Outstanding Stories » The Land I Once Knew

“The Land I Once Knew” is one of the outstanding stories (junior) of the second biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Eabha McNally, St. Catherine's British school, Greece.

The Land I Once Knew

I can understand if you don’t know what it feels like to live in the Amazon. Not many people do. I come from an indigenous tribe, in the centre of the Amazon rainforest.

Every morning when the sun is ascending, smiling across the mountains, I climb up my favourite tree and watch as the forest awakens. I hear the birds’ intermittent cries, as they soar above the trees; I can smell the humidity in the air. Papa Agapi tells me to always treasure nature. He gathers the children around and gives them a lecture on why nature is so important to us. He says never to take it for granted, for nature created us, and nature is our mother. “ No-one owns nature,” he tells us in a wise manner. “We share it.”

Every morning, we all do the jobs we were assigned that morning by the chief. Mothers tend to the plants diligently and some men go out hunting for game. The children usually catch fish or pick berries.

The Amazon is a spectacular place. I will never find somewhere more peaceful, but unfortunately, the world outside the Amazon can be quite different. Beyond the vast, lush rainforest is a city, a city of cruelty. You can’t hear the birds chirping optimistically, or smell the cocoa beans and freshness in the air. In fact, the smell of car fuel blocks those smells out completely. People there take no notice of their environment. At night, I once again climbed up my special tree over-looking the forest to look at the glorious city lights. My tribe despises the city and its people. We have never been very sociable anyways. They tell me never to step foot in that horrifying place. I don’t know much about the city, just that it is VERY different from the Amazon (and a lot less pretty too).

I asked my mother could I go exploring that morning. She was very busy, as a small ceremony was coming up. Brusquely, she replied with a ‘yes’. I brought a basket, woven from bamboo, just in case I spotted some juicy berries with my inquisitive eyes. I wandered further into the forest. I manoeuvred in different directions, avoiding thorns. The trail was smothered in vegetation. All of a sudden, in the distance I heard a weird sound. It was scary. It wasn’t an animal sound at all. I froze. In the distance, I saw trees collapsing, colliding with the ground, making a thumping noise. I was petrified. Someone was chopping down the beautiful trees! I ran home, crying, shouting “Mum, mum!” She scrambled outside. “Whatever’s wrong?” she exclaimed. “Someone’s cutting down the trees with a big scary thing, come quick.” Everyone gathered around. They followed me obediently to where all the action was. Mum gasped in horror. “They’ve come, the city people have come!”

“And they’re destroying our trees. The animals need those badly, so do we,” the chief screamed. “I’m going to put an end to this,” I shouted. That’s when everything changed. No matter how hard we tried, they didn’t listen. Soon, our home was demolished. Smoke permeated the whole place. All the birds had vanished. The area had become gloomy. There was no green left. All there was left was despair. We cried and cried. That’s when I came up with an idea. “We need everybody,” I murmured. “I’m going to the city,” I announced. We arrived within a day. We got strange looks. I stood up on a wall and start talking. “Excuse me,” I said. Everyone looked up. “Our home has been destroyed by your people. It is home to many creatures. We protect it. We are all apart of this planet. Please help us transform it back to the way it was. Please.” Everybody came towards us. “Let’s all do it,” some-one shouted. I was thrilled. Word spread and soon every-one in the city was growing plants and helping. Soon enough, the trees and plants began to grow again and the animals returned. The city people became our friends. Everything was great.

Papa Agapi patted my shoulder. “Well done,” he whispered.