions to safety with their wild kin, emptying the corporations of their attractions. Their human keepers watch in awe and frozen amazement, doing nothing to stop the massive primates. The gorillas work far from complete, they continue their rescue efforts in farms and shelters.

The blue whales begin targeting oil refineries in the open oceans. They summon devastating tsunamis to swallow the protruding structures and end their contamination. Mother Nature has her rhinos shift the Earth’s crust after the drills are dislodged, sealing the wounds on the ocean floor, blocking the oil flow. The gigantic mammals head to the shores once the oceans are purged, aiming at coastal cities responsible for polluting the waters and skies. They conjure thousands of hurricanes and typhoons, drowning entire continents. Billions perish, both human and animal. Mother Nature mourns their deaths and weeps for them, grateful for their sacrifice.

The giant pandas begin migrating to the globe’s vast and vacant deserts, where they plant thousands of acres of rainforests, creating renewable habitats for all living things. The black and white bears cultivate farmlands and fields that will provide enough food for all herbivores and omnivores. They carve new rivers and lakes in areas that have been dead for thousands of years with the help of the hippos and rhinos. The barren deserts quickly transform into lush vegetation and viable habitats for all forms of life.

The sea turtles start their never-ending task of rescuing and transporting animals in need. Former pets, survivors, and freed captives gather on the shores, awaiting passage to a new life. Word spread of the heroic amphibians, attracting more and more survivors to the shorelines. The turtles teleport their charges to freedom and safety, which most had never even experienced. Their massive shells filter the oceans of pollutants and harmful chemicals with each trip, freeing all sea creatures from the toxic waters.

The tigers begin their epic journey across the lands, gathering all the suffering and injured creatures behind their force fields. The striped predators guide them to the now-habitable deserts where they can live in peace and always have enough food for their young. The electric tigers defend their wards from the few aggressive humans, striking them with lightning bolts. Even more peaceful humans joined the migrating groups of animals, assisting the tigers in protecting the others. Mother Nature watches in apprehension as prey, predator, and humankind unite with a common goal.

The snow leopards target factories and manufacturing plants guilty of poisoning the atmosphere. Their blizzards and ice storms encase the overgrown industries in forty-foot-thick ice walls. The corporations and employees are now entombed and extinguished, unable to taint the skies any longer.

The rhinos start their work inland, where they sink and shake the lands, causing the ground to open and swallow oil refineries whole. Catastrophic landslides and sinkholes bury all metal and concrete structures beneath tons of rock and dirt, rendering them inoperable.

The cheetahs summon disastrous tornadoes with winds so strong that they extinguish humanity’s remaining power plants. The cyclones, twisters, and derechos decimate entire cities and country-sides in their wake. The Goddess, sensing the deaths of her children not rescued in time, bows her head and weeps.

The orangutans order the dormant volcanoes to erupt after the vast majority of the animals evacuated, ash and lava suffocating entire cities and erasing any lingering human structures from existence. The ruthless primates set fires to consume the overflowing trash barges, dumps, and landfills; billions of pounds of litter now aflame across the world. The fires speed the decomposition of the large cities, allowing for new life to grow from the ashes.

Mother Nature detects the harmful chemicals being released into the air and musters the strength to grant one last gift. She calls upon her beautiful snowy owls and gives their wings purifying abilities. Every flap of their silent wings now purifies the atmosphere.

The hippos call down the rains once the fires had run their course. Their destructive monsoons and cleansing floods wash away the flames, and with them, the disgraceful blight of human corruption.

The wise elephants begin seeking out and surviving humans. They give each human they meet a chance to understand the wrath of Mother Nature. These gentle giants offer safety and nourishment and an opportunity to live among the animals in peace. Most surviving humans are peaceful and leap at the chance to join a new sustainable society that focuses on healing the planet instead of finding new ways to harm it. There were still a few non-compliant men the elephants had to freeze in time, their new human allies taking it upon themselves to exterminate their dangerous kin.

Mother Nature surveyed her animal kingdom’s achievements in relief and pride. The atmosphere is purified; the polar ice caps restored; the barren deserts lush with life; the oceans cleansed and free of pollution. The human cities are buried and never seen again, encased in ice, lava, or earth. Her children are thriving, healthy, and finally living peacefully. Her contempt for the humans shifts to admiration as she watches them care for her creatures. She has faith these humans will educate their future generations to value life over power, and ingrain an irrational fear of the wrath that will come if they harm the planet or its creatures again.

She returns to her ancient yew tree, mentally and physically exhausted from months of hard work. She lays down on the restored ground as all her children bow their heads, even the humans, showing her honor, respect, and gratitude for saving them. The Earth will live on. Her creations will thrive and blossom. The planet’s environment is fully healed; capable of supporting and sustaining all life once again. The world’s guardian has earned herself another long nap.