It's time for Olivia's monthly post!
I love what she's doing with those bits of micro-fiction - each story stands alone, but they're building up a connected whole. I can't wait to see where it goes!
- Kendra
Something I learned quickly from the knowledge of being Mother Nature’s daughter is that once I knew, everyone knew. Or maybe everyone already knew and I was the barrier; once I learned so, then the cat was out of the bag and everyone could join in on the celebration.
Though, the celebrating factor is nothing close to celebratory, as coming into contact with Mother was something I found out would never happen. The posse of animals and wildlife that tapered at my feet like a cape was enough of a reminder of who I truly was, but that lingering side effect of never meeting my mother always stayed. But after some time to accept such truth, I ran with the wind and let myself discover the infinite possibilities of controlling nature.
Day one, I left the library and was greeted by a chipmunk. Nothing more than four inches wide and tall but the squeal that left his lips echoed hundreds of miles each direction in the forest. Animals, windstorms, leaves falling from trees though it were spring… the gathering of life at my subconscious summoning was a greeting of power. Power I once believed did not belong in my hands, but now I think of it as undeserving to anyone else.
The situation was that no one believed in miracles or karma, but I sure did. Alone in the forest I thought I once was, and now the forest was the entity alone if not for me. I walked along the bank that crystallized at my reflection. It twinkled as if winking at me and a wave from a spout splashed on my toes, its temperature an exact degree that was neither hot nor cold. I didn’t scowl at the water for getting me wet, but any other element that tested me from there on out got their karma.
On day three, a windstorm knocked my book from my hands and bent the cover in three. I was not necessarily mad at the wind, but the gesture made me think twice about my abilities and somehow, in some way, I was able to disable the wind’s ability for days ahead. That was the first of the powers I let myself lash out with. Nothing felt quite as strong as my ability to shift the air.
Now, I’m no shape shifter, but the essence of transforming one thing into another, when the world has always proven that to be impossible… it came with greed. Greed to prove myself to myself, to those who left me and those who planned to in the future. It was something rallied in me that wanted to counter Mother Nature, to prove that without her, nature will still go on. Nature would be better off without her.
As months went by and my experimental phase turned into daily interactions and routine, whether that was to create a cyclone show in the water or gust the air so strong that tree trunks snapped in half, the sky no longer held its crisp shade of blue. Better off anyways, it was always too bright.
Everything had a gray tint to it and shadows crusaded across the ground as the sun tried to shine. I did not let it, because again, it was too bright for my liking. Animals continued on their walk behind me, following my commands and doing as I say, but it was apparent their distaste for having to continue to do so day in and out.
I could have gotten mad, but I did not. They always followed me.
Followed me through the peaks and valleys of who I was and what I was becoming. Flowers no longer bloomed, paths were made as grass and willows browned in my wake. Everything once thought they knew me, excited to see me grow into the daughter of Mother Nature I was sought out to be. But the thunder and lightning struck together too loud, the power a resilient force of revenge in me. I am nothing like they thought I would be.
