Tectonic shoulder blades scrape against each other and send shockwaves through the limestone, the gravel, and then the dirt on the plains. The earth begins to hum.
Birds stop warbling their songs and fly up from their nests. The ears of every mammal, reptile, and amphibian on the plains prick up. The air is tense with an anticipation of something great to come.
Subsurface magma geysers well up from deep underground. Ten foot tall waves of magma cascade onto the surface, flooding cave systems and scorching forests. Elephants roar and run around in a frenzy. Woodland critters burrow into the ground. Birds watch the chaos from above. The Earth is on fire.
Dark smoke rises from the forest canopy and tints the sky black for miles. Wildflowers, great redwoods, willows that rival time in age all burn. Crackling is heard from every corner of the continent. The Earth is on fire and firemen are not around to help yet.
The sun sets as the inferno dances in the wind from tree to tree, scorching everything in its path. The night is cold and bitter. Wolves leave their caves in packs to howl where the moon should be, but the wind howls back louder. Branches and trees safe from the fire sway back and forth in dire efforts to resist the strong gales of wind and hold onto the Earth. Animals that aren’t swept up hide in their burrows, caves, nests, and peek out, waiting for whatever is happening to end.
Dark storm clouds roll in on the sky. Tall purple thunderheads dripping with rain. There hasn’t been rain like this for years, centuries. The Earth drinks. Fires are extinguished. Rivers form in the cracks, cracks turn into canyons, and canyons turn into oceans. Lightning digs down into the earth and ruptures it, connecting old rivers and forging new ones. The rivers flow all the way inland into deserts and arid clearings, places which haven’t seen a drop of rain in years.
The rain calms down to a gentle pour as animals leave their shelters and gauge the damage. But there is one final crack of lightning, the biggest, loudest one yet. And it splits the continent clean. And as the landmasses float away from each other each animal acknowledges one thing: things will never be the same again. And they are okay with that.
change and facing it together. to me this is what love is.