Nature
How One Incident Changed His Life but One Doesn’t Count … A Barn Owl Epiphany
At the beginning of last summer, it was unthinkable that one incident could change his life’s mantra but so it did from one event to a total scope of lifeforces around him before unseen and uncounted. In fact, the number One didn’t make sense anymore in his new world.
By Annemarie Berukoff5 years ago in Earth
NEST
A flicking, forked tongue samples the air, sensing its prey. The atmosphere was dark and damp inside the worn timber and tin structure. During the day, very little light managed to enter through gaps that weren’t already obscured by the gumtrees outside. Everything was quiet and still at night, not even the flicking of the snake’s sensory preceptor made a decibel. But it could taste its target, far above, in the wooden lofts, and it could also taste its young in the nest.
By Adrian Anderson5 years ago in Earth
Forest Memories
Susi walked confidently toward the forest’s edge. The sweet grass was soft underfoot, and she drew a deep breath to inhale its fragrance. Closing on day’s end, darkness creeping earlier as the year turns, and slanted sunlight burnished the overhanging branches with a welcoming glow. Walking in the shadow of the tall trees, alone amongst giants, she felt the peace of their aged wisdom settle around her. Far from the ceaseless drone and shrill of human traffic, she knew the deepest sacred darkness remained sheltered in the forest’s ancient heart.
By Jodi Bricker5 years ago in Earth
The Owl In The Barn
She sits outside in the cold, pondering what to do. Her mother and fellow chicks have left her. Alone. With no knowledge of how to survive. The obnoxious winter sun shines down on her delicate feathers. She keeps her eyes closed, as the bright sun is far too powerful for her delicate corneas to handle. A chill rests in the air above the snow. The sun shines on it, giving the usually dull, dark forest an unfathomable, insufferable glow.
By Michael Cree5 years ago in Earth
A Temporary Mouse
I saw something on the brink of yesterday. Although it hid from me. I saw what I could only take to be the end of my search. Something perfect, yet it was as fragile as the thin branches of a tall tree. It was something I yearned for, but hated with all of my will power. It ran from me, but I chased it, I dove from high above. My ears twitched at the slightest movement made by the little creature. As I dove I thought to myself. Is this really my livelihood? To chase, and never be chased. What’s the point of hunting if there is no excitement of being hunted. I would love to hide, deep beneath the snow and run through tunnels to feel the thrill of escape. I sometimes wish I wasn’t born to lurk in the trees. I wish I was given the excitement of being hunted, just for once. But perhaps I truly did have the sufferer’s life. I was the one responsible for killing. Maybe, it’s the strong ones who really feel the most pain. I can’t say much on this topic, I’m not a very learned owl.
By Jacob Boyd5 years ago in Earth
Fire in the night
You wouldn’t think that a town in a state halfway down the east coast would be so cold tonight. But here it was, it was freezing, the damp parts of the earth iced over. The breath of anything moving and hustling in the clear air created misty puffs of condensation. “What did that boy call it? Smoke, that’s right the Rennard boy called it smoke, but it wasn’t. I know what smoke is, smoke comes with fire, and fire brings the burning.” High in the tree the old barn owl contemplated the night, slowly rotating her head. “Burning,” sense memory of smoke and heat filled the owl’s mind. She had lived in this area since she was a chick, seen many people come and go, but she had only seen one house fire.
By Ben Underwood5 years ago in Earth
The Lost Hope
The Lost Hope A short story by Sunny Iacono The year is 2179, and humans' neglect and disregard for nature has come to the point where there is no hope for humanity or any life on earth for that matter. The skies used to be a vibrant blue but have now turned into a rusty brown, filled with intoxicating gasses and sharp pieces of silica dust that will slice your lungs until they fill up with blood. The once rich, and bright green grass has turned to dirt, and the very last bits of it left on this planet will have shriveled up and died by the time you have finished reading this sentence. And the blue oceans that were responsible for life itself, that humans could go to and play cheerfully for hours at a time, cooling themselves from the heat is now gone, and you will be lucky if you find a single grimy puddle. The humans have extra water stored in tanks, and live underground in bunkers like moles, hiding from the sunlight until they die. They took farm animals to breed and harvest, and others to use for an ecosystem while leaving the rest of us out here to die, from their mess.
By Sunny Iacono5 years ago in Earth
