The first time it happened, Logan was on his way to work. He biked on a warm, sunny day when he hit a rock with his front wheel. It started screaming.
"SAVE US!" screamed the rock. "WE ARE BURNING! SAVE US!"
Logan didn't see anyone nearby.
"SAVE US!" screamed the rock again. "WE ARE DYING! WE HAVE DONE NOTHING TO YOU! SAVE US!"
Logan looked down and saw the rock jumping up and down.
"SAVE US BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"
"AH!" screamed Logan. He kicked the rock away, holding his foot in pain for a bit before running into a nearby store. He ran into the bathroom, threw cold water on his face and looked in the mirror for a bit.
"It's just in your head," he said to himself. "You didn't get a lot of sleep last night. That's all."
He walked back to his bike and went to work, thinking about the rock from clock in to clock out.
The second time it happened, Logan was on a run. It was 5:00 am. He held his water bottle in hand as he jogged his favourite path, a 5km in a local park with a forest and a clearing at the end. As he ran through the dense forest, trees called out to him.
"WE ARE BURNING!" screamed the trees. "STOP THE POLLUTION! HELP US, PLEASE!"
Everywhere he turned, trees screamed at him. Logan felt insane. His hands shook. His hairs stood up. Shivers ran through his whole body. His body started shutting down, the adrenaline barely keeping it alive. He kept running, trying to escape the trees.
"YOU NEED US!" screamed the forest. "HOW WILL YOU LIVE WITHOUT US?"
"STOP THE POLLUTION!"
"SAVE US! WE NEED YOU!"
"PAY ATTENTION! WE CAN'T BE IGNORED!"
Logan made it to the end of the path. It was an open field full of grass, trees out of ear shot. He collapsed onto the grass, curling into a fetal position and rocking himself in the dark of the evening. What was happening to him?
The third time it happened, Logan was driving. He was headed to a hospital that same day around 3:00pm. He clawed himself out of bed and managed to get in the car. He didn't have a history of an major mental health struggles, just some minor stress disorder when he was a little kid.
He had a cactus on the dash. He watered it every few days and left it in the sun as best he could. He'd watered it right before leaving. It started screaming.
"PLEASE," begged his cactus. "ALL I WANT IS FOR YOU TO LIVE!"
Logan slammed on the breaks in the middle of a two way. Drivers honked. One guy leaned out the window and screamed at him.
Logan grabbed the pot and threw it out his window, watching it smash on the road to make sure it was dead.
The fourth time it happened, Logan was pulled into a parking lot. Sweat dripped down his brow, nausea overtaking him. He felt he was going to pass out. He pushed his car door open and crawled out onto the sidewalk. He kneeled on the sidewalk, picking up a pebble and holding it right up to his face.
"What's happening to me?" Logan demanded.
"YOU HAVE TO SAVE US," exclaimed the pebble. "FIND OTHERS LIKE YOU! SAVE US BEFORE WE BURN!"
"What does that mean!" Logan shouted at the pebble.
Logan threw the pebble onto the road. He curled his arms around his head and sat in silence for a few minutes.
"What does that mean..."
"You hear them too?"
Logan turned around. A woman stood above him, looking down.
"Do you hear the screams, too?" asked the woman.
"Yeah," replied Logan. "What's it saying to you?"
"It's begging me to save it," replied the woman. "But I don't know what to do. I'm just one person."
Logan stood up.
"It's begging me to save it, too," replied Logan. "I feel like I'm going insane."
"I feel like that too," replied the woman. "What can we do to save the environment?"
The two stood in silence for a bit.
"My name's Amelia by the way," replied the woman. "I'm a green energy activist. My org and I organize a lot of rallies and raise money for people who can't afford to go green themselves."
Amelia stuck out her hand. Logan shook it.
"I'm Logan," replied Logan. "I just work an office job, but I live pretty green. My homes outfitted with solar panels, I don't eat meat, I compost and my cars electric."
"Maybe," starts Amelia. "Maybe we aren't insane. Maybe we aren't going crazy, maybe we're just the only ones who hear it."
The two stood in silence.
The fifth time it happened, Logan and Amelia were at Amelia's office. She gave him the tour and showed him the rallies they had planned.
"Welcome to Resorcin!" exclaimed Amelia.
"SAVE US," screamed a decorative plant. "WE ARE BURNING!"
Both Amelia and Noah's heads shot to the left, looking at the same plant, then at each other. Amelia laughed, and Noah let out a sigh of relief.
"Guess it really isn't just me," commented Noah.
"Unless we're both crazy," said Amelia sarcastically.
The sixth time it happened, Noah and Amelia were at one of Resorcin's climate protests. About one hundred protestors attended, waving signs and barking chants. Noah held a sign reading 'The plants speak to me, they are burning!' Amelia held a sign reading 'The world needs saving now!' Police circled the park, keeping the peace (as they say.)
"SAVE US," screamed out a tree. "YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT US!"
The crowd went silent. The protesters turned and watched the tree as it spoke. Some police officers even stopped to listen. Noah and Amelia were taken aback.
"It isn't just us anymore!" exclaimed Noah.
"WE ARE BEING BURNED BY YOUR PROGRESS," exclaimed the tree. "HEAR US, WE WANT TO LIVE! WE WANT TO BE FREE! FIGHT FOR US, AND FOR YOU!"
Faces in the crowd turned from passion to anxiety, fear, unease, paranoia, and bewilderment. Noah scanned the crowd.
"Hey Amelia," asked Noah. "Do you have a speaker system?"
The seventh time it happened, Noah and Amelia were standing in front of a confused and scared crowd of climate protesters who'd just heard a tree demand the downfall of the establishment. They needed to save the situation.
Murmers were heard throughout the crowd.
"Hello everyone," started Amelia. "Thank you all for coming out to our protest! My names Amelia! I helped organize it. This is Noah. I know everyone is a little freaked out right now but..."
"Am I going crazy!" yelled a protestor in the crowd.
The murmers turned to yells.
"I know how you all feel!" said Noah, stuttering his words a bit. "I know how you feel. You think you're going insane because that thing just talked!"
Noah pointed to the tree.
"SAVE US!" exclaimed the tree. "WE NEED-"
"Just hold on one sec buddy," said Noah to the tree.
"I know you feel like you're hearing things that aren't there," started Noah. "But you're not. They are there. I know because I've been hearing them too. So has everyone around you. We all hear nature's call. We all see what's wrong with our Earth. Winters are too warm. Summers hotter every year. The fires burn harder, the oceans higher, the snow melts sooner, hell even the air feels worse! We all see it!"
The protestors looked at one another, nodding their heads.
"But we're here today because not everyone hears what we hear!" continued Noah. "Those in power won't make change! They won't save the Earth because it's too hard for them! Gas is easy and oil companies are rich, so politicians foot the bill. Meanwhile, we all suffer! We hear mother nature scream for our help, but all we can do is scream back! Does that seem fair to you?"
"NO!" yelled the crowd.
"Then fight!" screamed Noah. "Listen to nature, and fight!"
The crowd roared alive, chanting and screaming for change once more and waving their signs every which way. The police watched on, some joining in the chants. More and more protestors gathered until the park was totally full, the crowd spilling onto the street.
"That was one hell of a speech," said Amelia.
Amelia smiled at Noah, drifted into him, threw her arms around him, and leaned in for a kiss. Noah leaned in too, holding and kissing her on her cherry lips.
The eigth time it happened, Noah and Amelia were in his apartment, naked in his bed watching the news.
"A climate rally at valley park today turned up the heat after one man spoke to the crowd about..." said the newscaster.
"Someone can really turn up the heat..." said Amelia with a sly tongue, running her fingers across Noah's chest. "How about we make it a little hotter in here?"
"Long as we don't burn the plants while we're at it," said Noah, looking into Amelia's eyes as he leaned on top of her.
"SAVE US!" screamed a decorative plant. "WE ARE BURNING! SAVE US!"
Noah and Amelia jumped. Noah fell off the bed dragging the sheets down over his head. Amelia laughed at him.
"My god man," said Noah. "You couldn't have waited to say that?"
"WE WANT TO SAVE YOU!" exclaimed the decorative plant. "THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE!"
"You heard it," commented Amelia, lifting the sheets off Noah's head. "No time to waste! Gotta save electricity!"
Amelia stood up and flicked the lights off before walking up to Noah, touching his chest.
"Wait one sec," said Noah. "Just so that doesn't happen."
Noah carried the plant out of the room and went back in.
Many small people who in many small places do many small things, they can alter the face of the world. -Graffiti from the Berlin Wall.
Comments