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A wind rose through the valley and rustled the evergreens. With birds floating free in the sky like the wind and trees as green as emeralds, the forest at first glance was a serene paradise. However below the blue sky, below the treetops, and below the branches, existed a perfect harmony between the land and the living. With deer galloping through the branches, trees basking in the sun, and fish diving beneath the waters, all seemed to be at rest. However within that very harmony was the primordial chaos called nature.
Suddenly above the forest, without any warning dark storm clouds appeared and moments later tears fell from the sky onto the face of the world. Lighting battered the world like a hammer strike from Thor, and a conflagration from hell consumed the forest. The scream of thunder echoed through the air; the cry of the living remained to be heard. Animals looked on desperately to the rising plume of smoke with nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. The flame grew and the end came. In an instant life became death, reality became memory, and hope became despair. What once was verdant and green was now but black and dead. Yet a flicker of hope remained. A single flower not yet bloomed stood. Slowly it began to unfold, its pale white petals a beacon in a sea of ash. The flower was a reminder of what once was and a portent what would be. With enough time perhaps the forest too would bloom again and the eternal cycle would once again renew.
Nature is whimsical and at every moment the world walks a razor’s edge between life and death and it is this randomness that makes life so pure, so fleeting, and so fragile. With this thought it is odd that nature creates complete order out of utter chaos. Perhaps that thought is beyond mortal comprehension but what is within our comprehension is the presence of change within nature. Like an arrow of time, change flies forward bringing pain, suffering, and hurt but also peace, calm, and hope. The hope that some day in the future the wind can once again rise through the valley and rustle the evergreens.