One Earth, One Home.

To mark my century of stories, I wanted to do something a little bit special. Something that would touch the hearts of everyone who reads and hopeful inspire them to do something wonderful.

This story is a picture prompt for the World globe image, credited to Happy Colour. It was written for the Light Motif’s II, Thursday Inspiration – 67 I hope love it.

One Earth, One Home

I place my palm on the globe upon the desk. With a graceful flick, I set the shiny thing spinning east to west. The Pacific and Atlantic oceans make the earthly ball appear sky-blue. I love my geography but the continents, countries and tiny islands are lost to me. With no money, my travel dreams come with no prospects. The problem is worse than my finances. You see, my time – your time to – is very short.

As I slip onto the couch and watch tv, I’m reminded with almost every show how little time remains. I see gold miners destroying the land, poisoning the rainforests in search of gold. Humans have vaults full of the stuff; do we really need to destroy the world for more? Then comes the loggers, chopping down trees without a care in the world. They cause many animals to lose their homes; to become extinct as their ecosystems are lost forever. Sure, we need wood, but let’s harvest it responsibly.

I find a second channel showing a heart-warming show about families with a dozen kids. It makes me cringe and turns my heart icy cold. None of them will reach thirty at the rate the worlds declining. Our population is already too big, our need to eat will see us murder every last creature on Earth – then we’ll be extinct too.

Sighing, I change the channel once more. Evil poachers and vile game hunters are shooting defenceless animals for greed and fun. I can’t stand it and move on.

Another programme comes on. I shed a tear for the crocodile with the tyre stuck around its neck. There’s rivers of trash and a fish who died with its stomach filled with single-use microplastic from the millions of tons in the oceans. Oh yes, we’re eating and being poisoned by plastic every day as a result too. Will you stop using plastic soon – I hope you will.

Surely, we can live in a cleaner, healthier way. We don’t need to use plastic at all. We don’t need a new phone every couple of months. The coltan for the phone you’re holding is mined by killing the Congo rainforest by the way. We can reuse and repair almost anything if we just think of the Earth first.

We do need to change or death will become us all.

Having had my fill of the human destruction of our poor planet, I turn off the TV and step into the garden. The golden sunlight causes me to smile as I gaze upon my flower beds. It’s still late spring but I have vibrant red tulips among lemon-yellow daffodils. Many a crocus, a bluebell or two. Kneeling on the lawn, I scoop my hand through the earth and come up with a seedling, a mere stem and two leaves. It alone brings a grin, it’s alive and bringing hope. So, long as plants still grow and the world’s creature can be born; Earth can still survive.

That’s why this afternoon, I’m on the picket line. I’ll take my seedling with me and use it to shine a little hope upon us all.

To one and all, it’s time to listen to Earth and its cry for help. Your planned pregnancy, a new mobile phone, a new job, or dream home will mean nothing if Earth becomes barren and dead. No! Don’t turn your head, go out into the garden or park and surround yourself in nature. Breath in the fresh air and then let’s come together and save the planet as one. Plant flowers for the birds and bees. Select organic and plastic-free at the supermarket and only buy what you need.  

This isn’t about skin colour, religion, money or power. It’s about life, we have but one planet to live on. Let’s end the hate, the greed, the wars and the unnecessary destruction of nature. Let’s fill our world with love, give it a hug, and heal it together – once and for all.

The End

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Thanks for reading my friends. As always there are more stories to be enjoyed (I hope) in the Short Stories tab.

Have a great day!

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