Creation in Spite

The sun rose and wrapped the coastline in a warm embrace. Bands of tourists soon swarmed the white powder shores and left scattered wrappers and bottles in their wake. As the tide came in, the waves brought in empty shells and the sandblasted remains of visitors past. The earth takes and it gives.

A young couple with a drink in one hand and their daughter’s hands in the other stumbled along the beach as the early waves bubbled at their ankles. The girl dropped her ice cream wrapper into the hungry waters and they consumed the forgotten debris before curiosity had a chance to pull her gaze back.

The remains of the cherry ice pop melted into the earth, who had finally taken her fill. The waters had already run red from the unseasonal algae blooms and the hazardous spill just off the coast that needlessly stole the lives of thousands of fish. The dolphins were running out of food as the earth ran out of patience. The suburbs were turning into oceanfront property over the years of rising tides.

The bubbles turned from gentle sea foam to angry, boiling waters. She had been dormant for thousands of years and would soon have nothing left to give. With one last cry, she erupted and bathed the town in a shower of lava. The great mountain along the coast exploded, leveling itself and the population below it in the process. The earth had taken enough and had to replenish herself. The town died in agony as the earth soothed her scorching embers in the warm waters.

The new earth formed with each fiery drop and exhausted cry. The red sun rose on the new coast, built on the bodies of those who had taken from it throughout time.

With all she had left, she brought rock to life and life to ashes. She would never be the same, but the blue waters would soon return along with the dolphins chasing their prey. She had won the battle and paused this tiring war. It was time for her to rest now, hopefully this time — if they finally paid attention — an eternal slumber. The earth took and she gave.