Cityscape went into hiding today. He sat there as normal
last night, twinkling merrily against the black sky, then this morning…
nothing. A flat grey area replaced the area he normally inhabits.
During the dead hours of early morning, he called out to
Mother Nature for help. His whisper drew no attention from normal people, of
course, for it sounded like the soft rumble of a distant train… and who notices
that anymore, in this world so filled with machinery? As all of the citizens
slumbered on, Cityscape whispered his plight in the patient ears of Mother
Nature.
He described the misery and melancholy he witnessed
day-by-day : the greed of the businessmen, the exploitation of the middle
class, the constant trampling those even less fortunate. He explained how the
media ignored the suffering so no one helped those who needed it, the cost of
an education was rising so the next generation would never be able to rise
above, and how all of the smaller local businesses were getting pushed out of
the way by larger corporations. With a small sob—nothing more to those down
below than a soft gust of wind—Cityscape turned his attention to the homeless. As
he described their condition to Mother Nature, the lack of charity and
compassion down below overwhelmed him, and a soft rain began to fall on the
streets of the city.
Mother Nature listened sympathetically. She had heard of
such troubles all over the globe, and had no solution. When Cityscape was able
to control his tears, he asked her to help him escape. He said he could not
bear the despair any longer, and hoped to find a new smaller town to build up
with better results. Mother Nature exhaled a gentle sigh, and slightly larger
waves began to crash along the shoreline from the pressure of her breath. She
could not help Cityscape with what he desired. His city needed him if it would
ever improve its condition. She paused for a moment before replying, and the
night grew utterly still.
Finally, Mother Nature answered. She offered Cityscape a
temporary respite from the troubles as a chance to revitalize himself. She drew
up a large grey blanket and tucked it over him, murmuring softly “Sleep deeply
and sleep long. When you awake, you need to continue the work you have begun
here. Improve the lives of those down below.” He nodded sleepily, feeling the
weariness of the daily struggle overpowering his ability to stay awake, and
lifted the blanket up over his head. All those down below would wake to a world
covered in fog.
