A Children's Fable: Xila & The Scarlet Guide

"Xila! Xila! Where are you? Xila!"

The princess was shouting out for her faithful, canine friend. They had gone wandering beyond their kingdom's desert at the edges of the rainforest. The trickster Káuyumarie had played his games on them leaving each one lost to search and yelp helplessly for the other. As the Princess struggled to find her friend and guardian she began to cry.

"Princess! Princess! Where are you? Princess!"

Xila would not cry she promised herself. She must stay strong for when she found the princess. But soon the faithful dog found herself running around in circles over and over. She was not getting any closer to finding the princess.

No matter how hard sniffed she could not smell the princess.

No matter how hard she listened she could not hear the princess.

No matter how hard she looked she could not see the princess.

Xila, overcome with emotion but unwilling to bawl began pawing at the dirt and clawing at tree trunks, she was frustrated beyond belief. Suddenly, a strange voice echoed from the canopy above!

"HAVE YOU NO DECENCY, YOUNG LADY?!?"

Cocking her head and looking up Xila saw the strangest bird looking down on her. He was perched on a wooden branch with the gaudiest of feathers ranging from scarlet red to lightening blue. Almost as if the rainbow had purged itself upon a particularly robust parrot. Its beady seafoam green eye stared disapprovingly at Xila. Suddenly embarrassed, Xila shifted her weight around her paws and began to explain herself.

"I'm sorry, sir, I- well you see sir, I lost my guardian, the princess! I must find her before nightfall. This forest seems to be home to tricksters and I haven't the faintest idea how to find my princess or return to the barren mountains." Xila whelped out in sadness.

The rainbow-parrot-bird seemed to reluctantly accept her apology and fluffed his feathers. He politely croaked "Well, I suppose if I help you find this dear princess you will leave my home alone, and perhaps along the way you may learn some manners." He cleared his throat and just before flying off to Xila's right said "My, my, in all the ruckus I forgot to introduce myself, I am Surem a Macaw of the Rainforest. And you are?" Xila said her name in return. The Macaw nodded his head approvingly and said "come along now, we've miles to go," before heading off to Xila's right guided by who knows what.

While Xila would have been content to simply follow Surem and call out for her princess, Surem had different ideas on how to pass the time. He began squawking on and on with his about every root, leaf, flower, tree, and bug that came within a hop, skip, or jump of them.

"You see that bug, the one with the strange horns and tough shell, that's the beetle and it's doing its very best to make a life out of nothing," he said of a strange creature toiling away in the rainforest muck.

"Up there is one of my cousins, she's a handful that won't stop gossiping but my you can't help but love her," he squawked when a green feathered bird - not so much unlike Surem - flew past them.

"And here," he said with a great big huff, "is the tallest tree in our realm from its heights you can observe the whole canopy, the forest, the desert, the mountains beyond, and mayhaps we will see your princess."

Xila stared in awe at the tree before her it was massive, it towered above her and Surem. It was filled with every vibrant shade of life, from yellow and brown bugs to green and yellow feathers, monkeys of every hue. All rummaging around and chittering and squeaking their own unique song. She panted and laid before this tree that had doubtless seen countless others before her and was likely filled with near shamanic wisdom of all things natural.

"Excuse me?" Xila's attention snapped back to Surem looking down on her. "Aren't you listening? I asked you a question."

Baffled and a bit embarrassed Xila shuffled her paws together and licked her drying nose "Sorry, but I'm afraid I umm, got carried away. Lost in thought as it were."

Surem rolled his eyes, "you'd do well to learn some focus. I trust your princess wouldn't appreciate being ignored the way I am being ignored."

"No, but she wouldn't be so rude as you are being," Xila snapped back, "she's the most loving and understanding person I've ever-"

"PERSON?!?" Surem screamed in shock, "I thought we were looking for another Xoloitzcuintli dog such as yourself, not something as vile and cruel as a human!"

Xila was rather taken aback, not by the confusion - she figured he'd confused her so much she might as well confuse him - but by how negatively he viewed humans.

"What makes you think humans are vile and cruel?" Xila questioned.

"Hrumph, you'd think someone who has lived with humans would know, very well, let me educate you on what your dear princess and her fellow humans are up to."

"Each task they complete and item they obtain is robbed and beaten out of the Earth. They come in with fire first and raize the forest to its knees until only smoldering ash remains. Then where forest once grew they plant strange crops of only a few varieties, they eschew all manner of rodents and insects from these fields, leaving skinny unhappy meals for the rest of us. And because these humans are too pretentious to sleep in the trees or on the ground like the rest of us they conquer the rocks and mountains to raise themselves up." Surem's voice cracked, he seemed on the brink of tears. "You see they will gather stone and attach it to branches, they will then use the tree's very own foliage to cut it down and build strange structures to keep out nature. They push the world out so violently and horribly they seem to forget they are a part of it. They seem to forget they were once one and the same with it. But now they go about their lives, hacking, burning, and killing plant and animal alike with no discretion, all for their own ends. You see, that is why humans are vile and cruel."

For a moment Xila couldn't hazard a response. She'd never thought of humans in such a negative way and was disheartened to hear Surem's accurate - if incomplete - view of their society. But Xila found it within herself, mustered up her courage, and began her retort.

"I won't deny the things you've seen, I won't deny your pain either. And yes, humans have a long ways to go in learning that nature is not meant to be bent to their will but rather loved and accommodated. But, dear Surem, you must understand that you have painted an incomplete picture. Humans can be so loving, they hold their young ones close, fear for their futures, take care of their pets - like yours truly - and they can be in tune with nature. I've seen shamans go into the woods for weeks on end to come out with a deeper understanding of the world. I've seen common folk plant gardens filled with every hue in the world. I've seen them plant trees in empty fields and I've seen them praise the sun for the life it brings. So no, humans are not perfect, but they are far from the monsters you paint them to be."

Now it was Surem's turn to be taken aback. Withe the great deal of trauma he and his fellow beings had endured at the beck and call of humanity he couldn't be blamed for not having the rosiest view of humanity. But he certainly didn't think he was too far from the mark when he called humans near soulless. But with Xila's firm committment and the zeal in her eyes towards not only her princess but the whole of humanity, Surem thought he should think twice about his opinions on the matter. That said, he couldn't go as far as to forgive them...yet.

"All right, let's make a deal." Surem said straightening his feathers. "I help you find this human princess of yours and you make me a promise."

"What sort of promise?" Xila inquired.

"That when you return to your princess you will tell her of what you saw. You will teach her of the harm her people have caused to the land. But most of all you will show her how to heal the land. You will listen to your shamans and sages, you will listen to the cries of every bird, bee, leaf, tree, monkey, and every child of Mother Earth. And when you hear those cries you will conduct yourself in a healing manner. You shall plant in accordance with the natural laws, you will only take what you can give back. Keep the flowing rivers clean, praise the sun and the rain. You will take up as much space as you need but not more. And most of all, you will take that love they extend to their families and communities and extend it to those who are unlike you. Wether it is a different human or a different species all together. Is this clear?"

After a moment Xila responded "Perfectly."

"Very well then. Let's find your princess."

So Surem flew to the treetops out of Xila's view after awhile he came back down and reported on a crying girl he saw to the west. Based on the description Xila knew they had found the princess!

~

It was almost sundown when they reached her. She was crawling in the mud and between bushes searching desperately for Xila. As the sun cast its long shadows across the Earth Xila barked thrice for her princess. The young girl looked up from where she was searching with puffy red eyes and a matted tossle of black hair she broke out into a big smile. The two ran to meet each other and Xila licked her sweet princesses face over and over again. After this greeting the Princess couldn't help but notice the scarlet Macaw staring down at the two of them.

So Surem cleared his throat and Xila explained to the princess what they must do. Though they spoke different tongues she could understand through that special bond only a girl and her dog can have. So they headed home, with a promise and a wish for future generations.

~

If you see a scarlet Macaw, bow and leave some seed at the floor. If you see a tree cut down, plant a new one. If you see an animal mistreated, heal it, or findt or find another to heal. Always return what you take and maybe, just maybe, if you care a lot the world's harmony will once again be in tune. The descendants of Xila and the princess certainly do.