Ywrighting: Nature

Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts

Tour of the Storm

The only white cloud floated above the storm, uncontaminated, was trying to talk some senses into the storm.

"Hail, storm. Dissect yeself and return to mother nature. Ye shall not destroy lands, nor flood rivers, nor collapse houses, nor harm lives."

"Piss off, skinhead. Mind ya own business. My power is strong and ye is belittled. Run along now, before ya can. Ye cannot possibly stop me. Hell, I cannot even stop myself. It comes as an orgasm, and I don't want to loss the feeling of being in reign."

"Alas! Ye should know what ye would be after this. Why wouldn't ye stop while ye had a chance? Before disappeared into thin air?"

"Quiet! Ya voice is sickening me. I'm going to make a legacy of myself. I'm going to leave my footprints among the people. They like writing about me and my companions, so I'm giving them something to write about. There seems to be more brilliant writing when we devastate them even more. In a way, they asked for it," thundered the storm. "Come down, little cloud, let me give you a tour."

The cloud hesitated. The pull from storm was strong.

"What ya waiting for, little cloud?"

"Ye promise my return?"

"I've not said that. The great storm won't promise that herself."

"Then this is my becoming?"

"Yes, this is ya becoming, now come down, little cloud, join us."

The cloud descended from the height and reached into the eye of the storm. Melted.

Field of the town

The field connecting the two towns together was in an Autumn rush. Scarcely, could one see the oily green hidden in between the golden yellow, not to mention the fiery red fruits that hung low in the bush.

The country road that ran all the way straight, mountain after mountain, was waiting eagerly for its usual customers--travelers that went all the way from the west to the east, through the almost forgotten passage.

Carriages with two horses trod the path unhurriedly; while cabins with four horses, or sometimes up to eight with firm muscles, ran along with haste.

Dust was dancing in the dry air, under each step of a horse.

The riders, mostly dressed in their casual shorts, would envy the vast field at first sight, but as the journey continued, they would soon lose interest in the wild untamed nature, and return to their never ceasing chatters.

Uphill

The rim of the mountain was covered in brilliant white clouds, where the snow looked soft and puffy, which also added to the chilling sensation one would felt when absorbed to this scenery. It must be cold uphill.

Not far down below, rocks of different shapes and sizes took to their formation many years ago and created the unique slope of the hill, for it was steep and tough to conquer. Up there, no tree, or grass, or plant of any sort could have survived, only a kind of Lichen spread far and wide on the stones, nurtured by the fresh flowing air and the warmth of the sun. They expected no visitors and shan't be for thousands of years since their overtaking.

Going deeper, gravels filled the lower half of the mountain, whereas wild grass grew over them and a few tree stood far apart from each other. Imagine when the thunder clashed onto the rocks above and broke some of it with its almighty force of concentrated power, you could understand why trees were scarce down here. Grass though, made no attempt to acknowledge the rubble going on top of them, because eventually they would outgrew the pile of crushed stones and shown the greenness within them.

Close to the bottom of the hill, tree stood in alliances and made a fence around, they are the nature’s protector and the guardians of the animals. They dedicated their life to the surroundings asking for only one things, death, so that they could recycle the energy of the finite that relied on them, and turn over a new leaf, to continue their seemingly infinite task.

Civilization came. They chopped trees, killed animals, moved rubble, conquered hills.

The snow melted and went back being a cloud; lichens cried because of the smoke contaminated their precious air; grasses and other lesser plant leisurely took over the hills and greedily sucked every last drop of the energy stored in the ground.

There was a great fire, wild and untamed. It consumed everything along its way: it engulfed the whole village of people, it punished the grasses on the bottom of the hill, it terrorized the lichens up in the clouds and animals down in the surrounding woods.

Then there was a mild rain, caressed the earth and stroke the fire. It stopped till the heat was gone.

Years passed, and the dark markings left behind were no where to be seen. The forest recovered slowly, the grasses grew wildly, animals went away in hope of a better place. And the lichens almost saw the end of themselves.

The rim had a little white cap on, snow was gathering and making a comeback.

In due time. Hitherto.

Hedgehog

In a quiet and relax environment, Nick lay on the soft massage pad facing down. Someone opened the door and closed it carefully. The person put on the music, slowly, simple, instrumental music. Nick felt the touch of that person working on his shoulder to his legs. It felt so good when the person massaged his legs.

The constantly dripping cold droplets from the morning leaves woke him up, he found himself leaning against a tree, in a forest awakening in dark green. He wiped off the water on his face with both hands and stood up uneasily. His legs still sore from the days of walking and his stomach protested with a loud groan. Nick opened his yellow backpack and took a bite on the packaged cracker and sipped enough water to moisten his throat.

He continued along the wet and darker path to his next check point. The muddy road frustrated him even more after last night’s rain, he slowed down his pace further and felt like the mud intended to drag him down. From dusk to noon, he only rested briefly once for five minutes. That was all he need, he didn’t want to be the last one crossing the finish line and be the ‘turtle of the match’.

Sweat slid down his forehead, he wiped them away with the back of his hand before it got into his eyes. He crossed meadows, climbed over or ducked under fallen tree trunks, pushed away any obstacle and rushed in the same direction till the legs could walk no further.

He was racing with the sun, he ran toward him and as time shifted, he found himself way ahead of the it, the cycle repeated itself every day, and he could win it any time.

The night crept on his back when he was assembling a small camp to rest for the day, the nearly full moon shone down on the forest, the light so bright and white, it was almost artificial. Nick started a small fire with a lighter and cooked some cereal in a tiny pan with two cracked crackers and little water. It tasted plain and raw.

Crickets sang in distant, Nick was about to fall asleep when he heard the rumbling nearby. He listened to the direction where the sound was. Another rumble. He got up and prepared his knife from the bag; he walked toward the origin of the disturbance in a steady pace. Under the moonlight, a hedgehog showed its spikes and turned up its rumbling volume even more.

It reminded him of his hedgehog, Gizmo, at home. He wondered what it was doing with his sister.

Nick bent down and studied it. The hedgehog was rolled into a defensive curl like a ball and hissing at him. He was curious how a wild, untamed hedgehog would react to his hold. He expected it would try to escape and hiss louder, longer.

Nick slipped his hands under the the hedgehog slowly and carefully, and with caution he hold it off ground. It remained in its curl, but not running away. He caressed the hedgehog and waited for it to decide its fate.

Gradually the hedgehog stopped hissing and uncurled itself, it started to sniff and move around his hand, curious about the stranger who was holding him. It probably had never encountered with human before, it licked and tasted the scent of Nick, and seemed like he was to its favour.

Boating

“Hey what’s your name skater?” She asked.
“The name is Pete,” He said. “You?”
“Ash.” She said, looking around.

They sat quietly in the wooden boat that floated on the center of the blue lake while others hurried past them. The waves hit the boat on the sides and it started to shake left and right like a drunkard, the paddles beat on the boat created a relaxing rhythm.

“How old are you?” Pete asked.
“Seventeen.” She said. “You?”
“Same.” He said.

The sunlight pierced the surface and reached the bottom, the water was so clear they could see fishes swimming and plants swaying. Everything there seemed shiny and golden, ocean blue and forest green.

“Is that comfortable at all?” Ash pointed at Pete’s awkwardly tight life vest.
“I don’t wanna drown when it went down.” He said. “Why aren't you wearing one?”
“Eh, ‘cuz I know how to swim?” Ash replied. “Do you not?”

He looked backward, evaded the question and started paddling the boat toward the shore.

Slowly the steady movement gained momentum and they were welcomed by a breeze, she leaned to the side and bent low and sliced the water with her hand and splashed some forward. She could see clearly a small group of fish was trailing behind, swimming in that cute motion. She made out some bread crumbles from her bag and fed them, how hungry they must be that it stirred the surface and rippled the water.

Later they landed on the sandy beach and walked on the warm surface, and dragged the boat to the land together by a rope and secured it on a rusty metal rod stuck deep into the ground.

“Thanks for coming out today, Pete.” She said, smiling.
“Just doing my brother a favor.” Peter answered while rubbing his hand in the water.
“Let your brother know I had a good time today, okay?” She said.
“Sure” He said.
“And tell him not to worry, he had already made up to me by sending you.” She added. “You were good company, except you don’t know how to swim.”
He blushed.

“Your brother know how to swim, then? God, I didn’t even ask him once.” Ash said to herself.
“We are brothers, so I guess it’s pretty obvious, right?” Pete said.
“No way! I thought -” Ash gasped, and it turned into an smirk, then a laugh with tears streamed down her cheeks.
Pete didn’t know what to say so he gave her his napkin.
“Oh, you guys are so cute.” she said, sobbing and laughing.

Back home, Pete sat next to his brother on the sick bed. He told him what happened and what she said. His brother were stunned to hear how she reacted, and how stupid Pete told her, or hinted.

Snow Business

The snowstorm hit Sweden right in the gut, the major roads and streets were closed due to low visibility as well as the thick stack of snow. The whole country frozen in an icy state, everything were covered under the snow. How lucky people could stay near a fireplace and enjoyed some time alone or with the family. For those who were on the street, the local prepared some place for them, either a school gym or a community hall, everybody's safe. The time slowed down in the country while the storm continued its course.

Shawn and Karen didn't know the weather could go so badly in a matter of days. They stayed in a small wood cabin in the hill with no contact with the outside world, no weather report either. The plan was to live in the wild for half a year as a vacation of another kind. The time was almost up, they were prepared to leave but as the storm hit, they were grounded until it cleared. Though the logs for fire were rich, the room was crowd, with animals.

The couple had been taming wild animals in the woods, mostly just hares and squirrels, and a few young wolves in a separate room. They were trained specialists in the field and they treated the animals well. These animal would have a hard time surviving out there by themselves, lucky they were here in a controlled environment.

At night the wolves howled as chilling as the snow, when the hares and squirrels were curling up at asleep.

The tough part of the storm past in a week's time. The white woods looked bright and clean. As the couple headed back to home, the animals were released one by one. First the hares, then the squirrels, and last the wolves. They jumped and ran away while only the wolves lingered after the human. Their steps muffled by the snowy ground, their groans blew away by the wind. Shawn threw away the remaining meats for them, they feasted on it, and that's the last time the couple saw the wolves.

The wolves returned to their lair, not thinking about the human, not caring about the human. Some of their companions were froze to death, they howled for them, the sound echoed throughout the woods.

At the facility Shawn and Karen worked at, they requested for a research on the wolves to find out if these animals were like dogs that are loyal and attentive to the human. The result were fascinating, wolves are one of a kind and behaved differently from dogs, they don't feel us human like dogs, they are self-aware and not easily provoked.

[Find out more about Wolves being your Pet Dog from io9!]

Iowa to Miami (Freaky Flight Day)

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are currently flying through thunder clouds and expecting a little turbulence, please remain seated and fasten your seat belt for safety measure. We will fly through this."
People started to check their seat belt and held tight onto their chair when the plane began to shake involuntarily. Peter stuck his face on the window seat near the left wing and looked outside, from there he saw numerous thunders clashed between the gray thick cloud like snakes flashed out from their lairs and clamped onto their victims. Each bolt of lighting carries enormous energy, that is what he learned from the books. He wondered if people could made use of that power through any kind of vessel.
The plane trembled for a long while and eventually busted out from the clouds. The sun was shining when they balanced and elevated to a higher altitude. His sister loosen the grip on his right hand and it instantly felt like being smashed on as well as a hundred mosquitoes stung at the same time. He massaged his hand in pain and it gradually resumed the natural blood flow presented in pink-red. A shallow cut on the back of his hand were bleeding, he licked it and sucked it. The bleeding stopped.
"Sorry brother, I didn't mean to hold on too tight, you know how it is when it comes to this." His sister murmured.
"I know. Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine." Peter said. "I promise."
Later she came back from the lavatory and started smiling and saying stuff.
"You know what, I've seen an episode of Mythbusters that when the airplane's lavatory leaked, the water and the pee and shit would form a layer of ice if the outside was cold enough. And once it got too heavy, it would drop to the ground. That would be pretty disgusting if I was the one who got hit by that, or thinking of my own pee landing on someone's place, eww." She said.
"That's pretty gross." He said, trying to peek at the side of the plane to see if there was any ice.
"I love science." She said, and returned to her reading on the road to Mexican border with love.
They landed three hours later in Miami, Florida. They were picked up by their parents at the airport. Peter told them how his sister freaked out up there and showed them the cut she accidentally made. Their mother hugged them while their father chuckled aside.
The drive home was the mixture of public radio program and selected 'Selected Shorts' mixtape made by his sister.They cracked joke about Dexter and the weather. He told them about the girl he ran into at Iowa City Public Library. She told them about the foods in the University of Iowa. Things were going great for both of them.
"Oh honey, don't you worry, we will feed you up with foods better than that." His mother said to his sister.
That night after dinner, they went to bed and fell asleep in the breeze. Not really.

[Personally, I don't know how the foods in the University of Iowa are, but I do know your mom cooks something you would like to eat.]

[Selected Shorts is awesome, go check it out.]

[My, Dexter wrapped up.]

[Never been on the flight, so yeah, all made up]

Swing

The park at night was empty except a boy was swinging alone, laughing, cheering. The mid-autumn moon was full and bright, shone with clarity. The swing moved back and forth, up and down.

Each push backward was an attempt to go further forward, upward, toward the moon.

He moved, gathering the fully realized momentum and he leaped out of the seat.
He was flying, the body elevating, the ground disappearing, the moon dazzling.
The boy landed on the moon. He started to walk on the glittering ashes, and as he looked up, the swing was there, inverted. The ground became from was a few meters away. He tried to jump up and climb back to the ground. He almost reached the swing.
With every jump he felt lighter and lighter, his skin gradually transformed from human flesh to the moon's shining dust. His skin no longer stick with him, they slowly drifted and fell off. Little by little, he was the size of a new born baby.
He cried, but no sound came out.
The swing lowered itself to the surface, he climbed on board and held tight to the handle with his tiny hand.
It started to swing violently going round and round like a blender.
The shaking died down, he opened his eyes and felt the dust in his hand, it was shiny white, just like those from the moon.

[Okay, This is Mid-Autumn Special, short]

Hunted

Benny was holding the binoculars and scanning the forest following the trial of a deer while Jenny was standing beside him readying the rifle in a clean Sunday afternoon. Benny was to teach Jenny, his sixteen-year-old daughter on how to hunt in the wild, as every members of the Halls should.
Two hours of poking around, they found the deer's trial in the woods far away from camp. They had been tracking it for half a day through dozen streams and trees and were exhausted when they sighted the deer in a tall meadow which provided covers for them. The wind went west, they were west of the deer.
Benny tapped on Jenny's shoulder signaling her to prepare the rifle for fire while he monitored the deer's movement through the lens. The deer had not detected their presence yet and was enjoying the food under the sun.
The deer kept getting her head down posed a problem to them, they were aiming for a shot to kill instantly. They had no time to waste and choose the second option, a shot at the hearts.
Jenny traded the rifle for her dad's binoculars and distanced herself quietly in anticipation of the shot. Benny took his time at steadying the aim and breathed much slower. The deer turned around and continued the eating. Benny pulled the trigger aiming for the heart, it went wide with the force kicked back at his shoulder but still managed to hit the target.
The deer went down instantly as Jenny watched it from a far. Benny soon recovered from the recoil and walked towards the deer. It was a dead doe.
Benny instructed Jenny to take out the hunting knife from her tool belt and slice the area where the bullet went in to retrieve it. Jenny couldn't do it at first as it took a tremendous effort to cut the firm meat of a deer, but with Benny telling her how to went through the meat avoiding the muscles and bones, she dived in and out with a hand full of deer's blood but didn't find any bullet. The bullet went through the deer.
The deer was small enough Benny could carry it on the shoulder himself. They were prepared to leave when Jenny found a fawn lying nearby, she squatted to check the little deer and found the bullet went through the front thigh. She couldn't help but cried at its unfortunate, Benny bent down and gave a comfort pat on her back.
Jenny insisted on holding the tiny one all the way back to camp. She had stopped crying when they arrived but still couldn't let go of the fawn, she caressed its soft fur, treating it like her cat, Rally.

(More about deer at Wikipedia)

(Hunting, Is it a thing for you?)

[Mid-Autumn Festival special? Nah. Anyway, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!]

Hike and Days

Dawn crept up on us with its warm light caressing our skin through the tent. It was quiet outside, birds and wind were pulling off the nature's orchestra. Comforting as it was sitting in the tent, I woke Sam and Daisy to welcome the arrival of a brand new day with a little tickle on them.

'Time to wake up kids, no time to waste.'

Both shoved me off and let out a groan, and rubbed their eyes when sitting up.

'Morning daddy,' Daisy said, 'Morning dad.' Sam said.

'Morning, kids.' I replied, kissing them in the forehead, 'How's sleep? Still having the bad dream Day?' I asked.

'Uh-uh, sleep very well sir.' Daisy said. 'Me too.' Sam said.

'That's good. So, how about we get freshen up and pack our things for the next meeting point where your mother is?'

'Okay.' They said.

I took out the bag containing our morning kits: Toothbrushes, cups, towels in blue and red for Sam and Daisy, green for me. I slid open the tent and let the two went out, and gave them some water and the kit, they split up in different way and started brushing, I could hear them giggling at other's foamed mouth.

The sun was coming up fast, by the time we have finished packing our tent, it was beaming at us with its furious flame. Sam put on his favorite baseball cap while Daisy made up her hair for the white round hat with flowery pattern. They grabbed their tiny bags and we started walking to the end point. We came across a trail where big tree grown, making it easier, cooler to start the day with a steady pace. The road followed were mostly dirt, or rocky path, I have to stand close to the kids, sometime holding their hands when stepping forward to protect they from falling.

By eleven, close to noon, we were roasted under direct sun glare. We rested under a tree not far way in the shape of an rabbit with all its leaf siding left because of the wind, and we drank some water and ate some honey-flavored bread. After that, Sam performed an improvised but unsuccessful tree climbing, leaving Daisy stood there in frustration. She yelled at his stupid bravery and I listened how she thought Sam would hurt himself and be at the hospital with all his friends crying around his bed.

The heat flushed their faces. Weather was still hot although it was close to Autumn. They were both happy, lively and energetic. I wish I could have more time for them.

Rested and feasted, we continued our hike.

The moment they saw their mother's parked vehicle in sight they were already yelling and hopping back at the hill's top. The journey was about to end.

When we finally reached the parked Polo, their mom were not sitting in the car. The kids were worried, saying something about the mythical Bigfoot roaming in the area taking people. I dialed her number but it rang inside the car. She must have left it in a hurry. Where would she be when she knows her kids were coming?

I unlocked the car with the spare key, letting the kids inside to cool themselves with the air-conditioner. I walked around the place, searching for her while leaving the kids alone in the car. They are smart kids, they know what they have to do if anyone came around the car.

I called for her several times around the parking lot. It was quiet. My voice echoed. Bounced.

'Here!'

Nature

The wind were howling outside, another strong gust of it came and teared the windows frame from the structure and slammed it to the pavement. Glass shattered in every direction reflecting shades the gray and cloudy sky into a colorless world with just the light, black and white.
Plants on the balcony couldn't put up a fight when being pushed down a flight of merely three stories without mercy, the whole ceramic red container went boom as it kisses the cement. One followed by another, all suffered the same fatal injury. Lilies, roses, all those plants that were in the open, now gathered on ground, moaning for the last time of their pathetic short spans of life. Even when the sun were shining, water were adequate, the time to blossom hasn't arrive yet, gave them a few days of patient and they would gift you the most beautiful side in their own way. There were all but dead now.
The neon signboard flashed and swung violently in front of the restaurant was shaking the nails off, the tension between the chain and the wind strengthen, it was about to surrender. Came another hard blow, the whole thing clanked on the floor, all but scraps of metal, rusty and broken.
The wind didn't cease the destruction she brought so she invited a partner in crime. The rain was furious that she had missed so much fun and opened with dogs and cats thumping on people in display of her anger. Thunder were waken by the two's foolishness and decided to punish them by calling down the lighting, loud, fast and flashy.
Now that the trio gathered their power, devastation await.
Over the horizon, they saw their mutual target, the seemingly endless ocean with life. Wind blew harder, rain dropped heavier, thunder clashed louder. The ocean endured the damage and took it all.
They sighed in union and disbanded their party and went solo.
Meanwhile on the other side of the earth, snow was having fun with the commons. She scattered custom made snowflake on to the ground in a slow and elegant motion. They quickly evaporated, leaving the people wandering in the open wishing for more. She likes the laughter of the children, so innocent and at the same time, fragile. A lot of time she was trying to impress them by making a snowstorm, which is what she's good at, even the scientist said that it was impressive and unbelievable. However, in the process of making it, she also infected them with cold, brought them resting on bed far longer than spending time outdoor.

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