Thursday, June 4, 2015

Season Unending By: Aidan Kimball


There once was a Dragon, fast as the wind, impatient as an early human. He couldn’t stand long waits, as he could put a sudden end to any quarrel with his flame, and travel across the world within a day on the current of the wind and the strength of his grand wings. There was also a Forest, who grew slowly, and feared the Dragon’s devastating flame. Then there was the wise, humble, Owl. He was as patient as Father Time himself, and didn’t care for boasting or fighting. The Owl believed that anything that was meant to happen, would happen when it needed to, and that there would always be reason behind, or ahead of it. 

The Dragon and the Forest, had engaged in a war of which would never meet an end, until it’s participants had met theirs. The Owl, being humble as he is, never stated his opinion that they were fools, fighting as fools would. Instead he just lived with the war, and watched it rage, keeping his opinions to himself. The Dragon was growing tired of this war, he seeked to end it soon. The Forest was afraid of the war coming to it’s end, he seeked to prolong it until he was strong enough to overtake the Dragon. The two engaged in a verbal, rather than physical, dispute after some time.


“Greetings, Forest! I wish to have a word with you,” said the Dragon.


“I also need a word with you, Dragon,” replied the Forest.


“I would like to begin by apologizing for my destruction of the southernmost portion of your vast expanse,” stated the Dragon.


“I accept your apology, Dragon. I would like to inform you that I am very grateful that you decided to bring this war to the even playing field of verbal debate.”


“Very well then.” said Dragon. “As you may know, I require your wood to fuel my fire, and my life. A dragon does not produce his own fuel for his fire.”


“Yes, I am very aware of this and our previous arrangement regarding your portion of my vast expanse of trees and wood.”


“This war was waged because you were too slow to provide me with more wood when you could not regrow the agreed upon area of land,” raged the Dragon.


“And I told you that the reason for this is that I am not a forest of evergreens, but one of oaks and birches. The area could not repopulate during the recent winter as the temperature is too cold for the saplings to grow,” the Forest scolded.


“I understand that, but you denied that I have another area in exchange for the lack of growth in the other.”


“The reason why I denied your request is that you demanded a larger portion than the original we had agreed upon. That was entirely unacceptable! Seeing as how you literally burn through your “fuel” as though it were dry wood, you would keep demanding more and more throughout the rest of the winter. This would inevitably render the area barren, and thus, I would cease to exist!”


The Dragon stretched his head to the sky and, with a furious explicit yell in dragon-tongue, let fly a short stream of fire and fury, “This debate has stretched on long enough! The sky grows weary and is closing it’s eyes to rest. It is unwise to continue our conversation, for we too have grown weary, and weariness ebbs patience and reason. We should rest for tomorrow.”



Relieved, the Forest agreed and the two departed from conversation for the day, though neither of them got much sleep that night. They were too busy formulating verbal attacks and claims with evidence to back them up. The Owl had quietly said to himself, “ If only wisdom was a more common trait. The Forest could give Dragon seeds to plant his own personal forest, thus ending this futile war.”


The next day, Owl awoke to screaming, both from his fellow wildlife, and the Forest and Dragon. The wildlife within the Forest evacuated, following the Owl’s lead. They went to the southernmost part of the Forest, just on the border of the “Scorched Land”. There, they found solace in the river and large oaks. Owl found a mate in one of these trees, and they had built a family throughout the following years. They became the leaders of the wildlife, and preserved what had become known as “The Oasis”. All around the Oasis, Dragon and Forest fought both verbally, physically, and psychologically. The Forest stalled the Dragon as much as he could, while waiting for his trees to regrow. The Dragon tried as hard as he could to destroy the Forest quickly, but he kept giving the Forest more offenses to declare during their verbal debates. Throughout the years, Owl and his family prospered in their secluded home. The wildlife blossomed beautifully and steadily, maintaining a reasonable population. The Owl taught each new generation to just accept their reality, and not try to change it unless absolutely necessary. On his deathbed, Owl uttered to his wife a few words, only to be used should she be asked for help by those who’d rather destroy themselves, with minds controlled by greed and fear, over a childish argument.
The coming years brought forth a new Owl, who was essentially the reincarnation of his ancestor. Though, this time, he had a greater purpose. His mother’s last words to him were those of the previous Owl. It was that year, when the Forest was dwindling and the Dragon had grown old, that the war had ended, nearly killing them both. They looked upon the prosperity and liveliness of Oasis’s trees, and asked for a claim of it, so that they may restore the Forest’s expanse of trees and wildlife, which was now a barren wasteland of ash and earth dry as the Sahara.


“Oh wise Owl, Dragon and I wish to ask of you a favor,” began the Forest.


“You may speak,” replied Owl.


“We have destroyed my vast expanse of trees throughout the extent of our war,” stated the Forest. “We have noticed you have very luscious trees in your reclusive habitat, and we ask that you lend us some of the seeds from these trees so that we may replenish our supply of wood.”


    “I am sorry, but I cannot allow that. These trees are unable to sustain themselves in large numbers. They are too resource demanding.”


    “That is very inconvenient,” stated the Forest.
   
    The Dragon impatiently interjected, “Then maybe you may allow us to join your community. We will be peaceful and reserved. We will not bother your community. It would be as though we weren’t even there.”


    The Owl had remembered the words told to him by his mother. Realizing what they meant, as well as his responsibility with them, he fulfilled his purpose to end the war and protect his people.


“Here in my Oasis, we do not believe in war or conflict. Here in my Oasis, we do not let fear control our minds and actions. Here in my Oasis, we are patient and do not force our way to get what we want or need. Here in my Oasis, we do not stall or expedite the inevitable, we allow what was meant to happen, happen when it was meant to. We live with what we have and do not acquire more through force upon others. We are the true masters of fate in this way. The two of you, however, are the opposite of our community. You are fearful, impatient, and always have the need for “more”. I cannot allow you to join our community. I know that a time will come when you want to take over our Oasis and will destroy it through the process of another war. I know this because war, war never changes, because there will always be those who wish to create it, and those who do, will always remain the same.”


The Owl protected the community his father had created. Not long after they were rejected for the Oasis, the Forest and Dragon ceased to fight, for they ceased to exist. The Owl passed away, to be remembered as the saviour of the Oasis, for as long as there remained those who cared to remember. His story was sung by the birds, a story of true nobility, the story of a truly wise and humble creature of nature and of time.

1 comment:

  1. There was a backside to that grading sheet.

    ReplyDelete