The Great Goddess Tree Tale

XVI - The Salmon, the fox and the rabbit

The winter came in the Isle unusually. Two weeks after their arrival, it started to snow. Nobody ever witnessed snow in the Isle, but this winter it came, even though it was not a blizzard, solely a few flakes during day and night. In the following morning, the prairie would dawn silver, colored by the frozen dew. The lawns, also silver. It was a new, beautiful and intriguing landscape.

Also agitated was the sea, with the cold wind that would come to the coast making it difficult to stay on the beach. It would be a great spectacle to watch though: the snow, with its small hexagonal flakes perfectly drawn by mother nature, falling in the dark sea. The flakes would come apart when touching the salty water, the fascinating fusion of different states of the same element.

Mat returned to his work and reported the entire trip to Johann Marcein. He had made progress and found new suppliers for the most requested medications.

"Very good, young man. Good job. And the Continent, how is it? Same as usual?"

"Yes, Mr. Marcein. Everything as usual, but I noticed that things were more agitated... More hurry and more rush. Well, now I do not know either ... Maybe they're at the same speed as always, and I'm at the slower pace ..." Mat chuckled.

Johann laughed. "Yes, Mat. We are in a quieter routine here on the island. In this place we are not in such a hurry to solve everything at once, as we did on the Continent, is not it? There is more time for life. There is more time for ourselves and for adventures..."

"Adventures? Yes, there must be some... Adventures... Well, let me finalize some travel notes... Would you need anything else in the reports? "

"No, everything is alright, it's great. Let's get going. See you tomorrow."

Upon returning from work, Mat's heart began to tighten. He passed the elevation next to the last encounter with the Muses. His bloodstream accelerated.

"Are you guys going out there, lionesses? Maybe savoring some deer, pigs, or who knows something bigger...?"

The cold wind from the sea blew harder and Mat accelerated the cart. He had arrived at the Inn. The servants had lit the central fireplace that had been near the front door since the beginning of the month. With the usual wet kiss, Kalima received him:

"How cold it is outside... But here inside is very cozy... Good evening Kaka, it's nice with the fireplace on."

"Good evening, my beautiful Doctor... Yes, it's very nice here... So, you remember that I met Elise Marie in the capital? And that she had been invited to work in the main hospital of South Coast Village? So, she's scheduling to get to the end of the winter. "

"Great! That's very good. It's been a while since I last saw her."

"And she will be the first female doctor in the Great Isle. What an honor! But she deserves it, she is pretty dedicated. I talked to her and I will manage to stay around two days with her in the Village to find housing, present her the Village, etc. By the way, she comes straight to our Inn."

"Here in the Inn? But isn't she staying in the South Coast Village?"

"She comes here and then we go together to the Village."

...

In the next day, it was slightly hotter. Snow wasn't falling, the sun has appeared. Mat just arrived from work and he wanted to go out for a walk, do something different:

"Let us go, my brunette. Let us walk around, in this chill airtime ..."

Even with Kalima's reluctance, they put on the sheep leather jackets and went out. They reached to the beach, stepping on the white hard sand. It was windy.

"How cold it is here, Mat. Let's go back. I am not in the mood for a walk with such cold."

"Ok, Kaka... Let's go back."

However, instead of going directly to the Inn, they adventured a little bit more. They kept on going and found the mouth of the river, river which cut the plains and was feed by the waters of the waterfall. The salmonids came from the sea jumping the stream of the river.

"Look, Kalima. I think they are salmons. They must be climbing the stream for the spawning."

"Yes, such a beautiful spectacle from nature, but funny. As far as I knew, they went up the river in late fall, not in the middle of winter"

"Yeah ... Maybe they got some chaotic traffic coming from the North...", he laughed. "But seriously, this movement of nature really is beautiful. This flow of things. But poor is the fate of these fish. Even those who survive any predator attacks will inevitably perish in spawning. There is no escape. Your life is destined. "

"Yes... Sometimes we go forward even though there is no escape, even though there is no way out. Something bigger drives us, even knowing that it will cost our life ... We follow our destiny. In the case of salmon, it is the survival of the species that speaks higher. The sacrifice of one generation for the benefit of the other. "

"Wow... The wise Kalima had spoken... sometimes our choices lead us to a destination beyond what is planned... "

They stopped and observed the fish. Beyond there, there was a small twisted tree that would be a good shelter in the biting cold. They got there, sat at the base of the tree and watched another scene. It was a handsome, thick-haired rabbit snuggling in the grass, about 25 feet.

"Indeed, it's the rabbit that's happy" Mat joked, "just strolling the green grass, savoring the legumes without worry. It's the life of a king. "

And the rabbit jumped on its way... Suddenly, a loud moan. A fox was lurking in its grasp, and at one blow it twisted the rabbit's neck. Mat had remembered the attack of the Muses. The beauty of the rabbit succumbed to the hunger of the predator.

"Poor rabbit ... Grass king turned fox dinner in two minutes," Mat commented with a more heartfelt tone.

Other groans, but now they were shriller. They looked like puppies: the female fox would carry the rabbit for her cubs. There were several puppies. Everyone ate and tore the rabbit. In the end, only the rabbit's coat remained.

"It's ... It seems like everyone has an end anyway. And everyone has something like their own mission in this life. The rabbit serves as food for the fox's cubs. Salmon follows its fate without fear of death. We are here now, but tomorrow we may be under the ground... Who knows? Who guides us truly? Shall be the gods or saints, or maybe we have a fate? Or is this what is called karma; a destination already laid out? Was our destiny or fixed karma unchangeable? Would we have any choice in this life, except to follow our irrevocable path?"

"Kalima, my love! You are such a philosopher today... Come on! Let's go back, it's too cold."

They have gotten to the Inn and warmed themselves by the fireplace. The fire was biting the woods, and Mat thought with himself about Kalima's words.

"Yes, every person has its fate, its karma. The Goddesses might also feed themselves just as lionesses do, and the foxes and the salmons. We are all trapped in this web of life. There is no escape, no exit, no judgment, nor right nor wrong. There is only life and its flow."

Winter followed its flow, one more month came and the cold was already ceasing. Earth followed its path around the Sun and with that, winter was dying.

"Winter always turns to Spring." This phrase he heard from a colleague several times during college never could be so right. "Winter always turns to Spring."