I Remember

The young girl stares upwards, turning her eyes to the stars. The only thing is, there are no stars. There remains only the everlasting feel of dark, darkness, and eternity. And still the girl is content, or at least as content as one can get without having witnessed the true beauty of the galaxy. Her gaze shifts to the side, but is met with rock. Rock as black as midnight, so starless it blends with the starless canvas of the sky. She sees nothing in the rocks, and still she is satisfied. At last she glances down at her own feet, and wonders why they, unlike the darkness surrounding her, are light.

She wanders, and wanders, until finally she stumbles across an old man, so frail as he leans against the rock. His gaze meets hers, and she sees that his eyes are full of tales so ancient, with wisdom and despair and joy and misery. They are mesmerizing, and suddenly she knows that he'll be able to answer her question in a way that will fill her with contentment, and nothing more.

"Old man, tell me why my feet are so light?"

The old man simply smiles, admiring her curiosity, perhaps pleased he would have someone to pass down his stories.

"Would you like to know that, and nothing more? Or would you like to hear the truth?"

The girl hesitates. Had she ever been lied to? Certainly not! But against every instinct in her tiny body screaming at her to turn away, she says,

"Tell me the truth, please."

The truth, as it turns out, starts with a memory. Memories of creatures foreign to the girl, with fur that covered their entire bodies, creatures that sprouted ears and tails, fins and wings and beaks. Colors the girl had never appreciated, sounds she'd never heard, sights she'd never seen, and would never see in her lifetime. All the while, she listens in amazement, eyes opened wide, her heart taking everything in and grasping onto these stories. No, not stories. Memories.

"I remember a world more vibrant than the one we exist in today. I remember when the dogs and cats, fish and birds, still lived. I remember a world before we stripped everything away -- the trees, the sky, the ground. Our humanity."

The little girl, having heard the wonderful memories from the old man, feels a surge of emotions she had never felt before. She is overwhelmed with regret, and with despair. She feels something trail down the sides of her cheeks. When she reaches up to touch it, her hand comes back damp with... She doesn't know what it is, but it is strangely comforting.

"Those are your tears," the old man says gently. "I have not seen them in such a while, I had almost forgotten they existed. Thankyou for reminding me."

And with that tears sprout from his eyes as well, pouring down in a steady trail.

This is hardly what the young girl wanted. She came hoping to leave fulfilled, but instead she is more confused than when she first came.

"I want to see those creatures too!" She cries.

The old man sighs. "Me too, young one. Me too."

*As you probably are well aware, everything above is a work of fiction. None of it is real, fortunately, but it might as well be if humanity continues down the path it is going down now. I mean, come on! Polar bears are endangered! Can you believe that in a few decades, all of the species that you've taken for granted will be gone? Never to be seen again? I can't. The question is, what will you do about it?