Seeds for Time

The forest is loud, its air is filled with the roar of heavy land moving equipment. The forest growth is being scrapped away to make room for fields of soybean crops. The mighty Amazon must give way to the progress of the industrial Homo sapiens. To hell with its carbon filtering abilities.

An indigenous man watches the machines from a distance. He is in the shadows of trees and plant growth. He cannot believe what he is witnessing. His people’s sacred land is being attacked by these monsters of the so-called civilized world. The sky woman must be crying.

A few meters behind the indigenous man, a spot of white light appears. It floats above the ground. Static electricity fills the space. The light grows to create a human sized circle. A human steps through the light circle and on to the forest floor. The native man senses the charged atmosphere and turns to see the strangely garbed man standing there.

The newly arrived traveler sees the fierce looking native raise his spear. Quickly, the traveler reaches to the belt control switch of his magnetic defense shield. The spear is thrown but is deflected by an invisible power and falls to the ground. The traveler holds up his open palms to the native and speaks in a soft voice, “Easy, easy now. I have no weapons.”

The native man believes the strangely garbed man possesses magical powers because he is able to withstand the spear by some strange power. He kneels before the strangely garbed man in fear. He speaks in his own language asking for mercy with a bowed head. The traveler picks up the spear and lays it in front of the native man. He places a hand on the man’s brown shoulder, “I come in peace my friend. I will not harm you.”

The traveler views the earth moving machines that are clearing the land. He wishes he had the time to stop one of the operators and explain how damning these efforts will be for the future. He would like to drag the operator back to his own time and show him the devastated Earth, to try and make him understand that in the future the planet will not be able to sustain his species. But he must stay on mission and gather the items on his list before time runs out.

The traveler moves away from his entry point and heads into the deeper growth of the forest. The indigenous man is curious and follows the traveler. He watches the magical man remove a small container from his belt. He opens the container and begins to pick berries from a bush. The magical man repeats this action with other plants in the vicinity.

The traveler is aware of the native man’s presence and speaks in a soft voice, “I hope you do not mind my gathering of seeds, but in my time, all of these species have become extinct.” He knows the man cannot understand him, but his gentle voice seems to relax the native. The indigenous man is pleased to see that the magical man handles the plants with respect and honor. This magical man must be one of the gods.

The “beep” of his wrist band causes the traveler to look at the display screen. Time is up. He heads back to the place where he first entered the forest. The native man still follows him. They arrive at the entry point and both watch the machines that are continuing to rape the forest.

The traveler shakes his head and speaks to the native man, “Believe me, if I could stop all of this, this destroying of your home, I would.” The native man looks into the traveler eyes as if he understands. The traveler feels a connection in the gaze of his companion.

The traveler moves further away from the native man and activates the time stream. The native man reaches to hand something to the traveler. It is a small leather pouch. The traveler rolls it around in his hand. It feels as if it contains seeds. “Thank you my friend. I leave you in peace.”

The spot of light appears in front of the traveler. It frightens the native man. He moves away from the growing circle of light. The traveler smiles at his companion and waves goodbye as he steps into the light circle. The native man watches as the traveler and the light disappear. Certainly this being is one of the sky people? He looks again at the machines which are clearing the forest. Angry hot tears travel down his face, and the sky woman cries with him.