Legend of the First
When mother earth was still very small, the sun watched over her adolescence. The moon became enamored with her. The sun, being very protective, did not approve of this little rock courting her charge. Though she found him charming, once he began circling her little world, the sun was sure that he would speed off to orbit other planets at any moment.
The longer he stayed, the closer the moon snuck to the earth while her guardian wasn’t looking. Little Terra, this was the earth’s name, became enamored with Luna, the moon. They came to be on first name terms, each dancing in the other’s gravitational fields. So drawn to him was she that her oceans reached out to him. Luna played with them, creating the tides that stirred the waters.
Seeing this, the sun relented, taking a shine to her ward’s new love. She blessed their union with her warmth. The beaming smile warmed the little world and made Luna shine with happiness. Terra soon swelled up with pride and life.
In the waters, so warmed by the blessings of the sun, and stirred by the love of the moon sparked the first-born. They were the triplets, Man, Beast, and Plant. Man walked from the ocean to live on land. Beast and Plant could not decide which was right for them. They split in half to become Fish and Animal, Reed and Tree. Reed and Fish bid Man, Animal, and Tree farewell, returning to the oceans to live.
Though for the company of Tree and Animal, Man did not feel fair, remaining whole, so he, too, split in half. However, his other half did not wish to return to the sea. So, Woman stayed near.
Man and Tree sustained each other. Animal helped to protect him. The sun loved the beauty of the Tree, and shone to help it grow. It glowed with pretty flowers for her. Fish and Reed sustained each other, too. Luna loved how they shimmered and continued to stir the tides to keep them happy.
Time passed more quickly on the surface of the earth than it did for Luna and the sun. The young mother grew sad at the aging of her children, knowing they would die. Terra’s tears brought rain to the lands, washing the flowers of Tree into the waters to visit Reed.
Reed had grown roots in the ocean as Tree had on land. She, too, had flowers, and asked Fish to bring them to Tree for her. Fish saw Woman bathing near the shore, and bid her bring the flowers to Tree. They were too many for Woman to carry alone, so she asked Man and Animal to help her.
As they carried the blooms, Animal had to sneeze, scattering petals and pollen all over Tree who was so happy that Reed remembered him that he asked Terra to stop crying for, though he and Reed would soon be gone, they both bore fruit to take their places. She would not be alone.
Terra smiled again, making the sun beam with love, and Luna shine with pride when she told them what Tree had promised. Fish and Animal looked at each other through the refraction of the water and sighed. There was nothing they could do that would work like Tree and Reed. Man and Woman watched Fish and Animal age. Mother grew sad for them, and the rains began in earnest, this time threatening to cover everything.
Tree felt his time grow short, and bid Man cut him down, but save the fruit, for Reed’s children would need mates. From Tree, Man, Animal and Woman made a boat to float while Terra cried her fill for the end of Tree’s life and the plight of her remaining children. They drifted with the fruit of Tree until Luna and the sun were able to comfort the young world enough so she would stop weeping.
Meanwhile Fish had been very busy, digging trenches and holes, trying to help the waters recede so that his friends would survive, but the exertion took its toll on the old creature. The land that surfaced now sported rivers and lakes for Fish’s work, but Man, Woman, and Animal were too late to save their friend. Exhausted, he told Woman to cut him to pieces. She was to feed half to Animal, and Man should bury the rest in the ground with one of Tree’s fruit.
Man and Woman’s love for each other grew through the grief of this difficult task. Soon Animal and Woman, both, grew heavy. Animal bore two each of fish and animal, as though they had each split like Man and Woman to continue, as they had done. Two new trees began to grow, as well as new reeds in the oceans. Each of the young world’s children now had descendants in two halves like Man and Woman had been to bear fruit that would grow into the next generation so Mother Earth would not be so sad.
Terra still cried at times, remembering the pains Fish and Tree had endured to preserve Man, Woman, Animal, and their own future generations. When she wept, the memories of those left behind were also stirred. Animal sang a song to Luna to alert him to his mate’s mood, so he would comfort her again.
There would be nothing more to alert him when Animal died of old age. The young ones were not loud enough and none could sing as well as their ancestor. Before the final howl was heard, the creature bid Man and Woman to help.
Man still had a branch that he could not bear to part with from Tree’s final act. He fashioned an instrument. Aged Reed contributed her body to fill in when the wood ran out. Woman still held the bones and shimmering scales of fish. She used these to decorate and add more to Man’s work. Then Animal gave it guts with its last, dying song. Woman cut her hair in mourning to make it complete.
Mother Earth started crying, threatening to drown the animals, people, and trees. Luna had his back turned, chatting with the sun who did not see the state of her child. The moon was inadvertently blocking her vision.
The world, alone, in darkness, grieved for Animal. Rivers overflowed. The waters rose, leaving one small, slowly disappearing island where Animal’s body was burned by Woman to release the spirit, and nourish the trees. Man picked up the instrument and split the night with the melancholy sound of Violin – the product of Fish, Tree, Reed, Animal, and Woman.
The sound first made Mother cry harder, but the melody and Woman’s accompanying dance persuaded her to dream the sweet dreams where her first children all sang to her. The visions in her mind were so real that they burned images into the dark sky. Luna watched in wonder as little stars appeared - tears of Terra, crystallized into the stories of her dreams.
Woman’s long life was serenaded to its end by the song as she finally collapsed of exhaustion. Her children buried her at the site where Tree had once stood with the last of the original fruit. Man fell to his knees in grief and bid his offspring to dance and play, always with the love of the Mother in mind, for every one of her first children had given their all to be a part of her happiness. He, too died, and was buried next to Woman where a new sapling was already sprouting in the shape of a dance.
They had watched him play as they had watched her move. The people had learned music from them. The stories of the Mother’s first children who depended on each other to survive and thrive are still heard from the instruments of their descendants, though these no longer remember why they play.
Terra sleeps now. She dreams sweet dreams while Luna looks on, watching the stars. There is no rain. The grandchildren of Reed and Fish are worried. The animals and trees no longer speak with the people who forgot how to listen.
Every so often there is one who hears the stories in the music. Many can sing, but not all bring forth the soul of the First. Mother will only wake to the sound of Violin. It will take everyone to search, for not even Luna knows where to find her now.