10 Reality

REALITY  10

***********

      Phil, the editor wishes to explain that this is a fable invented by animals who represent, to him , alone, characters in his life that he cherishes and teases the reader into seeing life as a game, never lost or won but simply played-out in the grand scheme of the universe with infinity as a scoreboard.

*************

     “What a beautiful day to live in Dominica. How fortunate we are to be able to reach out to humans. The trees are singing to us using the wind as their conductor,” squawked Shazam the Amazon parrot.

     “What’s all the eloquence about? Let’s get on with the show. I don’t like having to perch this long anywhere for anyone,” squealed Fregata the frigate bird.

     “Well, you could think about the rest of us, especially those who don’t fly.

We turtles are very sure footed but never airborne. Patience and groundedness are our virtues,” rumbled Myrtle the turtle.

    “ La-de-da,” returned Fregata. You turtles just abandon your young while we take care of our babies for 9 months.”

     Mary, the facilitating white pelican, sensed that her good offices were needed and gently cooed, “Look a little deeper into the strategy of Mom Nature. Turtles cannot watch over their young as birds do, so they have many little tikes hoping some will survive. The frigate bird only has one chick so it must be carefully nurtured for 9 months. And that is why we are here. Survival takes many paths.”  .   . …. “ But think about it this way. Humans are wrangling over each other’s color, religion, and parking spaces. They are in need of our help, so, you all are way ahead of them.”

    Bosco, the border collie, barked, “ I would like to get on with the task at hand. What is the human problem?”  

      King, the ring-necked kingfisher rattled, “Let’s name a few such as greed, too much speed, and much too much ego. And those are only the intentional  flaws. Consider the faults of human omission such as: failure to nurture, failure to attend to elder experience, failure to heed Mom Nature, and so on….to name a few.”

       “So, in addition to all of that, King droned on, “humans feeling the pain overreact and compensate with bizarre chemical remedies such as tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, Maryjane, and love-free orgasms. “

     Hooie hooted, “ Wait just a damn minute. Is it really that bad? What an order , I can’t go through with it.”

      “If Mom Nature is the reason we are all here then there is no choice. We owe her our life,” Ducky quacked. “ This is reality and we can handle it.”

    

09 Heroic

Heroic  9

     Joe Anole (the lizard) piped up in a bellowing voice,though just a little fellow, “Before we get started I have a few questions and requests. Watch where you are stepping; I could be right under your left foot! 
Question One: What are the rules?

Question Two: Are we doing this for us or for "them"; I mean humans? Question Three: Are we expected to be heroic, because I don’t have a heroic scale on my meager body? I am a bit reptilian in attitude; so, there is not much, in a cold-blooded way, that I wish to do for humankind than eat their pesky bugs.”

     Leda, the dragonfly, buzzed, “I share some of Joe’s worries, being small and a frequent target of kids at play and misdirected insecticides. We dragonflies have been on planet Earth for 300 million years while humans less than 3 million years.

Does that count for something? And we have managed without so-called leadership such as Cesar, Jesus, or General Patton. This 'crisis' created by humans makes me want to roll my compound eyes.”

     Free, the butterfly, clicking colorfully, “My sentiments as well. We have been on Earth for 130 million years and can only enjoy and flourish on a gentle planet.”

     Hummy, a bit taken aback by the negativity, hummed, “ Whoa boys and girls, something brought us all here, like a tractor beam. The negative stuff won’t solve this crisis or any other. Mother Nature and/or God must be sending us a message.”

     “ I wondered about that,” chirped Andi, the Osprey.  “Why did we all come to the same place, and why have we laid aside our fears of each other?"

     “It is much more mysterious than simple serendipity,” squawked Bertie, the peregrine falcon.

     BillyG surmised, “let’s don’t fool around, some of us have to get back to work. The rules are few. (1) This is an open group so we can stay or leave at any time (2) If the circle gets too big, we form a second (outer) circle and so on. (3) No venom, no kicking, no biting, and no hate. Does that sound like a process we can all agree on?”

**********

      A stillness settled around the entire animal circle; and then followed a Dominican rainforest of sounds from everyone which implied a totality of expression.
      Little did they know that a partial eclipse of the Sun would appear over the island at 3:44 P.M. on August 21, 2017. This was to be their time of inclusion that left no doubt about how phantasmagorical the meeting was to be.

08 Mystified

Mystified    8

     ” I don’t know about mystified but I am certainly blindsided by human consciousness," bleated BillyG, “According to what was handed down through my kin, we were wild Bezoar ibexes until about 10,000 years ago, when we allowed ourselves to be domesticated." It was a fateful decision but many of our youngsters were starving and like humans of today, we were over-sexed and rutted our way into a crisis. To save our kids we first accepted food from humans and then accepted shelter, too. We were locked in because we agreed to have the predators locked out.”

     “This is painful,” crooned Mira the sloth, “because I was ignoring the whole mess. In our state of mind, we sloth females just scream until a male finally shows up and 9 months later we just have one baby sloth and don’t get the urge again for almost 2 years. Humans appear to be glutinous, at best.”

      “I don’t like to sound prudish,” says Gary, the Bassett hound, "but sex probably is not the main issue, but rather something else such as greed, speed or ego. Some damn evolution architect made my legs so short it's downright embarrassing.”

     Hummy intervened, " we are getting off track a bit. Let's concentrate on the power of the Group and complete our circle with the full complement of 24 animals."

      Mum, the nanny goat bleated, " I am lost. Why don't we have a plan or some protocol? 

      Hooie, the barn owl, hooted, "It is the wise move. Once we form a circle and connect with each other we will be amazed before we are half-way through." 

      Ducky, the Pekin duck quacked, " All you fun-in-flying birds come on down and perch so we can get on with our circle job. Humans may not be worth it but they are destroying the planet and can't seem to find their way out of a paper bag. I need to get back to egg laying." 

      So, Bertie, the peregrine falcon, Milvus, the back kite, Fregata, the frigate bird gave up their fun and perched around the circle. Free, the butterfly, Leda the dragonfly found branches in the circle too. 

     Though they were a half dozen short each noted privately that either anxiety or exhilaration was coursing through them. Those who were less ego-driven began to feel exhilaration but it was all for the good. Because, in the better angel’s scheme of things, exhilaration always trumps anxiety. 

      The group formed as a leaderless bunch, egos evaporated and a calm stillness settled over the group like the morning dew.............and it was good.  

    

      One might easily be mistaken by believing that humans invented group process. However, the White Pelican forms groups to corrale fish into their group circle and devours them without having to fly and dive. Through 30 million years these pelicans have mastered this process without uttering a word. This knowledge of group process exceeds the human tribal circle by at least 25 million years. It is a marvel to see them in action. So, one of our group members, the facilitator, is a White Pelican named Mary.   And she has just flown in to join and facilitate the group.  It is noteworthy that the pelican is revered throughout Christian history because of it causes its breast to bleed and thus feed otherwise starving chicks.