Freedom, Sunshine, and a Little Flower

by angerbda

"Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

—Hans Christian Andersen

I was following my prey, silently and stealthily. These days, I had to revert to my primal nature, to hunt with what mother Earth gave me at birth. It wasn't too bad anyway. I found ways to protect myself against the claws and fangs from the beast. Though, even if mother Earth didn't give me weapons when I came to be, I had been able to pull out a makeshift weapon with some stout stick and sharp stone.

My prey sprinted, going deeper inside the forest, in direction to the thick center where the sun barely shined. I had to stop it before it could go near our place, our village. I was part of the vigilante that was put up recently after the outbreak of mutation. Everything was changing, plants, animals... Nature itself. It was a fact that Human nature wouldn't accept the changes easily, wouldn't welcome other sentient beings, even more knowing they came from lower in the food chain. Man thought for a long time he was the chosen species, the sacred son of Earth. But our Mother decided differently. Now we all had to fend for ourselves, in all aspects of everyday life.

For a time being, it was hip for a teenage girl to date a Lupus or for a college football team to get some Bulls in their defense line... but all this was acceptable until the balance tipped and the mighty Man wasn't anymore featuring at the top of the food chain. Therefore, I was hunting; to maintain the balance; and to protect.

The runaway was getting near the side of the lake. I knew in this part used to live a brown bear. Well, hopefully Master Bear would frightened it and would throw it on a way farther apart from the inner village.

As expected, I heard a frightened scream. I slowed down to avoid making noise and got closer to the origin of the scream. The prey was petrified, standing there shivering so much its body was almost undulating.

I shifted my eyes to the beast in front of it. I understood the fright, the scream. I almost screamed, myself. Master Bear used to be a gruff and intimidating beast, but the reason for scaring my prey so much was another sort of beast, one unseen so far. I couldn't tell if it was an evolved bear or a mutant raccoon. I just knew I didn't want to stay too much in its vicinity.

A rumbling water sound from the nearby lake broke the trance like atmosphere, the beast turning its head in the direction of the noise while the petrified one got its wit back and flew in the opposite direction.

I didn't follow directly as the activity in the water intrigued me. I didn't know of a fish that would make this kind of noise. I took a prudent step closer to the shore, still hiding in the tree line, and observed a moment.

Tracking back my prey, I thought about the water creature I saw earlier. I would need to ask the Sage back in the village whether iridescent rainbow colored scales were a common thing or not, and if he ever heard about humans living underwater.

The prey was now heading to the old city. I didn't understand this choice of direction, but I could imagine it would feel some modicum of security in the wilderness of the former civilization. There were probably a bunch of reproved mutants hiding in the crumbled walls.

I stayed a few paces behind, well hidden, ensuring that it would remain on its path to the ruins. Once I was sure it wouldn't come back to the forest, I let it be, getting on my journey back to the village.

On my way, I mused about the changes of Mother Nature. She hadn't been clement for humans and animals. Modifying here and there, adding a bit, removing some more... sure, she had been helped by Man, as he played God and tried to adapt his surroundings to his needs, creating unstoppable changes.

I suspected laboratories were still active in some of the city areas, where the walls remained standing and protected from the beast from the forest. It wasn't a peaceful place. We saw more and more bipeds seeking refuge among the trees, those centennial, millennial gentlemen that gave us a haven under the protection of their gnarled branches.

As I was approaching my home place, I took extra precautions to ensure no one was following me. Once satisfied, all was clear, I entered the area, my eyes taking in the sight as it always was the case when I came back home. I was glad I didn't have to take extreme measures to ensure our peace to remain... I needed to give my report to the Old Guard, the Sage and the others usually managing the destiny of our small group.

I was about to knock on the door when I heard some shouts and laughs. The young ones were free to roam the place as there was no much threat at the moment. They were free, and enjoyed the sunshine and the beauty of Mother Nature. They were young and playful, not yet tainted by the World and the Mutation. They were pure and unchanged. I longed for the time I also used to be able to roam the place, happily eating the fruits I could find in the forest. I used to be the fastest on my hind legs, I was still, my ears were sharp and I could still hear as far as 3 miles away.

Shaking away my memories, I proceeded to give my report. I had followed a biped most of the day around the forest. The men from the old city were looking for something in our forest...