A serene landscape worthy of being on a postcard spreads as far and wide as the eye can see. Light, fluffy white clouds float leisurely across the sky, a trickling creek flows into the blue ocean, and though the air is still, trees and flowers bend lazily where they stand. Not a soul can be found, yet there is a trace of laughter in the air…
A voice speaks: “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” A figure emerges from the trees, but she does not look entirely…there. Her shape looks more like a ghost, light and airy. Her ears look like those normally associated with an elf, and her hair has flowers and leaves woven throughout. She lives in her tree, a tree which is completely bonded to her- for if her tree was cut down, she would die and cease to exist. She is a tree nymph, a dryad.
Shimmering figures begin to emerge from the water, trees, and sky. The nymphs from the river are dressed in pale blue and silver, and the sea nymphs are clothed in teal and gold. As they walk towards the nymphs emerging from the trees, glittering nymphs can be seen floating down from the sky, dressed in all white. These are sky nymphs, or ourea, and they hide in the clouds, like the tree nymphs hide in their trees, and the water nymphs, the nereids, live within the rushing waters.
“Hello Juniper! What’s the latest?” asks a river nymph named Harmonia.
“I came here to warn everyone- the gods have approved waste dumping again!” Gasps can be heard all around, followed by cries of disbelief, anger, and uncertainty. “I know, I know, they never listen to our pleas. When will they learn that their dumping ruins the environment? Our homes? THEIR homes? They just do whatever is convenient for them.”
“Does this ban removal also include animal waste?” asks Harmonia. Juniper nods. “Oh no! The stuff he dumps in the river…what will happen to my beautiful home? It will become disgusting, I will get sick, and I might die! Whatever will I do?” Harmonia collapses in tears and frustration.
A sky nymph speaks up, “And what about the creatures that live within our realms? Whether hellhound, hippocampus, or pegasus, they all should be treated better.”
“But what can we do?” asks Juniper. “Nobody listens to us nymphs, or to Lord Pan. History shows us that the gods will never listen. All we can do now is hope.”
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The nymph reminds me of my personal desire to live more simply and traditionally. I often daydream about a world where the computer I type on now is neither existent nor necessary and the house I live in uses far less energy than it does now. It may be a naive dream. People rely on modern technologies for vital purposes, such as those who are sick. However, I can’t help but be mystified by the nymph’s reliance on nature. If her tree dies, so does she. If we were harmed whenever we harmed the trees we cut down, we certainly wouldn’t harm the nature that we could so easily coexist with.
Your story kind of reminds me of our situation today. Humans are somewhat like the Gods in the sense that we are the masters of our domain. However, we choose to ignore mother nature. We really should be taking better care of our environment but we don’t. Eventually, this will hurt us in the long run and we really need to do something about it now. Side note but I really like your description of the weather. It’s the second day of Spring so this just felt perfect. It just made this more of a nice and relaxed read.