The Orchid

Calm after the Storm

The final breeze shoots through the turmoil. The sky reverts to its regular hue of cerulean revealing the sun halfway across the sky. The shadows no longer cast over any aspect of the carnage. Instead the shadows lie at the base of everything the sun touches. This juxtaposes the whole idea of an interconnected world. Instead forcing every element to focus on itself for the few minutes where the only thing it affects is itself.

    The beheaded stem of the orchid slumps over, it gives up hope with nothing to support. The plant decides that it is easier to die than to try to construct an entirely new flower. This is natural selection. The last living ghost orchid died today and we are the only ones who ever knew about its existence.

    The colony of ants has now begun construction further into the depths of the forest. The mother bird mourns the loss of her children for only a second. Then she returns to her daily routine of hunt or die.The world is so easy to forget the tragedies it endures in it's everyday life. Why are humans so incapable of the same virtues?

    From this perspective the tiny oasis seems destroyed and its beauty lost. However, it's not the uniformity that we found beautiful, but the scars that formed the incredibly unique landscape that we had come to love.

    This tale of love, loss, and rebirth is the only one the world knows and until you embrace its beauty you can never truly understand the meaning behind everyday things you are taking for granted.

    The devastation however did not extend to the leathery skin of the mangroves. The vines' tight grip held and the matrimony remained intact. This is not a story of love however, this is a story of dependence, the line between what you need and what you want is thin, all connected by life itself. If what you want is to continue living then you'll do whatever you need to in order to continue living. So is living something you need to do or want to do?

    The ants have decided life is there calling today. The whole colony starts its march inland until the land is no longer dampened by the recent floods. Once the soil does not feel cold under their feet, they begin their work. Grain by grain their tunnels opened and the tenuous young are stored away. The queen approves of her subjects' work and everyone enters their new home in hopes that they are creating a better life for those who will succeed them. This kind of altruism is what drives the world to continue living. Yet humans continue to worsen the world for those who will supersede them. Humans are in defiance to the laws of nature and are beyond the boundaries of it. We are the monsters.

    In this new section of land there is a gurgling stream which flows endlessly past the ants hideaway. Rotting logs and tall trees attract thousands of insects to the location. The breeze is blocked by the countless surrounding trees. The sun casts shadows at all times and the air itself is colder. The vines here not only explore up the trees but across the ground. They seem unfazed by the expectations of dependence exhibited previously. The flora is very different here. The grass is patchy and moss hides everything like skin on flesh. There are small rodents that sleep in the roots of the trees resting until night falls again.

    The serenity is no more and the ants must live in constant peril. Nothing here seems safe, yet we must realize that no beauty is lost. The fish here are less docile and more predatory.

    The sun is now starting to hide itself once more. The moon relieves the sun of its position in the world. This time the moon is whole and it's as if the sun never left the sky. The moon light gently caresses everything it can touch. The noises of the night begin its orchestra and a new mystery awaits those who seek the truths of this world.