Tom and gnat flew above the last remaining jungle in Babel Land. The ancient trees streched out below in all directions,,,
the pilotless hovercraft landed on the large sandy bank of a slow moving river in the middle of the jungle..tom and gnat hopped out and the craft quickly took off, back into the sky,,and left them alone in the middle of the wilderness..
they were both wearing masks
.there was a steady noise all around.. birds,, monkeys, even insects...and the smell was quite pleasant, a rich complex, pleasing auroma..
they had a choice of going upstream or downstream...they headed off on the trail going downstream with the flow of the river.....as they made their way they disturbed a blue heron, which gracefully flew off ahead of them...they could see an abundance of fish in the water...which made them think of food, which made them think how hungry they were..
after about an hour of walking, the trail came to a large sandy bank on the river with log canoes hauled out. Two youngsters came to greet them. the kids were dressed in loin cloths and feathers in their hair...they both worer masks......they took tom and gnat by the hand and led them to a large wooden structure shaped like a half circle shed open on the interior side.. they were then led to the center of the large field..where they were met by the senior man of the village. who was dressed in a loin cloth and feather tiaras with matching bracelets..with alot of tattoos in geometric patterns on his chest and arms...
the leader spoke slowly and smiled. thru his mask.....
leader>>::"hello..please stay 6 feet away from all others....,I have to ask you whether you have the virus???
gna>> i assure you we've both been checked out quite carefully and dont have it. otherwise they wouldn't let us near you......
leader>>: that is good......may I offer you a grin seed" and with that he brought out a bowl with a three grin seeds in it..tom and gnat took one each and the leader took the third...together they chewed the seed and leader gave "thanks to Tao tao.......thanks to Tao tao " .......
Four masked men carried a big drum, 1 foot deep and a diameter of 4 feet, to the middle of the field and set it up on a huge stump. Then four men and two boys sat around it and raised their drumsticks.....they all hit it once...then again...then a low rhythm ,, this must have signaled something because some of women, wearing only loin cloths, came out to the field . and they all stood in a spaced circle round the drum.. they began dancing keeping to the beat of the drums which waxed and waned in volume over time.but the beat didn't change...then the men entered the circle of women and began dancing in free form...gnat and tom joined in. now the drummers started singing in a hypnotic way....this was quite pleasant and everyone had joy in their hearts.
this went on for some time..everyone started to hoot and holler...then the drums stopped and everyone clapped....and went back to whatever it was they were doing.. then the leader approached them again..
leader>>:: "come....you are our most honored and valued guests. let us eat..." and he led them to the middle of the big shed where a small fire was burning...tom and gnat sat down.they washed their hands thoroughly .. the leader grabbed some banana leafs and piled food on them to eat ...it tasted really really good and filling..soon 2 young women sat down next to them... they tried to talk with the gnat and tom and did alot of smiling and giggling. the one next to gnat was beautiful, as were all the women here.. and her breasts ,,,,wow,,,,they were firm and pointed high.she began delicately stroking his arm ,which turned him on...and he had to adjust his underwear..because of a sudden expansion...
Mia>>"me llamo est Mia" and she pointed to her chest, and she smiled showing her beautiful white teeth.."my name is Mia"
gnat>>"me llamo est gnat"..
Mia>>gnat i know you have come a long way to see us. to help us. all the way from Babel...I can tell you love us and respect us as a people and you wouldn't want anything bad to happen to us....you want to help us against the monster that eats without getting full...a monster that eats the natural world and spits out the poison....its not here yet but we can feel it coming..and when the monster finally arrives all the animals will have to leave their homes where they have lived forever just as we have lived here forever......and where will we all go then...this is our home ,, the only one we've ever known..the Tao Tao has created us here and our home provides for our every need...our every wish....can you help us please...
gnat>>:he took mia's hand.. I would never do anything or let anyone do anything to hurt you or your people...i love your people as I love myself.. and I love the Tao tao for its many blessings.....
that brought tears to their eyes....
that night Mia woke up gnat and they went off into the jungle , , ,for a bit of fun . . .
then eary early next morning, first light, gnat and tom had a quick breakfast and then they said their goodbyes.....the leader and Mia and a few others walked with them down to the river.. gnat walked over to Mia and bumped elbows with her and then, gnat and tom got on the path and turned and waved goodbye...
Mia>> "via con Tao tao"
leader>>"she said 'stay on the path' "
gnat>>"Mia .I hope to see you again soon , I hope you have a great life and I will l keep you in my heart' forever"
so tom and gnat were once again walking on the trail heading downstream.... the time passed and the sun rose higher in the sky...
Tom>> this is the nicest place I've been to in Babel Land, by far, so far. what time is it?
gnat>>Why its 8:45 am.. why do you ask?
tom>> i have a sinking feeling we're not alone and we will know for sure when the work day begins in fifteen minutes...at 9 am...
suddenly, they could smell the forest burning. and the smoke was everywhere
then a man appeared from out of the forest..he was distraught....
Val>> "oh my god oh my god there coming ...they're eating black holes into the fabric of the spirit world...holes where animals and plants go to dissappear forever. we're going to lose the last of the pernambuco trees trees used to make the violin bows...we're going to lose..."
the smoke got worse
Then, at the stoke of 9 am ,they could hear the sound of hundreds of small engines coming to life. chainsaws reving annoyingly,like dirtbikes, then the strong steady roar as they bit into the flesh of the mighty tree trunks..
with all the commotion, there appeared out of the forest , animals fleeing the noise and distruction. first to catch their attention was a pink amazon river dolphin with its long articulated neck and big beak. swimming upstream...they were always spared by the locals because they were considered magical..with their pink color, they appeared to be almost human.... raising his head above water the dolphin said the word "WHY"
then came a sloth up in the trees..but it wasn't making good time.. it said the word "Are"
then came a group of ten capybara..huge rodents with square faces said the word "They"
,then an armadillo almost 5 feet long..skuffeled by and said the word "Wrecking"
an elegant Jaguar came by shyly. and groweled..it said the word "Our"
then came an orangatan mother holding her small child... she said the words "Home, why are they wrecking our only home?WTF?%&@# is wrong with you people?"
then she started screaming uncontrolably....clutching her baby to her breast..."how will i raise my kid....where can we go.... what will we eat...how will we live...tell me that...how will my child live....for the love of God how will we live"
gnat was crying...he felt shame upon the human race..esp on those people who will destroy for money , on orders...there were whole industries that survive on extracting wealth from the Earth..taking prisine nature and habitat and trashing it. sometimes to the point of making it uninhabitable...he had no answer for the distraught mother. "you can come with us......"
orangatan:: what and end up in a zoo..no thanks....just remember me,,,next time you hurt nature think of me and my tears..go to hell and goodbye....
val, tom, and gnat were shaken. They moved off downstream....the chain saw noise got louder and louder till it became painful,,,a troop of howler monkees ran by..in unison they said, .."its the end of the world...." and they all screamed bloody murder.,.. the three men continued walking downstream until they came out of the forest and into the bright sunshine..
What they saw was shocking.. .the river rolled gently down stream through fields of tree stumps.and downed trees..thousands of them.. dotted by piles of tree trunks being burnt...the smoke reaching up to the heavens. the ground shook as another big tree was felled...
val>>val confronted a nearby worker with a chainsaw..., "what are you doing?? are you insane,, dont you know that your destroying Earth?? "
wrkr>>:" i dont have to explain myself to you..i make good money..thankyou very much"
val>> well thank you very much.." and with that he tried to grab the chainsaw away from the worker.....unsuccessfully .. the worker brandished the saw and it knicked val on his arm..."youch" and he backed away."that tears it . I'm out of here.." and with that val pressed the taxi code on his smartphone..,, they waited...
Soon the taxi drone arrived. it didn't have a driver...it was blue . it looked like a normal drone except it had 5 rotors up high ,,, not 4...kinda like office chairs...at first all office swivel chairs had 4 legs and were somewhat unstable..then they switched to 5 legs. which became the new norm,,, if they lost one rotor they could still make an emergency landing..
Val>> "i guess this is goodbye then ..... keep the faith"
tom>> take it easy...
gnat>>"and never give up..."
so alone, Val boarded the drone and it took off
val>>"take me to the hospital please. to the ER." and with that he scanned his thumb.....
taxi:>>welcome val...i hope you are well.i hope nothing seriously is wrong..we will be at the ER in approximately 10 minutes... would you like a little music on the way?? ..say some "Bruce Cockburn" I know you like him..."
val>>:the song "If a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear?" would be awesome right now...
and so it was..he settled into the flight while holding his slightly injured arm . .it was a very quiet, very smooth flight..he was headed for the Babel downtown area with all its tall buildings clustered together..like a permanent urban climax.. now he could see other drones flying all around..busy bees in a thriving hive..then the drone began to hover....below was a landing pad occupied by another drone.... val's drone waited and waited until the landing pad was clear and then it touched down....the door opened and he got out..there to meet him was a nurse and a wheel chair..which val sat in....
nurse>>I hope you are ok...we'll take the best care of you thats possible because you have the platinum health care policy..nothing but the best. and at no cost to you" and with that she wheeled him into the lobby of the ER.
The lobby was packed to the gills with people who had no insurance..they were all waiting to see a nurse . ...those who were not seriously injured would have to wait a very , very long time indeed. The nurse steered val thru the double doors into the bowels of the ER.. the hallway walls were filled with people in hospital beds..the hallway slots were numbered just like the rooms were numbered.. the nurse wheeled val into a private room and helped him into a hospital bed.
a doctor saw him right away. he ,introduced himself , looked at the wound. declared it minor. but said that while he was here they may as well get some tests done, and then he left.. a man with a toolbox took a look at val's arm - and he rubbed a brown liquid around the wound and quickly stitched him up,,good as new.. and then he left..
many nurses and cpa's came and went, taking his BP, his EKG, his oxygen count, and drew blood for a battery of tests..they even took him for a cat scan and an MRI..then wheeled him back to his own private room...
later, the doctor came by and examined val again
doc>>"the wound is not bad but we'll give you a tetnis shot.....all the tests came back normal.. just to be on the safe side we'll let you stay one night in the hospital.."
his room. was wonderful ..it was quite spacious and had a nice view of the city...
a nurse took his blood pressure..then val got up and looked around...
val>>" this is petty deluxe aint it..why its got blinds on the windows and a big tv screen and a stocked little fridge. a micro wave with popcorn ,crackers..and nuts," val checked out the fridge..it had hot dogs and cheeses, wine and beer and champagne.... .."
nurse>>"help yourself to whatever you want...
so, it looks like val is in good shape, so we're going to leave him there in his hospital room and go back to gnat and tom in the clearcut......
tom and gnat disengaged from the worker with the chainsaw and followed the river downstream,,the river looked different...it was warmer and filled with silt. the air was hotter and smokier out here in the clearing.. a good 20 degrees hotter than the rain forest...They came across a canoe with two paddles. being that they were in Babel Land..the canoe was up for grabs..so they hopped in..and pushed off the bank into the middle of the river...nice and slow...relaxing....
gnat paid attention to the condition of the land as they passed by..the clearcut gave way to grasslands with barbed wire fences and cattle grazing on it. Then the cow pastures gave way to palm trees grown in neat rows and columns,,,as they floated by, thee palm trees grew higher and higher...
they noticed that the river was carrying soap bubbles,, foamy soap bubbles couldn't be good. the river went white water on them..they paddled furiously to keep the canoe pointed downstream..but to no avail...the canoe hit a rock broadside and they were both ejected from the canoe..
gnat>> " point your legs downstream.." ...which they both did ...
there were many bumps and bruises along the way.,,, and several dunkings too...but they finally made it through the whitewater and so did the log canoe.. they dragged the canoe out of the water turned it over to drain it ..
the were back on the river. but soon had reached the ocean,,,they hit the beach which was full of seaweed and driftwood and shells and bits of plastic..bottles and forks and grocery bags.and dead fish...lots of dead fish...then they saw a sign that said.."This Beach closed due to red tide until further noticec..." and below that it had a skull and crossbones....
they punched the taxi button.....
THE END of the thread