Mother Nature takes a break CHAPTER ONE
Mother Nature takes a break CHAPTER ONE
Nancy sat staring at her reflection in the mirror . The years had ravaged her once lovely features . An old woman stared back at her from the gilt framed oval on the dresser . How many times over the years had she sat at this dark wooden , hand carved piece of furniture ? With its rounded edges and silver handles , the dresser covered in crystal bottles and proudly centered her silver backed hair brush . One hundred strokes a night for centuries .
Given that she was millennia old , she shouldn ' t ’ t have been surprised at the change in her appearance . She wondered when this transformation had occurred ; it had crept up so slowly , the change from young Nancy Nature to Old Mother Nature .
“ I ’ ve had enough ,” she said sadly to her reflection . “ I ’ m so tired .”
Her hair , once shiny and free flowing was now a dull grey and lack luster , tied in a ridiculous bun at the back of her head . Dark circles and bags under her eyes combined with a sallow complexion made her look ill . The lines on her face were deeper than the Grand Canyon .
“ Frown lines ,” she thought , “ worry lines because the world has changed so much , so quickly and I can ’ t keep up .”
Changing seasons every three months had taken its toll on this normally strong woman . Global warming and the associated problem of climatic change were causing a shift in the natural flow of the seasons .
Changing seasons was bad enough , but each had to be changed at different times . If the northern hemisphere was in summer she had to remember to change the southern hemisphere to winter . It was the same with spring and autumn and then in reverse , in three monthly cycles , year after year . It was a tedious , convoluted and archaic system but Mother Nature didn ' t know any way to fix it .
No one on earth was happy , no matter what the season .
“ Make it rain ,” they would chant . “ Now make it stop ,” they cried . “ Its too hot , too cold .”
They would grumble and complain until Mother Nature had earache . “ What ' s the point ?”, she wondered , and speculated over what humans would do if the she just took a break and didn ' t bother changing the weather for a year or two . That would really give them cause for complaint . Although to be fair the way things had been for the last few years the seasons were out of synch and in some places hadn ’ t really altered much every three months . One season seemed to blend into the next .
But how to take a break ? That was the problem . She visited all the sprites and asked them if they wanted to take over for a while .
“ No ! Mother Nature we are too busy ,” they replied . “ We have to strip and redress the trees every season . We have to make sure the leaves turn red , yellow , and orange in autumn and in spring help bring forth new buds . We have a lot of new staff here that need training . Dougal , the apprentice , denuded all the evergreens in Tasmania last summer .”
Next Mother Nature asked the Springers if they would take over for her .
“ No Mother Nature !“ they replied . “ We have to make sure all the seeds and bulbs flower at the right time .”
“ Yes I understand but you Springers only work short shifts each cycle ,” complained Mother Nature .
“ Well !” huffed the Springers ,” In our off season we ’ re not just sitting around you know . We have to train a lot of new staff . Last year we had spring flowers in winter because the new apprentices weren ' t sure what season it was .”
Mother Nature snorted .
“ Last winter was rather warm you know ,” the Head Springer sneered .
20