Tears of the Nature Georgina Lowole   © Copyright 2021 by Georgina Lowole

Photo by Boudewijn Huysmans on Unsplash

The morning rain ball in the mist could be seen from far, those threads of shining light from the rising sun penetrating through a family of different trees only to heat up the moist nutrient well reached soil. Dew from the dawn dropping in every green leaf, wow what a beautiful morning. Winds were blowing from east to west passing through the jungle, all weak ripen fruits dropping from the trees to feed the soil and hungry animals mongering around. The birds were singing songs praising the Man behind the beautiful nature. Of course the Man had to be praised for He provided everything needed for animals and every human kind: food, shelter, water and even clothing could be sourced around. The whispering sounds of different creatures could be held from woods, every creature was at peace and calm.

The sun was rising higher and the day was getting hot. Clouds of animals started flocking to the river that runs from the north of the forest crossing the hilly part of it and made it meander around like a hungry python in hunt of a prey. The river was narrow and deep and the heavily flowing water could be heard from a distance. The thirsty animals were running so fast to quench thirsty in time and swim to cool their bodies. Crocodiles smiled upon the arrival of the flock since there lunch times was just a near. Zebras, Elephants, antelopes, tigers, wild dogs, hyenas, Lion the king of the jungle and many more animals were at the river enjoying the fresh cold water. Heads up then pause every animal froze for a moment at a strange sound they heard from far. ”What kind of this noise could this be?” every animal asked itself the similar question. The sound was getting loud in every tick tock of a second, now it was being escorted by the falling of huge trees that helped to maintain the water circle. Fear rose among the animals, slow runners started their journey to seek hiding spots. “They are humans” shouted the hare, “they are cutting every tree, come over here and see” continued the hare. Every animal paid attention to the small clever animal which sat restless on a rock that was the other side of the river. Some brave animals followed the hare to be the eye witnesses while the others were running for their life. Cries from tender old trees could be held, desperate trees crying out for salvation they couldn’t even dream of. Sorrow swallowed the minds of creatures in the forest, all songs of joy and praise turned into tunes of bad omen.

“What wrong have we done to you?” cried out kachere the huge tree which was witnessing the end of its variety. “Why are you doing this to us? We have been always there for you. We support every day to day living of your life; we provide poles for
your homes and some for the curing burns in the agriculture industry. We help in bringing rainfall without us the future of water circle is doomed. We balance the presence of oxygen in the air for your survival. We believe you know that we are vital yet you keep on cutting us down what’s wrong with you?”The deaf selfish human couldn’t hear the cry made by the tree instead he added gallons of fuel which was triggering the operation of the tree cutting machine. The machine didn’t get tired it swallowed and chop every tree near it peal it up then park it when human power could finalize the job.

It was a fortnight since the arrival of the humans in the forest, many trees were gone the land was left out bare. The machine sounded every hour of the day and only stopped a few hours during the night. Many animals were left homeless and some killed to be roasted during lunch and supper hours to fill the humans berry. Elephants were being shot dead only to take the precious ivory. There was panic in the forest; animals were dying of hunger in the curves where they were hiding from the dangerous man.

The other day the hilly side of the forest was loaded by humans who were collecting quarry stone from the rocks. The desperate hiding animals gathered strength to fight back but only to be killed by gunshot and it was their end. No animal was left out in the jungle and the cutting down of the trees continued day by day until the end of the trees in the area.

The land was left bare the river was left unprotected the sun reached the surface of both land and river and sucked every drop of water which was available and the land was left with cracks all over. The river was losing its beauty the blue fresh waters were turning into dirty smelling water. The dust from uncontrolled wind and the leaves from cut trees banked up in the river which polluted the water. The river was not a place for water living animals anymore. The habitat wasn’t necessary for the living so breeding fish died of suffocation.

Time passed by season switched from one to another rainfall confused itself it couldn’t know when to come and when to go. The once nutrient enriched soil turned into poor sandy soils which accommodated no any plant to grow. Only it knew was providing stunted growth in plant due to poor water holding capacity and aeration. All nutrients which were found in the soil were reached out. The poor falling rainfall caused soil erosion all over which red to siltation of the river and made it to dry out during the dry season.

Time for pay back came, the season started with very promising nature. Thunderstorms could be heard and lightening could be seen. The sign planted hope in human kind that the rains during the year would start early as good old days. As usual farmers prepared there land in time and prepared their seed in ready for planting time. One day during afternoon, the cloud assembled in the sky. Lightening started dancing from side to side. The sky was getting dark but the clouds did stop crowding up. Thunderstorms joined with heavy winds started blowing heavily demolishing every week structure it came across. Every man was busy maintaining their houses so that when the rains start they should be safe but the dream failed since they had no timber to support the house.

Heavy rains started falling followed by hailstorms. It rained for at least five hours. Most houses were destroyed, most humans were left homeless and some of them were injured. People lost their lives and property during the disaster; livestock’s were carried away by fast flowing water which flooded the river neighboring the village. It took almost five days for the village to gain back its peace and come. Though the farmers lost their properties they didn’t give up planting every seed they were left with, for them to survive they had to plant different crops so that they should not suffer the following season. The rains seemed very promising; it was raining every single day until the crops emerged from the soil. Five days after the crop emergency it stopped raining the sky became clear. Farmers got the chance to weed their farms but the drought was longer than imagined. Crops started wilting due to heavy sunlight which was heating the land directing evaporating the land and taking back its moisture it infested into the soil. The drought was swiping man to man, house to house and finally village to the next. The human kind living was irritating, the land was losing every drop of water and the man was running out of every provision they were left out during the heavy rainfall.

The rivers dried out every plant dried too. People travelled long distances to find out until the places dried too. The world they created was killing them without showing mercy. People scrambled for every piece of food they could find. Children were getting thin and thin, eyes were getting out of their sockets and strength started wearing out of the joints until they couldn’t walk again then fall into lifetime sleeping leaving their dead bodies enriching the soil. No one could attend each other, the more the days passed the weaker they became and the more they died. The winds which whispered the songs of revenge were blowing off the odor from the dead body of human kind. Birds flew from far only to pet the rotting bodies. The sound of silence was getting louder reaching every ears of the atmosphere, the crying sound of the humans like that of the trees were also being heard from time to time looking for a helping hand.

The widowed houses stood still hoping to accommodate their masters wind was passing over proving that no master is left out during the deadly drought. The wind kept on whispering the song of revenge then it paused for a second and said. “Wait a minute, that heavy rain was it real rains or maybe was just tears which came to revenge over the man kind?”

My name is Georgina Lowole I am an actress, founder of community Care trust NGO  and blue Bell art theater, as well as the writter I am 28 years of age from Malawi , was born in mzimba ekwendeni.

I have been featured in two movies as an actress so far--SOWING SEEEDS  and LIFE OF A HEAED TEACHER, all along been loving the stage dramas.             

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