Page 144 - Dark Matter:Women Witnessing Issue2

Again his resonant voice echoes through the surrounding forest. “See now what will come.”

He opens his great mouth in a mighty roar and fire pours out; flames spread across the earth destroying

forests, homes, people and animals. A second blast of his voice and a fierce wind births tornadoes and

hurricanes that spin across the land, shattering everything in their path. The griffin calls out a third time

and great floods sweep away whole towns and their inhabitants. With his last roar, stones roll from his

huge mouth, and avalanches, earthquakes, and volcanoes crush and bury everything around them.

I am shocked by these violent, deadly scenes and cry out, “ Is there nothing we can do to stop this

future from coming?”

“No.”

Grief-­‐stricken, I struggle inwardly, searching my own mind for some way these disasters can still be

prevented. “Shall I speak of this to others, warn them, so that perhaps the humans will change?” I

suggest hopefully.

“Not yet. They need to learn the consequences of their actions first.”

Distraught, I plead one last time for a reprieve.

“Is there nothing to be done by the humans that can alter this fate?”

“If the humans were to cry tears of compassion, for the earth, for all the beings they have harmed, for

themselves in their foolishness, these tears would replenish and heal the waters.”

But humans would not cry such tears yet, I believed, for we were still too arrogant, too greedy, too

ignorant of the full consequences of our behavior. My own tears surged now. Broken-­‐hearted, angry

that our reckless, thoughtless human ways had led us to this place, I watched as the griffin

disappeared, his grey smoke form turning to black ash, a dark snow drifting down to the hard, dry land.