KALIKASAN

Story by Manoel Johann Ces



Once upon a long, long time ago when the jungles were young and the rivers have just started to flow down the mountains, there lived a Great Mother. She was known all over the land as Kalikasan.

She took care of all that God has created. When the first bird flew down from the sky, she taught it how to sing.

When the fishes swam out from the depths of the ocean, she taught them how to make beautiful houses from corals.

When the cheetah emerged from the wilderness, she taught it how to run like the wind.

Then God made His most beautiful creation of all, Man.

Because Man was God’s most beloved of his creations, Kalikasan held him most dear of all.

She taught him how to sing melodiously like the birds.

She taught him how to swim like the fishes of the sea.

She taught him how to run like the cheetah.

Time passed and Man became too intelligent and powerful. The world was suddenly not to his own liking and he decided to change it to suit his desires.

He built factories so he could make everything he wanted.

He made cars so he could travel anywhere he liked.

He burned forests so he could have more land.

He threw his trash in the rivers so his house would be clean.

With all of his successes, Man soon forgot about Kalikasan.

Kalikasan watched from a distance as Man ravaged nature. She also got hurt and every once in a while she would make him feel how hurt she was.

She would bring forth rain for days until the rivers overflowed and flooded the towns.

Or she would call off the rain for months until all the farmlands were dry and Man began to starve.

She would let the earth rumble and volcanoes erupt to remind him how vulnerable he was on the ground he was standing on.

But Man still kept on hurting her. He built more factories and found new ways to pollute the air and water.

He burned more trees for the new factories he built.

He hunted animals, not for food, but just for the fun of it.

Whenever Man tore down a jungle, Kalikasan would move to the next one. Soon she and the animals were running out of forests and jungles to live in.

“All of the animals that I love will soon die,” she said. “I must do something about it.”

Kalikasan turned to God for help. “Come live with me in my Kingdom,” God said to Kalikasan. “Earth is dying, and unless Man mends his wicked ways, he will die, too.”

Just like any real mother, Kalikasan left Man all that he would need to go on living. She let the rivers keep on flowing so he can have water to drink.

She left the best fishes in the ocean so he can have something nourishing to eat.

She let the trees go on growing so he can have fruits and shade whenever he needed them.

Then it was time for her to go. So to the heavens Kalikasan flew. She brought with her all the animals in her care. She looked down and whispered sadly, “How I wish we could have lived in harmony.”

And Man was left all alone and the world for him to make or break.


The End