Helping Hand

Is this ‘doomsday clock’ for real, the boy asked himself repeatedly, if so, why are we still pondering on taking action…

Looking at the screen of his friend’s phone, he gasped internally. Shocked. He felt completely shocked. Although it did occur to him a few times, that there is this clock on Times Square, that presents the time, that’s left before humans truly destroy the planet’s climate, he didn’t actually see it before. Frankly, he didn’t really think about its plausibility before. Seeing the little, so little, a number of years, that humanity was promised, if the efforts in saving the planet do not gain momentum, the boy felt rather distressed. His reason argued against the data on the clock, who are those that claim this to be true, it shouted, how do we know they are right…?! It was obvious that the fight or flight response surfaced, as the internal argument grew in intensity, what do they know anyway! On the other hand, looking at the data and watching the seconds ticking away on the clock, he felt a wave of impatient frustration connected with the continuous destruction of the world around him. Our civilisation does not really care, he noted, it actually doesn’t at all…

*

Painful as it may be, it was also eye-opening. Yet again, although practicing vegetarianism and avoiding plastic-filled purchases, the boy felt invigorated to promote this shift, which could, if popular enough, save their species from killing the planet and in turn killing themselves. It was so obvious, so easy to spot, yet it seemed like the majority, and especially those in power, truly did not see it being an issue of the highest priority. Fighting over oil fields in the Middle East appeared to be much more important than saving the world. What is this shit, the boy felt his blood boiling, how incompetent and insecure those people are, that they perceive their societal duty in the frames of bombing some poor folks abroad…?! What the actual f@!#, he screamed internally. Thinking of the ability to adapt, which kept humans alive and thriving through the millennia, he tried to affirm the hope that in this case also, they will improvise well enough to survive. But surviving could take on many forms, he noted, staying in a bunker without sunlight could be called survival as well, right…?

*

With this kind of thought tumbling through the mind of his, he went about his day. Doing his work, he struggled to focus initially, but once his attention laid its eyes on creative efforts, he calmed down. There was no point in mulling the subject over and over in his head anyway. After all, it’s not like he’s going to help much doing so. He decided to dedicate his day’s writing to the frightening discovery of the Doom’s Day Clock’, so drawing out the next file of text, he quickly typed up the introductory phrase and continued to describe his feelings and sensations. After a while of typing, he noticed his flatmate on the way to the kitchen. He looked towards him, smiled, and asked if they could watch the movie about fungi, that the other mentioned a few days back. Sure man, his friend answered, you’ll see why I do not want to be cremated…

*

In the late evening, the two sat down on the bed and turned on the projector. The wall sparkled up with millions of pixels. A huge image of a mushroom appeared. Fantastic Fungi, claimed the voice-over, the magical world beneath our feet… The movie was astounding. The boy appreciated aesthetically pleasing shots, informative narration, and the wonderful world of mushrooms, which was little if at all known to him before. It was magnificent. According to researchers and fungi-fanatics all over the world, mushrooms were not only the most popular species on the planet, but they were also the one species that was here before everything else and brought to life that, which we perceive and experience nowadays, including ourselves. Moreover, due to their intricate web of connections underneath the surface of the earth, fungi are responsible for balancing the majority of the ecosystems around the world, and provide a sustainable, effortless CO2 storage deep within the ground, far from the space, in which it would cause harm to the atmosphere. The boy was in awe. One of the last scenes of the movie treats about the decay, in which the fungi play the major part, as well as through which they thrive. The author makes a point, that by allowing our bodies to be buried underground, we reconnect with the source, from which we came in the first place. Our bodies quickly become a part of the fungi web and sooner or later provide the necessary sustenance for the next living creature that comes. They can also help us save the world, the man finished looking at his audience in the Ted Talk ‘6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World’, all we have to do, is give them a helping hand…

If you liked this story, check out:

https://www.wsalski.com/post/ocean-s-cry

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