Friends of Mother Earth – Story 2

Written By Sue Heys, illustrated by Angela Arkle.

Once upon a time in the great huge sky there lived a little planet whose name was Earth. Everyone called her Mother Earth because she gave birth to all that lived on her. Mother Earth was so very happy in those long ago days. She laughed and sang merrily as she danced around Father Sun in her beautiful, shimmering silvery-gold, greeny- blue dress.

She sang to all the living things that dwelt and played on her. She sang of beauty and of joy, of peace and of love, of awe and of wonder.

She sang of her tall rocky mountains reaching like jeweled spires to Heaven. She sang of her smooth rounded velvety hills and of her deep cleft valleys and wide flat plains. She sang of exquisite colours and dappled shades, of heady scents and light perfumes, and she sang of melodious sounds blending together into tantalizing symphonies. Hers was a song of Love that echoed in the depths of all things

She loved her rich, dark fertile soils and offered them to the infinite varieties of trees, flowers and plants that grew on her.

She loved her water, she tingled when she felt the fresh silver ribbon streams run into the winding big rivers and then into her deep, blue, blue seas.

She loved her cold, white, shimmering ice, and her blazing red and yellow deserts.

She loved the sun that lit her, the moon that danced around in homage to her and all the stars in the vast beyond that twinkled with her.

She loved the clean, fresh, fragrant air in which she floated and the life giving rain that fell on her.

She was Mother to everyone and everything and she was radiantly happy.

She had so much to give and she gave it all freely that her children might be joyous and happy and have everything they needed to live comfortable and prosperous lives.

She gave her clay.
She gave her wood.
And she gave her stone.
She gave her coal, her gas and her oil.
She gave her gold and silver and all her other metals.
And she gave her beautiful sparkling precious jewels.
And the children and all the creatures were truly thankful in their hearts for all that they received and they in their turn loved and cared for Mother Earth as she cared for them.

Time passed and time passed, Mother Earth journeyed as always on her orbit round and round Father Sun.

The seasons came and went and came and went again. The tides ebbed and flowed and the moon waxed and waned over and over and over again. The years rolled by and the years rolled by.

But something was happening as they passed ——-something very sad, very sad indeed.

You only needed to take a little glance at Mother Earth to realize that something was wrong, that she was losing her shine, that her dress was in tatters. And you only needed to listen for just a moment to notice that she no longer sang and danced as she travelled on her way.

The trouble it seemed, was that a spell had been cast and the people who lived on her seemed to have fallen into a trance and in that trance they had forgotten to care for her and now she wasn’t able to give her children what they needed. Tears fell from her beautiful eyes for she loved her people still and wanted only good for them.

“My children don’t know what they are doing”said Mother Earth to herself. “I must wake them .I must tell them. I must make them listen to me.”

So when she saw them doing uncaring harmful things she called out to them.

She called out when people chopped down too many trees (trees are important to Mother Earth, they are her lungs, and the tree roots hold her soil in place)

“Don’t hurt me,” she said, “I am your Mother.” Please, please remember you have no other.”
But the people could not wake from their trance.

She called out when people spoilt her soil by mixing strange things with it.

And she called out when people dropped rubbish on her land and in her seas.

“Don’t hurt me,” she said, “I am your Mother. Please please remember you have no other.”

But still the people could not wake from their trance.

She called out when the waste from factories and machines poisoned her air and her rivers.

“Don’t hurt me,” she said, “I am your Mother. Please, please remember you have no other”

But the people did not wake from their trance.

And when some people couldn’t agree with each other and when they got very angry and dropped bombs on her that made her tremble and shake she called out to them even louder.

“DON’T HURT ME,” she said, “I AM YOUR MOTHER. PLEASE, PLEASE REMEMBER YOU HAVE NO OTHER.”

And then at long, long last just a little while before it was too late her loud and urgent calling woke one small child from his trance. He woke another and another and each awakened one woke one more. And as each one woke they turned to Mother Earth and said, “We are sorry we forgot to care for you. We didn’t realize that if we forgot to care for you we were also hurting ourselves”

And those that woke began to work together as friends to help to make her beautiful and clean and fresh and sparkling once more. They called themselves the “Friends of Mother Earth”

And they made a promise. “We won’t hurt you again” they said, “You are our Mother. We are pleased to remember we have no other.”

Listen! Can you hear her calling too?

Think, think now, is there anything at all that you can do?

For our wonderful Mother Earth

That she may better care for you.