Yesterday, while I was on my way to work, the young woman sitting next to me on public transport warned me about a little worm near my ear. My first thought was: wow, I must be rotting from so much stress. When I held it in my fingers, I realized it was just a small caterpillar.
I tried to set it free, but it clung to my fingers with the silk it expelled from one of its ends (mouth or anus, I don’t know). I left it alone for the rest of the trip, and once I reached my destination, I placed it on the trunk of the first tree I saw. I suppose it was safer there than in the bus.
Today, after finishing my hospital shift and almost reaching home, a lizard fell onto my shoulders. At the moment of contact, I was startled by the surprise. Once I realized what kind of animal it was, I flailed around like a madman to get rid of it. My intention wasn’t to harm it—my movements were more like involuntary reflexes.
Luckily, it wasn’t hurt, and maybe it even ended up more frightened than I was. After that, I kept thinking about those direct encounters with nature within barely 24 hours. I even wondered if it was some kind of coordinated attack to get rid of me—not as a personal matter, but as the beginning of something larger against human beings.
It’s very paranoid of me, I admit. But even if the chances were remote, if that were happening, I would perfectly understand nature’s excuses for trying to extinguish us. We are like fire devouring a forest while firefighters can do little to stop it, and only nature itself, with a timely heavy rain, is capable of putting it out.
They say we are the cancer of the Earth. The phrase has been repeated many times. Our body tries to get rid of cancer most of the time, but at some point it fails to build the containment barrier, so eventually the malignant cells invade everything good that remains.
I don’t think we are cancer yet. We are more like fire. If nature decides to end us, it’s time for it to get moving. We can still be defeated. Otherwise, we will metastasize into every tissue that still serves a purpose. Nature can still defeat us with just a little rain.
English isn't my native language. Text translated DeepL
