Scene 1:
It did not take long for spring to figure out that it was time she took over the reins of the weather of Littlehop Island from her elder sister. She had sent her a letter addressing that she would soon be arriving on the island and therefore, she must pack her bags as she would have to leave simultaneously. Spring had been looking forward to come to Littlehop Island almost since the time she had left it the last year. It was a beautiful place.
Until she had herself seen it some years back, she had always thought that the beauty of the island is all because of how her elder sister had kept the place. The serenity of the snow lit hills with the sea washing their feet and the beautiful valley with its frozen river Aroha, the place was a paradise for all creatures that dwelt on the planet. But, when spring was invited to sneak in the place, firstly for very short stints, then longer and then for full fledged seasons, she realized that the place was so designed by their mother that it did not matter which daughter was residing there. The island was, in all seasons, the place to be.
Summer was looking forward to her turn for this year at Littlehop too, which she had been to only twice before, that too for only two and four weeks respectively. She had been told by her brother that this year, her time would be five full weeks and after a couple of more years, she would get her full season. That would mean shortening time out of Winter’s and Spring’s time. Autumn never complained for her very short stints as she hated her work and always wanted to leave before her arrival. Summer had been very happy by the way all her elder sisters took care of the island and how they helped her plan her stay there. She too was of the opinion that the island was a gem of a work from her mother but she was more intent on completing her part of the job rather than appreciating at the marvel.
So, on one fine cool morning, when Winter was packing her bags to leave the island, she glimpsed back at the place she had been in for the past four months and almost reluctant to leave, she gave a final glance to the place. The valley was still as beautiful as it had always been. The hills were covered with snow and she knew that soon, when Spring would come, the place would look its best. Just when she was ready to send for her uncle to take her home, she noticed a strange thing. And as soon as she saw it, she realized that it was not a thing. It was a creature, but not like one she had ever seen before. From her cold, chilly eyes, the things were not pretty clear. By the time she could have a closer look, the thing or whatever it was had gone. She looked here and there, but could not find it. Just as she was amusing over the mystery, she saw her sister coming. She knew that despite being sisters, they could hardly afford to talk for more than a day of two and in their world that was too short a time. She did not say to Spring anything about the object she had seen and as the time came, she left for her home.
Spring did not take long to take over and soon, the entire island had changed. The frozen river was flowing again. The hills were although still lit with snow; they were surrounded by green shrubs and saplings. Many creatures that had gone into hibernation had come back into the open and were seen catching food and feeding their young ones. That’s when Spring had seen it. It was a creature not seen before there and she did not believe her eyes when she saw it move swiftly, swifter than many other creatures and the most amazing fact was the balance it maintained on its two feet. Apparently, it had four limbs, two of which were not on ground and showed the ability of holding other things like stones, leaves and branches in its hands. Spring instantly sent this message of having found a new creature to her mother and brother and they instantly send her requests of more information. She had decided that when her season would get over, she would personally explain to them everything she had seen. In the meanwhile, she hoped to gain more information.
After that, spring made it a mote to make an observation on that creature every day and it was not difficult to find it. It could be found in the open. It had strange abilities to hunt down other creatures quite efficiently and then do a strange ritual of burning them on fire before eating them. By now, spring had figured it out that moving on two feet was natural to this creature and it had a rare combination of excellent eyesight, smelling and hearing abilities. It ate both flesh as well as plants and rather than having hair on its body, it used plants and hide of other creatures to cover itself. It truly, was a remarkable creature.
After a few weeks, when it was the turn of Summer to come and stay there, spring had gathered a lot of information about the creature and was looking forward to having a personal meeting with her parents over it. However, she had grown a strange attachment to the creature and did not want to part. She hoped of returning sooner than scheduled to meet it again. Summer was happy to come back to Littlehop Island and gladly took over from Spring. Spring departed for her home.
Scene 2:
Spring saw that her mother nature was happy with the news reported by Spring. “It is wonderful, ‘wonderfuller’ than what I expected” was what Nature had said to Spring and it made her happy although she was still mystified as she had seen a reluctance in her attitude and there was something that was bothering her mother. But she did not bring it up at their annual family dinner, although without their brother. It was raining in the Littlehop Island and Spring was happy that when she would get there the next time, the fields will be greener and the tress will be longer and the island will exit its ice age completely to get into the tropical age. In that case, it would be her and not her elder sister winter that would get the major time there. Winter will go to the unattended places for her next pre-scheduled assignments. The issue of the new creature in the valley had been completely forgotten in these talks. It was during the third course that Winter brought up the issue again.
“I have been making sharp observations on the new creature that has sprung up in valley of the island. I wonder how long it will take to set up a firm base for itself in the eco-system! It has been thousands of years since we last saw that creature. What did we call it then? Ma…” and then she abruptly stopped.
The mother was horrified to hear that name and she suddenly lost grip of her spoon. Feeling a little embarrassed, she gave a wry smile to ease the environment and started eating again. Spring noticed this incident very carefully. Then she had a look around the table. Winter was cold as always, not really changing a bit of her expressions. Summer was busy with the food, not noticing much. Autumn was having a chat with winter over the next few months’ plan and their father was busy with his work even at dinner. Such was his job, to take care of the smooth running of time and the family seldom took care to disturb him apart from occasional chats. Spring carried on with her meal, but kept a close eye on her mother.
After dinner, in their room, Spring called winter to her bedside and asked her if she would spare some time for a small conversation. Winter sat down besides her. Spring came up with the obvious questions that winter had already anticipated.
“What do you know about the new creature? Why is mother terrified over it? Is there something that I don’t know?”
Winter gave a smile that Spring had not seen for almost since she was born. Winter first opened her lips to say something, but then gave it a moment. Then, again starting, she laid a hand on Spring’s head and started speaking.
“It is not a happy story. So, do not ask. It will make you sad and I can’t see that.”
“Oh come on! I can take it. I want the truth otherwise I won’t be at rest and I will not be able to sleep.”
Winter gave it a hard thought, as even a single night of bad sleep gives great pain to their kind and in turn, affects a large amount of creatures. She decided to spill out whatever she knew.
“The history is not the way you were told always. The island was not always cold. Around two million years ago we had a similar situation when we father and mother decided to bring warmth to the world to see in which direction the evolution goes. Father told me that this was the decision of the Upper council. I had not known of its existence till then. So, mother gave birth to three daughters, autumn, spring and summer.”
At this, spring gave a huge surprising look on her forehead and it seemed that she was shocked. But she did not interrupt. Winter carried on.
“They underwent a similar procedure that we are following now and as it is happening now, the creature that moves on two limbs appeared soon. It was a good hunter and soon came out as the dominating species on the island. They made up farms and domesticated animals and lives in handmade houses.”
Spring suddenly had a huge smile on her lips and could not hold herself from saying ‘amazing’. Winter went on.
“Mother was fond of the new creature and called it ‘man’. They were quick and intelligent and did wonders with natural resources. Until one day, when it started hurting mother. It started cutting trees more than that was necessary and started excessive mining that led to ecological imbalance. And then, it did the worst. It started fighting with its own kind for unnecessary reasons. That’s when it went over the line.”
“Then what happened?” asked spring like an innocent child.
“Then they killed each other. They made weapons. And in this process, they harmed nature badly. It hurt our mother. She was very upset at it and it almost came to the verge of her becoming sick. The deeds of man killed my sisters Spring and summer and another ice age fell on them as I had to take over and save mother. This all happened in just the matter of some thousand years. That is why mother is upset that it may happen again.”
Spring was crying. Winter cozily hugged her wiped her tears. Then somberly she said, “Some time back, the upper council again ordered to do it again. Father had to oblige and you and Summer were born. Here it is, man is back and everyone is afraid.”
Spring sat up and asked, “Is there anything that can be done to save it from happening again?”
Winter said, “Everything depends on mankind. If they are intelligent and are wise, they will boost the ecosystem, but if they again go wild, then all hope is gone.”
Scene 3:
Spring again started observing man and its activities and wanted to make sure that she picked up all information. Man had built farms and had started growing food. It had domesticated animals. It had built shelters for itself and ate cooked food. Spring wanted to tell the mankind that they must not repeat the same mistake, otherwise they will be wiped out again and that would be a disaster. But, she was helpless.
It took some ten thousand years for the mankind to regain the shape it had when it was wiped out the last time. Spring clearly knew as to why it is needed to control the activities of man. They had colonized the entire area and every other species had to live under its command, otherwise it was captured or killed. in fact, they had divided among themselves as well on the basis of color of the skin and some hypothetical criterion called religion. The female man was considered weak and inferior to the male. This basic flaw in the social structure ensured spring that the same would happen again. And so, she was very concerned for her mother, who was doing all right, but was feeling rather heavy these days. Spring hated being away from her mother and whenever she had her breaks, she would visit her.
It was on one windy evening when spring came to her mother that she noticed a heaviness shadowing her mother, who looked very sick. In another few days, she found her losing health. It was summer who was operating at the island and the reports she sent about man were rather unpleasant. There was a war going on and there was a lot of damage being done to the natural resources and other creatures. The mother was getting sick and soon, she was bedridden. Spring reported this to her father and asked him to order an immediate action upon the mankind. But her father did not move, telling that it was the order form the upper council not to interrupt the process this time. Spring was amused, but did not complain. She knew that if something was not done soon, her mother will go seriously ill and will probably die. Her mother did not complain, just remained silent and occasionally talk to winter when she came. Things were getting out of hand.
Soon, her mother went into deep illness and by the time the war was over, she was almost on the verge of dying. At last, on a sunny morning, she passed away, leaving behind her four daughters weeping over her dead body, which withered away pretty soon. Come spirits from the upper council came to offer their condolences to their father and soon, they were long gone. The island was now completely ruined. Spring was very angry with the council, but she was constrained. She knew that it was man who had killed her mother, but actually it was the council who had contributed to it. She looked for revenge, but for that, she would have to become one of the council herself.
But that is for another story…..
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