Hello earthlings. So, um, someone requested they read my english assignment, and I gave consent, since that someone really helped me brainstorm and I'm ever grateful. I'm also posting this because my english assignment was focused around something very serious. Something that a lot of us don't consciously care about. 

the environment.

People don't realise how bad the situation is. To most people, this is just an idle situation which won't happen in their lifetime. But it will, and it's already happening. So save it before it's too late. 

Now that you have read my short thingymajig, you can now read my myth (Our english assignment was to write a myth about environmental issues). it's not my best, but I hope you enjoy it. :)

At first, there was nothing. Nothing but a barren wasteland of dirt and more dirt for miles and miles. Nothing breathed and nothing lived except for the four Elementals: Kraken, who resided in the deepest sea trench; Golem, whose body was carved in granite boulders twenty stories high; Phoenix and Dragon, who stayed high up in the clouds, where space and sky meet. These four Elementals were commissioned to take this barren wasteland and create a paradise, with lush forests and azure blue lakes, filled with the chattering of animals. Emerald waves with foamy crests, glinting sunlight and diamonds would cover great distances, and they would be filled with diverse amounts of sea life, with grey-brown sunfish and wrasses flicking their tails through the waves, scales sparkling.

And that is exactly what they did.

From the dirt grew evergreen forests and towering trees, thumb-sized flowers and spiralling creepers, reaching up to the golden orb above them. Plankton swarmed the turquoise waters, enriching the ocean and turning it azure blue. Thousands upon thousands of fish flipped and jumped, flashy tails sparkling in the sunlight. Deep down, sharks and whales cruised silently, beady eyes constantly darting to and fro. High among the treetops, many calls and squawks of birds echoed in the canopy. Coloured in all the colours of the rainbow, these exotic creatures ruled the trees, sending unending calls, echoing, echoing, echoing…

Then came humans. Destined to rule the earth, living in harmony with the animals and the trees. For longer than we can comprehend, life was this way.

But not everything can go perfectly.

With the intellect humans had been gifted with, they created weapons, to kill, to injure. With the strength they were given, they used their weapons to chop down forests and massacre animals for sport. With the space they were given, they chose to use it to throw the unwanted. With the pure water they were blessed with, they chose to fill it with unknown chemicals, causing countless fish to be poisoned and die. The air was suffocating, constricting throats and causing endless coughing. Yet again, chemicals had seeped into the once pure atmosphere, ruining the paradise earth once was. Humans dug deep into the ground, driving poles and spikes into the granite rocks and hard dirt underneath soft soil.

As humans dug away at the ground, pin sharp tremors struck the body of the monstrous golem, waiting and watching from the burning core of the earth. The endless tap-tap-tap of picks and shovels digging away at the sand echoed down to the depths of the sea, where currents were strengthening themselves, as if preparing for battle. Deep down, at the bottom of the deepest trench, the Kraken stirred, black, endless orbs glaring in the darkness. High up where the birds couldn’t fly, flames away at empty air, and breaths of orange and red grazed the tips of stray clouds. Phoenix and Dragon floated, on wings of air and light, residing in their haven of sunrise and sunset, waiting to defend their crumbling paradise.

The elements had had enough of sitting by and watching the earth get destroyed.

It came on unexpectedly. One moment, there was everything, the next moment, there was nothing.

Seas and oceans roared their fury, lashing out in monstrous waves of anger. Out of the foaming water rose Kraken, bottomless eyes freezing anyone who dared look into the glazed orbs. At a blink, the seas roared forward, claiming the land and covering it in emerald water, glittering in the harsh white sunlight.

Flames at the green treetops, eradicating any evidence of forests and greenery. Phoenix watched, flapping wings of fluttering flames, eyes burning with the flame of revenge.

Dragon turned in lightning fast spirals, transforming a small breeze into a whistling, screaming hurricane, ripping at the ground with merciless fury, at the ground and the sky alike. Thunder growled and lightning crackled, torrents pouring down a million litres a second.

The earth shook from its very core, trembling and cracking as Golem stood tall, rocks crumbling down. Dust swirled in the sir, and boulders rolled down to crush anything in their path.

Soon, the earth was no longer the earth. All it was was a barren wasteland, covered in murky water and immeasurable sadness. The Elementals were devastated at the destruction caused by their imperfect creations. Sweeping its eyes over flooded valley, Phoenix noticed a movement in the muddy flood. Swooping down, Phoenix deftly picked the struggling humans in its beak and flew to the top of the tallest mountain. Feeling merciful, he decided to give them another chance. As the Elementals fixed up their paradise, Phoenix imprinted the memory of the Elementals’ retaliation into the humans’ minds, to be passed down thousands and thousands of generations to come. Hoping that this would not cause another retaliation, Phoenix, Dragon, Kraken and Golem returned to their dwelling places to continue watching the earth unfold and blossom once again.

Humans grew, in numbers and in spirit, all with the memory of the retaliation in their hearts and minds. As millennia passed, humans began to forget, and began to revert to their old ways. However, the Elementals had made a promise not to wipe everything out ever again. So, they sent smaller scale reminders of what would happen, just to trigger people’s memories imprinted deep inside their brains.

For every tsunami, we know that Kraken is sending words of warning. For any tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons or unnatural storms, Dragon is telling us that we are going back to our old ways of living and taking and living and taking. Phoenix sends forest fires as a grave reminder of what happened all those eons ago. Golem shakes and trembles, shifting in his slumber, telling us not to take our peace for granted.

The four Elementals are constantly watching, be it from the bottom of the deepest trench at the bottom of the vast ocean, or the bridge between the stratosphere and the rest of the unexplored universe, or the hot, boiling core of the molten lava within the earth’s crust, no action goes unobserved. Living in harmony with nature would mean peace. Exploiting nature could mean total destruction.

Any materials, we take, we should give back. Anything we chop down, we should plant back. Everything on this earth is as equal to us. Forget that, and suffer the dire consequences of the Elementals.