By Mr. Big
A little
whistle surrounded the people at the beach. It was more or less just a high
pitched tone, now slowly fading in the distance. The horizon glowed in a dark
mid-summer red. Sunset was close.
A group of
young students were sitting together on a big blanket near the river, big
enough to provide space for a whole company. All of them were chatting,
drinking, flirting… and merely noticed the beauty of the moment.
During that time,
a small breeze caught of from the slow flowing water, spread over each and
every grain of sand until one of them, a woman in her late 20’s, noticed it. A
shiver went over Sylvia’s body while little pimple appeared on her forearm.
Sylvia listened to the strange noises of the upcoming wind. She was the only
one in the group who noticed it at all. All the others were busy. They just
continued their doing and behavior like nothing had happened.
But it wasn’t
that way. It seemed that, out of nothing, the wind was telling a story to her.
Like her old grandpa always did before he died when she was a kid. In the past she
liked to sit near the chimney and listen to the old man’s voice, so hard, so
shaped through years of life. And the story her grandfather had told her, had
always been scary ones, the ones you usually wouldn’t let you children listen
to it. It had been stories for grown-ups, philosophical tales with a deeper meaning hidden between the lines. She
had liked these ones. That had made her feel as part of the family. After the tale
had ended, she usually felt unsure und uncertain. She didn’t understand it
until the next morning began. But then every detail of the meaning revealed to
her. Normally it was like this: Mankind is not the greatest creation in the
world. The world as its self was the creation, with the people as its
privileged animals on top. “So be
grateful for what the nature offers you…and be pleased for what yourself can
give to her”, her grandfather had said.
Branches were
twisting in the wind. A blurry voice appeared to her…it was the strange noise
again, but this time it was clearer and more urgent.
Sylvia
couldn’t let go. She had to stay up and leave the group, just to get some time
alone to listen to this voice. She walked past little bushes and trees,
followed the channel of the stream. Sand swept over her bare feet. A few drops
of water splashed at her cheek.
She stopped near a little waterfall. The
surface of the water was broken from little mountains of rocks. Sylvia sit down
and pushed away a few empty cans of beer which were left there. Then she listened
quitely. There was a whisper in the air, telling her a fairytale as her grandpa
once did. It was hard to understand. She was now 28 and not used to hearing
such stories anymore. But somewhere in the back of her mind, she had had saved the
talent of understanding…and so she continued to listen…
Was it the
beginning or the end? He didn’t catch it.
What she caught was a story she once have heard before.
I’m flowing and flying, I’m waving and waiting, I’m calling and
crumbling, but you didn’t hear.
You ask for my name? Why should I say? I was here before, so let me
introduce myself this way…
I am a spirit. I am linked to the world. I am the inner and outer of
everything.
Hiding in secrets, disguised in clarity. I’m not a ghost nor a monster, simply
here and there, everywhere. I’m not of a material, but I am an element. I’m in
your bodies, in your blood, in your veins. I follow you little people every
second of your life. But do you realize me?
For me you are the strangest animals from all. You force yourself to
create the whole space. Call it god-given land or deserts of grace. You act
like you do, carrying a load full of hope, but you don’t care of the others
around you.
Through history, you survived while other species died. Natural
selection at its best, you vanished the rest. What is the price? Billions of
other organisms died on your way to the top.
You needed time to understand, that in the ancient ocean of life, other
organism still resist your crusade. A crusade against the world.
“Everything
alright Sylvi? You look afraid.”
A man appeared
next to her. He was one of the guys she normally never spoke to. Normal face,
not tall nor small, with black hair and grey eyes. She couldn’t remember his
name… but he was part of this group somehow. He sat down beside her.
“Why did you
come here?”, Sylvia asked in astonishment.
“Well I’m kind
of bored of the same old discussions after two drinks. People become so boring,
when it’s past 10 p.m.”
She giggled a
bit. “So, why are you here now?”
“It looks more
interesting to me to find out why you prefer sitting alone at the waterfall
than joining the group.”
“I could ask
you the same.”
“Fair enough”,
he said, with a curve of a smile around his lips.
There a was a
silence now. They just sit there for a while. Finally Sylvia whispered.
“…can you hear
it?”
He looked
amused. “What?”
“This strange
sound…you have to listen carefully…”
And he
listened but didn’t quite get what she meant.
“The sound of
the wind…it seems like it’s telling us a story.”
“Really?”
It was not a
humorous question. He considered what she had said.
He tried
again.
Nope. Nothing.
Well, when was the last time, he had listened to a story? He wasn’t used to it at all…
But Sylvia
was. She perceived every word.
Humanity is obscure. You know what you do, but you do it so badly. You
gather together, you spread, you fight each other and you gather again. A never-ending
spiral.
But what’s with the others? What’s with the flowers, what’s with the
oceans and trees and fields. What’s with the animals? You pollute the air, the
environment everywhere. If, at least, you would care…
And I can’t let that happen, not any longer. I feel the fury, when I see
you behave. You will vanish. I’m here forever, I’m your kryptonite. I have the
power to let you feel comfortable and warm or to send you tornados and storm.
Don’t you see the signs, the catastrophes, the natural crimes?
Earthquakes, tsunamis and floods on every patch on the earth?
Is it on purpose. No, it’s not! It’s the beginning of the payback and
the debts are hot.
But still you don’t see. The situation is bad. Smog, Carbon dioxide and
garbage. Global Warming, melting ice…it’s a fact. Some parts of nature will
never come back.
You are standing at the last point of return, to decide your future on
your own.
The clock is ticking…
Tick
Tick
Tick
..and with every second my hope vanishes a bit.
But there is still time! I send you this message, over and over again.
With every gust of wind, I try to help you, to warn you. But only a few will
understand. Maybe that’s enough. I write you immortal messages. It is around
you, the answer to free you from your sins. I write them in the wind. Please
take time to listen to me, please take time…
And then the
voice stopped. Suddenly every movement around the trees and bushes stopped. The
wind just faded away, leaving a dark presence over Sylvia mind.
She remembered
the voice. It was the voice of her grandfather…she was devastated by the words.
Her mind seemed to explode. The wind was gone. What was left was sorrow.
The young man
studied Sylvia closely. What had happened? Whatever was into this girl, he
didn’t want to find it out. But to leave her wasn’t possible as well. She was
strange, in a somehow interesting way. So he decided to wait and see what
happened.
Minutes were
passing by. All of a sudden she turned her face and looked him straight into
the eyes.
“It’s a mess. We should do something against
it. If we don’t, nobody will do.”
He followed
her hand. She pointed at the empty cans beside them, the rubbish on the beach, the
plastic bags flewing on the river.
He didn’t know
why, but somehow he agreed. In this situation, with her glimpse on his eyes, he
would have agreed to everything.
At the other
end of the beach, two students observed the strange “couple” near the
waterfall.
“What are they
doing?”, the first one said. The second one shrugged his shoulders.
“Don’t care,
don’t want to know. Let’s have another drink. I mean, that’s how we always do, isn’t
it?”
So they had
another drink and continued the party like nothing had happened.