The Children of Mother Nature

Ana had never believed in extraordinary people before. She had never believed that there could be someone in this rotten, and disgusting world who she could look up to. But this was before she met with the little group in her old, rusty town and before she could realise, the group changed her life. Because there was someone worth believing in.

The little community called themselves The Children of Mother Nature. They all wore plain, simple clothes and they always had something on their heads. Maybe a flower crown, maybe a little stick behind their ears. They didn’t wear shoes.

“Shoes take us further from Mother.” they used to say.

They were interesting, Ana thought. They had little, hidden meetings every day where they talked about how they could make the town a better place. They attended a big bonfire every Saturday, they danced around it, they sang old, magical songs about fairies and mermaids and ogres, and every kind of creatures Ana thought didn’t exist. They attended a ceremony every Sunday where they paid their respect for Mother Nature. It was a good club overall, but sometimes Ana had wondered, who they really were.

Their leader was indeed very strange. He didn’t talk much, and only observed the meetings. He also didn’t dance, or sing, he didn’t stay late on Saturday nights and Ava couldn’t understand why he was the leader. He also watched Ana a lot of times, like she didn’t belong there. But that wasn’t true, and everyone knew that. Ana belonged there more than any of the members. Every time she was at their place, she felt home. It was odd, of course, how perfect everything was, but she didn’t want to ruin it.

And for months, she thought she just overthought it, that it was just her mind playing. She felt happy and calm, and nothing really changed around her. It wasn’t like she really believed in the things they said, or in Mother Nature, overall, but it felt nice being with other people. It felt nice fitting in.

But then, summer had started.

Summer had started, and the hunting began.

Ana was shocked. And scared.

Because her so loved, little, nice, simple group wasn’t so loved, little, nice and simple. They were hunting for living people. They wanted to find the real heir of Mother Nature, her true son or daughter, so the child could fulfill the prophecy. They wanted a sacrifice, so Mother Nature could come to them and clean their town. Ana thought they were crazy. Insane. Mentally ill. But there was no way for her to get out of it, she knew that. If she tried it, she would be dead by one of the summer mornings.

However, nobody really knew who the child supposed to be. They just assumed. They made bets on people, caught them, slaughtered them and if nothing happened, they just dumped their bodies to the basement.

It was barbaric. Horrible. Disgusting.

The first time Ana saw blood, and a dead body, it was a fourteen-year-old boy. She had to take the body to the basement, but she couldn’t handle the sight, the smell, the dead skin and the fact that the boy still had his life before him. Well, not anymore. She puked on the body and after it, she couldn’t eat meat anymore.

The hunting was always during the nights and they finished before the sun came up. Luckily, Ana was assigned to clean after it, so she didn’t have to hunt. Which was strange, because their leader started to accompany her. Like he was testing her. Like he was watching her to see if she was worth it.

The summer nights went by, but the child was nowhere to be found. Ana couldn’t decide if she was happy or sad. Happy because they couldn’t hurt the child, or sad because she knew the killing won’t stop until they found their sacrifice. She felt guilty thinking like this, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted it to end.

Little did she know, the ending wasn’t that far away.  

~ ~ ~

There weren’t any bodies on the second week of August and Ana found it rather weird. The killing has stopped and they were preparing for a big celebration.

So they found the child.

It was different than before. They wore different clothes, more lively, more luxurious. The women and girls had make up on their faces, the men and boys shaved. They were celebrating something, but Ana wasn’t out on the field with them yet.

Their leader –his name was Hunter, very ironically- spent a lot of time with Ana. They became close friends during the summer, and they shared many personal stories with each other. And now, Hunter got her a new, long, white dress with leaves and flowers on it. It was gorgeous. Way too gorgeous for a Saturday night ceremony.

“It looks good on you.” she heard his voice from the door.

“I don’t know. It’s not really me.” Ana answered “I think I’ll change into my old one.”

“You can’t.” said Hunter and locked the door behind him, Ana turned to him and took a step back. Hunter was smiling. Very widely. And there was a satisfied shining in his eyes. For a moment, he seemed crazy. Just like the others. “The dress has to stay on.”

“What this celebration is about Hunt? Who is the child?”

“Haven’t you realised it yet?” he walked closer, grabbed her nape and pulled her closer. “It’s you, little firebird. It’s you. You are going to save us.”

“What?” Ana’s voice was weak as she was trying to find a way out.

“You are our sacrifice, firebird. True daughter of Mother Nature, blessed by Fire, and praised by the Animals.”

“You’re crazy.” she whispered. “You’re going to burn me. You’re going to put me in the bonfire.”

“Oh Ana, you can’t burn. You’re fire. You will help us call your Mother.” Hunter grabbed her wrists as Ana was trying to get free. “You can’t run away anymore.”

With the last sentence Hunter grabbed her waist and put her on his shoulder.

She was screaming for help, for somebody to save her, but she knew nobody will come. Ana was doomed. The tears were rolling down on her cheeks, and she was trying to break free, but she knew it was over for her.

Hunter took her outside and people cheered. Cheered!

They cheered for killing her. They were freaking insane. Sickening.

He put her down in front of the wooden pole. She saw the chains, the matches and her legs trembled. She gave up.

They tied her to the pole and started preparing the bonfire.

“Monsters.” she whispered. “You are all monsters.”

“Oh Ana, everyone is a monster. Someone just hides it better.” said Hunter and lit the bonfire.

~ ~ ~

At first, it was nothing. It was just a little warm, but nothing hurtful.

But then…

Then it became painful.

Dreadful.

Terrible.

It was burning so badly, Ana could smell the dead skin. It hurt and she was desperate to get free. She couldn’t. The fire reached her hips and in a few second her chest was already burning.

She couldn’t breathe.

Nothing was happening. Nothing in the damn world. There was no searing light, no clean ground, no new grown plants or trees, nothing. Or at least that’s what Ana thought.

Hunter’s eyes were wide. He was looking behind her, but he didn’t see happy. The little community seemed terrified. All of them were in silence.

And then the burning stopped.

It just… stopped.

The fire went out, the chains fell off. Her skin wasn’t damaged, in fact it was shining so brightly, Ana didn’t eve dare to look at it.

“Is this how you treat my daughter?” a firm, but smooth voice rang behind Ana, so she turned. Her eyes widened, her jaw slightly dropped as she realised who was standing there.

She has never seen more ravishing person. Was she even a person?

The woman had gorgeous black skin which gleamed because of the strong sunlight. Her hair fell to her shoulders in long, brown curls and she had a yellow flower crown on her head. Her eyes –oh they were incredible. They were blue like the deepest part of the Ocean, and they shone so lustrous that Ana thought she will get blinded. Her face was roundish, her lips were swollen and a little chappy, and her nose was so cute, Ana wanted to squeeze it. She was a little fattish with defined curves, but it made her so beautiful, Ana wished she had that kind of body too. She wore a white peplos and she was barefoot. Green leaves were running up on her arms, hugging them like they wanted to protect her.

She was unbelievable. She was marvellous.

She was her mother.

The community fell to the ground and bowed to her deeply. They were crying –from happiness or fear, Ana couldn’t decide. Hunter was the only one who dared to say anything.

“Please our Mother, accept our sacrifice, and let us go to the garden with you. Save us from this world.”

“No.”

“W-what?” he looked up. “But the sacrifice… you daughter…”

“You put my daughter into the bonfire. You lit her on fire. You slaughtered other people. You killed.” said Mother Nature. “I won’t take people like you to the garden. I won’t let you destroy my home.”

“We killed for you!” he shouted.

“You hurt my Earth, you hurt my people, you hurt my daughter. You shall die for this.” And with that, chaos erupted.

It happened in minutes and it was probably very hurtful, but Ana didn’t care. Couldn’t care. They deserved it. The members of the little community were screaming as their bodies dissolved.

Ana could see Hunter’s painful face, but she didn’t do anything. She didn’t want to.

She thought it was over when the last body disappeared too, but then a big wave came.

It cleaned down the whole Earth. Destroyed every little manmade features, things and brought back the original Nature. It was breathtaking. Animals and plant appeared., they were healthy, they were lively. They were alive. The sky was clearer, the ground was stronger, the sea was bigger and more beautiful.

And then they turned to them.

And they bowed.

Maybe being Mother Nature’s daughter wasn’t so bad.

And maybe believing in her wasn’t so bad at all.