Nature's Magnificence

• Deshveena Dass Wilson, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2017

The trees were bare, harshly and violently stripped of their natural beauty. No viridescent leaves, rustling and swaying on windy spring days, nor do crimson leaves fall gently to the ground on chilly autumns. No branches for the children to climb through, no shelter for homeless animals. Once fruitful, flourishing trees, now decaying skeletons, black and dead against the scarlet of the evening sky. Mother Nature looked down, heartbroken to see what the humans have done again to her beautiful forest. The deafening rumbling of their enormous, metal machinery scare the animals away as they crush the survivors of deforestation under their metal wheels. In their tracks they leave the remnants of what is left, if there was any, of the land. Her beautiful creations, now a sorrow sight to whoever dared to walk past. Humans, will they ever change? Will they stop their chaotic behavior one day? Years passed as she again began to regrow her forest, giving them a second chance at life itself. Slowly saplings rose from the fertile soil, leaves unfolding, roots shooting down to the depths of the earth. Strong, mighty trunks shot up into the air, and then ever so green leaves, shielding fauna from the sweltering heat of the blazing afternoon sun. It was done. She sighed with satisfaction. Once again her woodland is beautiful and thriving. She smiled as she saw a new generation of little children weaving their way into the trees’ powerful limbs, happy once again that they were replaced. Animals rushed to the nearest flora, making their homes comfortable for the generations to come.A whoosh of wind made its way through the boughs, whistling, as if it was warmly welcoming the new comers of the forest. The comforting sound of fresh leaves rustling when couples walk past on the breezy spring days, and the joy of jumping in crimson leaves on the crisp autumns. Arrays of magnificent branches complete the picture of the colorful evening skies. Mother Nature knew that another generation of destructive humans are coming to once again demolish her artwork, but until then, she gazed at Earth’s indescribable beauty, prospering and simply wonderful.