Fiction
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Our Worst Enemies
Kevin Liu
Our Worst Enemies
By Kevin Liu
Humans were created to live in harmony with the Earth. They were supposed to be great protectors of all flora and fauna. And even if they took something, they should have tried their hardest to give it back. But the reality was that they asked for more and more without giving anything back.
In the mountains, they tunneled, like ants in an anthill. In the valleys, they cut down swathes of trees to build their cities. The plains were tilled until the land could grow no more. And all the streams and rivers became so tainted that no one would drink from the wells.
And so the people moved away to more distant lands in search of better land and cleaner water. After 200 years of wandering across a barren wasteland and quickly dwindling in number, they finally sighted lush green pastures from a mountaintop.
Grateful for being saved by Mother Earth, the people began to grow more careful of their deeds. Every tree they cut down was replaced by a sapling. They rotated crops and gave the earth nutrients for the years of growing to come.
But human nature eventually caused the people to become greedy again. After they gained power, they grew bold and arrogant once more, waging wars against their neighbors and scarring the land. Unable to hold back her anger, Mother Earth decided to teach the humans a lesson.
Out of the dark depths of night, she created shadowy, indistinct creatures. From far away, they looked like humans, but up close, one would realize that they looked more like a distorted reflection. They were called the Murky Ones and like the angry earth, they had no mercy.
Soon after, hordes of them began to descend on the towns and cities of men. Brave soldiers tried in vain to hold them back, but once the Murky Ones reached them, the warriors suddenly fled back, for even the presence of them filled the air with an unnatural, sickly chill.
The Murky Ones did not kill or maim, for they were immaterial like ghosts. But everyone they touched collapsed and fell asleep. It seemed like the afflicted were dead, yet other than turning a pale shade, they still had a strong heartbeat.
Soon, the entire land was stricken by disease. The crops withered, the animals went mad, and humankind was afflicted with a plague. It was no deadly illness, but many people who became ill fell into a seemingly unending slumber. Among those people were Olov's parents.
Olov came from a family that owned very little, but nevertheless respected the land. Throughout his early boyhood years, played alone in the forest while all the other kids played in the village square. However, he was not lonely, for all the critters and plants of the forest accompanied him on his daily jaunts through the woods.
After his family grew sick, he set off alone into the nearby towns in search of something to support himself. However, no one wanted to take him in, for the townsfolk were barely able to survive in the midst of the sickness and the attacks by the Murky Ones.
Over the years, Olof had settled in a rundown shack at the edge of town. He still didn't have much, but he was grateful for what he had, just as his parents had taught him. As the game and the crop yield decreased, he foraged daily in the forest outside the wall for nuts and berries.
The food he gave mostly to the townspeople, but he saved some for others living on the streets, for he saw himself in them, lost and sad. As the leaves of autumn began to fall, he gave his shack to the less fortunate and went into the forest, sleeping in abandoned animal dens.
Soon winter came. The trees grew cold and there was almost nothing to be scavenged. The snows were unending, but Olof still wandered into the forest, for it became a refuge for him. In those days, he dug deep in the snow for herbs and berries to bring back to the slowly starving townspeople.
Unfortunately, the winter gave the Murky Ones a renewed vigor to attack instead of slowing them down. One by one, entire villages fell into slumber and Olof could only hope that the Ones didn't catch him on his way to town.
As careful as he was, the Murky Ones soon arrived at the village, cornering Olof on a road. Seeing him, they wailed and rushed towards him. But the wails were not of anger and evil, they were of utmost despair. Hearing the cries reminded him of the poor townspeople, who had less and less to eat each day.
Stopping, he turned around and saw the Murky Ones bearing down on him. As they slowed down and prepared to put him into a deathlike slumber, he carefully walked to the warped creature standing in the front. Then, slowly but surely, Olof hugged the pitiful being.
"Do not be afraid," Olof said as he embraced the distorted mirror of himself, "for I know how it feels to be incomplete. You are my worst enemy, but you are also part of me. Rejoice, for we are one and the same.
And with those words, there came a blinding flash of light as humans were made whole again.
This work was an entry to the San Jose Public Library's Fall into Fiction 2022 short story contest.
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