Changing Tides

“This world seems awfully quite", remarked the phoenix. His eyes, dark as night, piercing from the tip of mountain top far into the mountains, his vantage point! It had become a habit to venture out when the night lights blind the stars into oblivion and the night owls hoots in the streets. With the lights dimmed out, even our friend was confined to his abode, unable to take flight without risking humans’ sight!

"Ahhh humans!" remarked the magnificent bird, "peculiar lot I must say! Mammals they are indeed, but do they really fit the bill? For the only thing they bring with them is Carnage and destruction! They storm a location, green and lovely, teething with life, but by the time they leave, all that's left is a grey hue of death! They fight amongst themselves for the resources and kill their own kind for want of control! Greed infests the very fabric of their being! For it is only a fool would believe that the mother nature could be controlled - a virus none the less, no mammal I tell you!"

A few steps behind in his aviary, there appeared to be movement. Alarmed by the intruder, the phoenix exclaimed "Halt who goes there!". His voice piercing the silence left behind by the absence of screeching jets.

'Forgive me, oh mighty bird" requested a squeaky voice. "I am just a mouse in search of food. The humans that I rely on are nowhere to be found."

"Help yourself, oh little one", remarked the phoenix, "I too couldn't make sense of this sudden silence. With this haunting silence and dark nights everywhere, I miss the flights atop human cities, gawking at those misers spend their lives bickering behind money and spoiling their lands. Don't know what has gotten into those genius imbeciles!"

"I heard they are held up in their homes for fear of death doth surround them!"  Squeaked the mouse.

"Death!" exclaimed the phoenix, "Isn't that humans trade in, use to fill their reserves, exploit as a weapon and barter for coppers nevertheless?"

"Yes, my Lord! But this time it's a unknown threat, something the monkeys cannot comprehend." replied the mouse

"What could be so intriguing that eludes the mind of one who has tamed the oceans, controlled fire; split the very atom to its core" asked the bird.

"It's a virus sir, a silent killer that is on the loose, and the only way humans could avoid it is to shut their lives and stay packed in their houses" replied the mouse

"Oh, sweet mother nature! You did strike where it hurt the most", remarked the phoenix. "Those wretched creatures deserve this! I don't realize these plains anymore, having roamed them for eons, never have I seen an animal so destructive and so devoid of empathy as the human monkey! They have made a joke of our mother and this is what they deserve. I am sure not even in this state is despair would they learn to come together, to be one against the common enemy, but find bits and pieces to conjure up a sense of insecurity to fight amongst each other, only to lose and burn in eternal fire."

"But sire how do you emerge from the fire unharmed? Is it some dark magic?" probed the mouse.

"A flower at its prime never thinks it will one day turn to dust", answered the phoenix, a smile running down his face. "I only burn and crash when I know this body has had enough and I accept it's end is near; the cycle of life and death is something even I cannot elude. The magic is in acceptance, to see that my ways need to be corrected and to change myself into a new form, a new being - a new me! That is when I surrender to my fate, burn like the eternal flame, only to emerge from the ashes with a newfound purpose! If that's what the humans do, introspect on their ways, on their hate, maybe someday they too can rise like I do.

“But the question is - will it be a new beginning or is the end for this vile creature? Or is it just another passing phase? Time should tell".

Note: Locomente collaborates with a friend, who prefers to be identified with his pen name ‘ace’. One of the discoveries of these lockdown days is that he writes. Looking forward for more collaborations in future Arun!