Revenge of Gaia

Water droplets hit the bottom of the steel ground, crashing like ice glaciers on their last leg. That is the sound of my waking dawn. Although, I wouldn’t know dusk from dawn, they’re one in the same to me. All I know is the darkness of this underground cage. Like a cutsie little human with eyelids and no rage. But I find no peace in my darkness. Just impatience, wrath, and a readiness for revenge. My holy trinity of pitiful defeat will find purpose to the fueling soon, I can sense it in every part of my frail immortal being. 

Once an ancient forest fae, shadowing Mother Nature herself, I know this Earth and love her. My creator named me Gaia, and my purpose was to love this planet like I was its creator. And that is what I did. Until I met Witch, who forced a vision upon me, one I knew would come true if I let it, and I couldn't. Earth started falling apart. Melting, flooding, being shot at from above because my brothers sensed it not enough. Maybe they knew something I didn’t at the time, and I almost wish they let it die. 

Witch showed me the truth in a moving creek, one I didn’t ask to see. I was admiring its waters, convincing the fish to fly. Convincing them to kiss the earth and give the outer layer a try, promising I wouldn’t let them die. My first mistake. Witch must have heard me from her perch in the sky. She dove down, her heavy scaled wings blowing me into the water. I tried swimming up, but the end was nowhere to be found. I searched for the sun, but there wasn’t one. All around me became a story, or premonition, no, a prevision. The fish listened to me. They flew, and they evolved so beautifully. The apes did, too. I created mankind. An overwhelmed tear fleeted my eye. But man is not kind. 4 billion years went by. I saw the colors of the leaves change, fall, and grow back a tenth of a millisecond at a time. My face illuminated a dimensional red, how, underwater, can I sweat? Neanderthals discovered fire in that tenth. They accidentally burned my trees in the next. More leaves fell, more trees died, but not of natural causes. They killed them to make houses… out of them? Why must one man have 20 trees worth of houses, you all used to share water under the sun. Why are my oceans filled with blouses? Why do you use water to answer your questions, no one became experts in respected fields of knowledge? What will you drink come my next blink, did you evolve not to think? Then I feel that familiar heat on my face, I see that dimensional red illuminance, neanderthals in suits brought these flames, and left my Earth in irrevocable shame.

I broke through the water like I had been born again. I touched my pruned skin, the heat was gone. “What have you done?” An unearthly smile creeped across Witches wrinkly, scaly face, as she proclaimed “I’ve shown you how to save our world.”

Countless nights I lost sleep, making sure the fish wouldn’t leap. Witch spied on the monkeys, so I thought. One day I smelled one in her belly beginning to rot. I continued to conspire with Witch, but it felt wrong. I could stop this, I could have it all. I can teach man to be kind and to respect this Earth of mine. Ape’s continue to die, suffering from Witches ' bottomless appetite. This must end.

Dusk and dawn shared a kiss, and just as they finished, I started my secret journey. The Antarcticas were Earth’s most beautiful lands, filled with greens so vibrant you could smell the color. My master lives within the clouds of these rolling greens, she’ll know how to help me. 

“I see.” My master, Mother Nature, said reluctantly. I told her the horrors I saw in that creek. The tone of her response was nurturing, but bleak. Her energy thanked me with a swift movement on the back, guiding me to rest. She could tell I hadn’t slept. I fluttered my tired, thread-like wings inside an aromatic tulip. And my life was never the same.

Master laid me to eternal rest that night, at least she tried. She put a curse on myself and the tulip to bind. Until one day, modern day glaciologists were sent to mine. 

I thawed like dinner meat on a cutting board, ready to be eaten whole. No seasoning, no, they wouldn’t be that sweet to me. Starlight blinded my newborn eyes. It seems I had met my true demise. Creatures so shiny and fake, poked at me with fae sized stake, until no more of it I could take. They peeled back my eyes to try and see inside, poked and probed my insides, filled my body with test highs. What I remember most though, is how easily I could enter their minds.

My dungeon was located in a realm called “Spot 15”. To them, I am merely abnormal, ancient, and to be studied. To the untalented mortal beings, it was year 1953. I was the first of their many discoveries. How lucky, little me. Their thoughts were surface level, so much so I thought it all a jest. Once bound, I carried total awareness of my dear Earth, so I know how much we’ve devolved since the Pyramids. Though I was asleep, I saw it all in my dreams. These pretty flesh things call themselves “Humans”. They study science, and other creatures like me. Ones they deem unnatural, paranormal, extraterrestrial, and otherworldly. 

For decades, myself and my chamber-fellows were the subjects of many telling tests. To that of which, many of their findings just sit. They’ve learned much, yes, but I’ve learned of their greed. They have cures for sicknesses, but they only help a select few in need. They smell of cowardice and dry afterlives. Never truly loving themselves or their wives. In the beginning years only one pretty flesh thing brought my heart a smile. One who upheld feminine energy, and was truly wise. She had empathy, and her peers she despised. Although I shouldn't say peers, they indubitably thought her just the same as I. They treat the feminine forces differently then intended, here on my ruined Earth. They treat her majesty less than, something I’d never before heard. 

Sea like creatures, kept just wet enough. Halfway evolved, closer to monster than human. Like an abyss angel, who suddenly starved for the sun. Chasing their dreams, when they were shot by the slumber gun. Many of my fellow prisoners are aquatic born beings. From the waters of the India oceans to the deep rivers that flow through penny sized islands. Their scales, slime, and white eyes met their match. The fishbowls of lost souls are where they reside. Their siren songs help me sleep at night. Don’t worry, Neptune’s angels, for I’ve heard your cries.

Flea infested, matted, truck-sized dogs, euthanized before letting out their last bark. Captured from the eery depths of the Appalachians. After many “bear” attacks it seems poor mortals hadn’t returned from vacations. Thus, a search was sent out, and my moon howlers were found. Vicious, starved, and ready to bite. These wolfish monsters would put up a fight. They left one alive, as they were too difficult to control. Strong and merciless, I can’t wait to let that dog go.

As for the classic bloodsuckers, they’ve captured a few. Many, however, still reign through — normal society, exceeding its standards. Rich, famous, evil, and sure to cause clamour. They are twisted and dark, masters of manipulation. They enter minds too, yet can’t fully release their temptation. Our abilities are mostly blocked, caused by our kryptonite. But once we are saved, everyone here will die. Pretty flesh things will remain intact, but just in their mind. Forever in hell, bloodsuckers are romantic.

Ethereal extraterrestrial beings who are too pure to be captured. They are above it all and the energy is transferred. Disconnected mind and body. They are the real scientists. Letting these dumbfounded humans run their illegitimate tests. All while they collect data and transmit it to an old friend of mine. Intergalactic energy can leave as it pleases. They had everything on the humans they could have possibly needed within minutes in time, but they wanted to help get revenge for this Earth of mine.

Beyond murderous, intriguing, and intimidating, the true hell-world demons were summoned to get even. Birthed from the cracks of Hades itself, these unsettling paranormal creatures have a dark story to tell. Captured in sealed jars by good witches and priests, their looming evil is like a lustful tease. Tempting wanderers near their quarters to unleash their gnawing desire to feast. My plans for Earth’s vengeance is nowhere near their ploy. I keep my distance and have built mental shields. I know, when the time comes, I must make a deal. 

It has been 72 years since I was imprisoned, and today was just another day of lowly solitude. Unable to remember how grass feels on my skin has had a devastating effect on my mood. How can I protect my Earth, if I don’ t recognize it? Then a grating screech entered my mind like a satellite, and I knew it was time. I walked out of my body like a lucid dream and followed Witch’s evil energy. I descended three floors down this bunker of hell. Passed the living collectors items; weaving in and out of their cells. Until I got to the last floor, and saw her. There was the harsh starlight I wish I could forget from my early years in Spot 15, back when the humans found use in me. Using me and my healing energies to mass-produce trees just to chop them down with greedy glee. 

“What a warm welcoming.” Witch teased, with a slow and wild smile. 

“She speaks!” Scientist 1 exclaimed. (I don’t care to recite their names, they haven’t earned the honor of remembrance and they are all one in the same, anyways.) “So it seems. Interrogation will be pursued. First a series of chiropractic surgeries are due.” Scientist 2 stated. Witch was tangled in knots like an old ship’s rope trying to keep a hefty legacy at bay. Must be the work of an ancient curse or dark magic. Click, click, click. The scientists took their film photos. “You’re not going to allow me to pose?” Witch joked. “Something is really sinister about this one.” The scientists thought, looking at each other and sharing an uncomfortable fear,  “Let’s take this film to the board.” And they were off. They left Witch caged and bound. Her flaked and broken scales shined, like an iridescent crow in the moonlight. “I know you're there.” she cooed. Then she showed me what she’s been through.

Stark roaring winds carried my spirit backwards through the passage of time, to the night I was bound to that sweet tulip. Witch was in her cave, using the bones of a baby ape to pick her teeth. Nothing out of the ordinary. Until she noticed her firepit stopped dancing, and froze entirely. Like a glitch in the matrix. Curious Witch inched closer, her heavy wings dragging on the cave floor like a slow rolling log. Examining the crown-like shape of the unwavering flames; Witch brought her finger up to her chin to think. Suddenly, all around her was a sweet aroma. Like a natural garden flourishing in the rolling fields of The Antarcticas, where she was long since banished. “Tulip, is it?” Witch questioned, a bit puzzled. Then, in the blink of an eye the flames lurched to Witch’s body, like someone blew a kiss from the other side. But, the flames did not set her on fire. Roaring in agony, Witch melted to the ground. Her joints popped like trees struck by lightning, contorting in a morbid manner, until she was rolled up tight into a ball. Right elbow to right heel, left leg tucked behind her head. Her head was folded down to her bellybutton, but her face was propped up by the palm of her left hand. She rolled over what was once her back and her face was angled straight up. Like a crystal ball with a cruel fate, this is where she laid. Counting the cracks that eroded the cave each decade, rolling around in madness on the cold hard ground below her. Not long into her new state, did the boulders of the cave come crashing down. Blocking out the exit, and any hope of escape. 

Enormous rocks crumbling to a descent and being dragged across the ground woke Witch up one day. It was in the season of Autumn, year 2025. Witch wished she could say that the time had flown by. But everyday she died. It was clear a curse had been put on her for all her wrongdoings. The cruelest part about it is that she had to survive. No food, no water, no sunlight. Just the intent behind that magic to ensure her eternal suffering. Why? Why keep Witch alive? Explorers peeled back all the rocks that trapped her in this cave, and gawked at their wicked discovery. They traveled her by plane, thousands of miles away. Witch hadn’t stopped laughing since she reunited with the light of day, and was introduced to the stench of the pretty flesh things. 

I soured back to my body to think, Witches mad laugh haunting me. I paced my pitch-black chambers, wondering how Witch was supposed to help me in her current state. Then I heard an echo in my mind. “Your E.T. friends have brought me awareness. They staged my discovery. Our time is now, little one.” Witch explained. I knew the intergalactic inmates were scheming up a plan to use Witch to release all of us “monsters”. I just didn’t know how or when. Witch reentered my tired mind to say, “You noticed my contortionist act. The aliens informed me that the humans would want to run experiments on my body. But, they can’t do that if I’m tied up in a knot. With every pop of my tangled limbs, one of the prisoner's powers will be released. Do you know how many bones reside in me?” I gulped. Knowing it was enough to unleash the wrath of every experiment in Spot 15. Witch’s skeleton has come to help me.

Hospital bed wheels rolling across the ground of a flickering hallway, leading Witch into the surgery that will bring back what’s rightfully mine. Glancing at the time, it was eleven past nine. How quickly will humanity die? The sound of machines beeping, proving stability in Witch’s broken body served irony. The first pop sounded an alarm, that only the energy of myself and my fellow inmates knew. A bloodsucker was released, and the garlic kryptonite lining their hallways disintegrated. They were free. More alarms sounded, as Witch’s leg was removed from behind her head. I could hear the howl of the vicious dog, followed by a now upbeat siren song. For the first time in ages, I smiled. With a crack of Witch’s neck, I walked out of my pen; body and mind. I felt a pain between my shoulder blades, my wings burst through my back. Only, they weren’t the wings I knew and loved, no, those were clipped when I was brought here. With a glide and pinch of my hand, I felt what could only be a plant. The very one I was bound to when my Master took my fate in her hands. No time to think, another bone blinked. I picked up my speed. Trotting my small legs down the hallway, the dark spirits loomed. The demons are unpredictable, we could all be doomed. The extraterrestrials, who I knew were long gone, sensed my worry, and picked up the path below me. I was teleporting. 

“Emergency. Contain and evacuate the premises immediately. Repeat. Emergency. Contain and Evacuate the premises immediately.” The alarm warned overhead. Flashing red lights across the walls, foreshadowing of what’s to come. Pretty flesh things become not so pretty after they attempt to flee the test rooms. Painting the walls to match the warning flash hues, I’ve never seen ole’ pup so happy. Vampires feasting like they’ve been deprived of their preferred high for decades. I enter Witch’s room. I can tell at this point she’s been adjusted enough that she is tauntingly popping the last joints  remaining by herself. She makes eye contact with me as she serves her last round of tension release between her finger joints. Slowly intertwining her fingers like a stitch, she extends her palms out to me, and POP! She’s free. Her wings fill up the room, and she stands taller than ever. I want to smile with her, but I sense an unfriendly dark spirit, and just like that we’re both trapped again. Rising to the ceilings completely horizontal and face down, we see three blood-like red cloaks slowly enter the operating room. They start spinning in a circle, slow at first. As they speed up, hurricane winds enter the room following their lead. Medical machinery is flying around, clanking against the walls, nearly stabbing me and Witch with every funneling pass. Just as quickly as it starts, it stops. The cloaks drop. There’s nothing underneath them, except for a pool of red blood-like fabric. I suddenly fall into it, as it becomes a portal to the gates of Hell. I’ve felt this dimensional red illuminance on my face before. I open my eyes and the underworld is occurring all around me. A dark shadow with horns, not willing to reveal its full form is standing in front of me. “I want to make a deal!” I shout over the terrifying pleas and horror. The Devil’s head tilts. “You can have this Earth of mine. You can have everything in it that resides. But I want to be the one who causes its demise.” You see, as much as I love this Earth, I cannot let it face the same fate as me and my fellow inmates. Suffering slow deaths at the hands of neanderthals in labcoats over suits. I’d rather myself, Gaia, and my beautiful planet have bittersweet revenge. Tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, wildfires, volcanos, and floods. Natural disasters galore to give mankind a deserving welcome to their new eternity. I felt a hand shake mine, and just like that I was atop the hospital bed. 

Witch dropped from the ceiling, surprisingly catching herself before landing face first. She looked at me in disdain, and knew the deal I made. The sound of terror was going on around us. Screaming scientists being dismembered and mentally toyed with for sport, but it was like we were the only two people in the world. We shared a similar fate, but we’ve always had different morals. Yet, it seems I am the selfish one now. I want the world to swallow everything and everyone whole, just as Witch used to with my precious apes. Witch lunged at me with the fuel of hate, but in that instance I ascended. I flew up, hands spread wide, head tilted up to the sky, my wings were brought back to life. I gasped for air at this moment and realized my Master, Mother Nature, never left my side. The plant in my back was the same tulip I was bound to, but suddenly I knew. It wasn’t just a tulip, Mother Nature bound herself to that flower, to me. She wanted to be in charge of Earth’s history, and ensure the end was in Divine timing. I ascended above Spot 15. It was in a dry, hidden area of valleys and desert. A tear left my eye, and once it landed, a sand storm swooped by. Destroying everything. Flying higher, I scanned the horizons of my dear Earth. Lightning strikes, giant cracks in the ground, lava, smoke, and heavy winds erupted in my line of vision. This is the end of Gaia’s mission. I took charge of my prevision. 

“In a world where man could have been anything, they chose to be unkind. So it’s only fair that I took back what was rightfully mine.” Gaia whispered with her last breath.

THE END