Greed - The First Sin

Chapter Eight- Fragile

          "Alright class, today we will be reading a reinterpretation of an entry from a journal written and published by a famous scientist, of unknown origins. This entry specifically is about a forest in South Africa, although it cannot be found today. The place he wrote about is believed to have been demolished, or perhaps it died out on its own terms."

          Blah, Blah, Blah. Diego rested his face on his palm, staring forward. A substitute teacher for History class, and it couldn't have at least been a hot college bombshell. At the very least, a cool dude. Nope, it was this old guy who was 73 years old "and counting", and he looked the part too.

          "Please open the folder I have placed for you on each of your desks. It has a small worksheet you must complete at the end of class, and a printed version of the story of Napu's journal entry number seventy-eight. I will be reading out loud, and for your own sakes, I recommend following along."

          Diego flipped open said folder and pulled out one of the two papers inside. The old geezer even printed it in cursive, what the hell? He glanced up, watching other students express the same visible confusion.

          "Let's begin."

          "Napu walked with his assistant, Ramiro. They had not been in touch with the larger civilizations in over a year, so they did not know if the war was still ensuing. However, the odd biological abnormalities that happened a few years before the battles began were running rampant. . . Something was triggering Mother Nature's defense mechanisms, and if they did not find out what it was soon, chaos would ensue."

          The old man paused, exaggerating the next statement. "The crops had all been ruined. . . Farmland sucked dry, trees and impalas and shrubs alike, all falling victim to the same invisible enemy. And deep in this forest on the other side of the land, the answer was somewhere." He paused again, clearing his throat. "Napu knows it."

          "Hours of walking went by, the wet stomping of mud-filled boots slowly becoming steps as the terrain became drier and drier, the mud and gases from bogs slowly making way for dust, sand, and dirt." The old teacher set down his paper, taking out a pen from his pocket. "Grammatical correction," he remarked. He jotted something down quickly, before picking up the sheet and resuming. "According to their map, this path should meet with that one, and those take you there. But the trees had changed, whether that was over the course of a year or many."

          "Napu had visited this forest many times ago when the reckless and taxing acts of his youth had not caught up to him yet. When he was that reckless and young boy. And he made this map, to return here eventually. And he saw his own imminent return, so he carved a second path through the bushes and branches and made a small home."

          "Ahem." The teacher cleared his throat once more, and a few students groaned. The constant interruptions were annoying and unnecessary. "By the grace of God, Napu and Ramiro made sense of their map and got to his hut. But it was nearly unrecognizable. Once a cozy house that would make some jealous, it now was destroyed, as if hundreds of years' worth of vines and roots had taken a toll on his home. But it had not been that long, and this would've put off many people of their feeling of excitement and adventure, but not Napu. He ached even more now to get to the center of the forest, as he and Ramiro pushed on without rest."

________________________________________________________________________________

Long ago...

          "Ramiro!" Napu bent his knee, wiping the sweat off his brow. Although it was dry in this forest, every plant was alive and angry. They grew with a vengeance, not just to prosper. Black vines wrapped and strangled trees, colossal branches hung down onto the path, and carnivorous plants waited by the edge of this road for a meal. From the outside, it sounded like evolution.