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She was photographing the trees, when a woman walked out of the forest and smiled at her. "Hiking?" she asked.
"Yes. Hiking. Sorry if I disturbed you, I didn't know anyone else was here."
"I'm always here," said the woman, kindly. "I live here. Actually, I live everywhere."
"You live everywhere?"
"I'm Mother Nature. Everywhere is my home. Everything is a child of mine."
"Wow. Great job," she said, looking around. "This place is beautiful."
"Thank you. I'm rather fond of it myself."
"You should be. Maybe you could teach me how to mix colors, so I can get the many shades of green that you get."
"Maybe. But be warned, I don't have a recipe for any of them."
"You just make things up as you go along?"
"I do."
"Cool. Did you make me?"
"Of course, I made you. I made everything."
"Do you have a regular name? Do people call you Mother for short?"
"Mother Nature is my name. No one calls me Mother. It sounds silly."
She nodded. "I see you point."
"I'm glad."
"Are you immortal?"
"I'm eternal."
"Good answer," she said.
"Thank you."
"Are you everywhere right now, or are you just here, talking to me."
"I'm everywhere right now. I am always everywhere."
"That must give you a lot to think about."
"You have no idea."
"Do you ever talk to Demeter? I mean, I'm always hoping to meet her, when I'm deep in the woods. I want to tell her that Persephone will be fine. I don't like to think of her raging here and there, her heart broken, her hair and cape tangled with leaves and twigs. She misses her daughter. I want to help her."
"She's fine. She gets Persephone for six months of the year, so it's not a bad deal. Once she beat up Mercury, she felt a lot better."
"And Hades?"
He kidnapped Persephone, so he's evil. But Pers loves his dogs and they love her. I think if push came to shove they'd attack him for her. And never fear. One day, Demeter will get her revenge."
"I don't know why people think revenge is a bad thing. I look at it as a balancing of the scales. I feel that one is doing the bad guys a favor, by helping them learn what it feels like to have whatever they've done to others, done to them."
"I agree. Look what the humans are doing to my work of art."
"I'm so sorry about that."
"I'm sure you are but that's not going to stop the destruction. I suppose I could kill all of you and just end it. My other children would flourish, if you were gone."
"I wish I could argue that point."
"You can't. Don't even try."
"You're so beautiful."
"Nature is beautiful. I am Nature."
"Do you do all of this yourself, or does someone help you?"
"I work alone."
"I was going to offer my services."
"What could you possibly do?"
"Uh. Nothing, I guess."
"My point exactly. And FYI, there is a rather large brown bear moving toward you at what some might say is quiet a brisk pace."
She turned around and looked. "Can you stop him?"
"I made him. Of course, I can stop him. But if he attacks you, it would be the natural order of things."
"Don't care about the natural order, at the moment. Don't want to die. Stop him, please."
"Fine," said Mother Nature. "Cuddle Dumpling, please stop running at the fragile human. If you're a very good boy, perhaps she'll pet you and give you part of her lunch."
The bear stopped and looked at Mother Nature. Then he looked at the person, who was holding out half of a cheese sandwich. He let out a tiny roar. A roar so soft it sounded more like a question. He shook his head, lumbered toward the sandwich, and sat down.
"He wants you to pet him."
"Cuddle Dumpling?" she asked.
"Who else would I be talking about?. Be gentle, he's a very sweet bear."
"To you, maybe."
"Yes. He's a very sweet bear, to me."
"Can you tell me why life is the way it is?"
"Yes."
She waited.
"Oh," said Mother Nature. "You want me to tell you now?"
"Yes, please."
"Humans are simply pawns in an on going game played by others."
"Others?"
"Yes, dear. Those who can actually think and move around the universes. Those who are not attached to a rock. A rock, I might add, that I try to make look lovely for the benefit of your entire species. Even though you all act like destructive two-year olds."
"Are you saying none of this is real?"
"Seriously?" said Mother Nature. "Real? In what way, do you think any part of this place is real?"
"Seems real."
"Let me help you understand. Can you see yesterday? Can you see two minutes ago? Can you see what's going to happen five minutes from now? Can you step into the past or the future? I'm asking if you can actually see, or touch, the past, or the future?"
"No. No one can do those things."
"That's because the past and the future don't actually exist. Your species talks about living in the moment. I'd like to see any of you live anywhere but in the moment. Where exactly would that non moment be? Oh, I know you believe that by thinking of the past you're living in it, but even you have to know that's ridiculous. Your entire avatar is right here, in whatever moment it is. The only thing that does exist, IS the moment. You are always living in the moment. It's just a game, after all. A game played at your expense."
The bear was leaning against her, sighing with delight at the scratches he was receiving.
"Avatar?"
"Don't be naive. What do you think you are?"
"So, this bear isn't real?"
The bear disappeared.
"How did you do that?"
The forest disappeared and there was nothing around her but gray mist.
"I don't understand."
"Oh, darling. I'm one of the major players. Of course you don't understand."
Photo: Unsplash in collaboration with Joshua Earle
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