Mother Nature

I wrote this cool little short story on Saturday. I had the first idea in the morning, drafted it out on paper during the day and then typed it up that night. It's called 'Mother Nature'. I wrote it because it deals with an issue that seems to afflict me a lot. I have very high standards of how I conduct myself and because of that, I also have high standards of other people. I find that often I set the bar too high and I need to remind myself that no one is perfect. People won't always do what I think they should be doing.

"Mother Nature"

Today I’m not feeling very happy. I have a special friend that I go see when I’m not happy. She has the most beautiful home in the world. Sometimes she’s too busy to give me the best advice, she always listens. I feel bad that I only go see her when I’m not happy, but I know she understands. I’m going to go see her today. I hope she has time to give me advice.

It doesn’t take me very long to walk to her home because she is pretty much my neighbour. I have the path memorised for myself, but I’ll describe it to you because you may need her help one day. She is a very good listener. I’m sure she’d listen to you too. I walk out my back door and follow the brown dirt path until it hits a little river. The river is very little, so I call it Little River. Here I always stop for a second to look at the little fish in Little River. Some days they seem to stop and say ‘hi!’ to me, some days they don’t. Oh well. I then follow the river north for what feels like aeons and where a big branch has fallen across the river, I cross. I walk straight ahead from here and then I need to push my way through some little Angry Shrubs. The Angry Shrubs seem to have made it their life’s mission to keep my special friend and I apart because they seem to get bigger and more annoying every time I come here. Oh well. Once I have forced my way past the Angry Shrubs, the forest finishes and there is a little cliff face looking out over a gigantic grassy plain. I call it Baby Cliff because one day I hope it grows up into the big cliffs I see on the TV sometimes. This is my special friend’s home. It is such a beautiful place.

In the late afternoons the setting sun casts it’s red glow over my special friends’ home and I always panic for a second. I think everything is on fire! My special friends home is on fire! Then I realise that is stupid and I should be grateful: the sun is just being a little artist and painting a beautiful picture for my special friend and I to enjoy. Oh yes, I almost forgot to introduce you to myself special friend. Her name is Mother Nature. She is everywhere here. She is a very good listener.

I sit down, hanging my legs over Baby Cliff. It is mid afternoon and the world is silent, even the wind and the animals seem to have gone on vacation somewhere. My special friend and I have her whole home to ourselves. Now feels like the perfect time for me to speak.

“Mother Nature, today I am upset because I feel like everyone always lets me down. It is a constant source of grief in my life. I just can’t be happy with the people around me because they always seem to let me down. I just don’t like how they act sometimes. I don’t feel they live up to the standards I expect of them.”, I paused for a second to collect my thoughts. I wanted to be careful. I don’t like to cry in front of my special friend.

“My parents tell me to not swear and I try my best not to because I know it’s wrong but then I hear them swearing and while I do really love them, I still feel let down. I know it’s wrong to chuck a wobbly to get your way but then I see my older sister yell and scream at mum and dad to get what she wants and while she’s great most of the time, I still feel let down. My best friend John always lies to his parents saying he’s coming over to study, when all we do is kick the soccer ball. It’s really fun, but I know being sincere is important, so I feel let down.”, I paused again for a second. I was starting to sniffle. That meant I’d cry soon. I had to be careful. I continued:

“I met this girl named Sally at school. I used to think she was really cool. The other day she showed me this thing called a ‘lighter’. It made flames. I thought it was so cool. I asked her where she got it because I wanted one too. She said she stole it off her parents. I know stealing is very wrong so I felt let down. The next day I told her we couldn’t be friends anymore. She didn’t seem to understand why.”, this time I needed to stop for ages, I felt a single tear roll down my cheek and disappear. I felt bad that my special friend had to see me this way. I try to be strong, but sometimes I struggle when I’m emotional. I wasn’t finished talking to her, so I had to take a couple of deep breaths and continue:

“What is wrong with me Mother Nature? I have made everyone in my life a let down to me. I don’t think it’s them, I think it’s me. Are my standards too high? Am I meant to feel let down all the time? Is that just the way life is?”, I was starting to cry too much, I was finished.

The moment I stopped speaking, I closed my eyes and started to breathe softly. I was trying to become one with my special friend’s home. I hoped it would make her think I was worthy of a reply. I do this every time I finish speaking to her. Deep down, while she is my special friend, I didn’t think she’d have time for such trivial matters today.

Just as I was about to open my eyes and head home, I felt the wind start to pick up around me. I let the whooshes and swishes of the wind float into my body through my ears and start to tickle my soul. I could faintly hear something foreign in the wind, for the first time in my life, my special friend had decided to speak to me.

Her voice sounded like a beautiful choir playing far enough away that I could just make out their lyrics if I tried my hardest to focus. “Yes and no my little friend,” she whispered into my ear. “Any human being able to survive this world without being let down is would be a very lucky human being indeed. You are forgetting one important detail here: That every human being is just that, a human being. No one is perfect my little friend. You must teach yourself how to embrace them as they are…”