Dear buds,
Let me introduce myself. I am the creator of this world. This letter will be delivered to the last species to go extinct. And if you are reading this, you know why you got this letter. Yes, you will be the last one to leave this world.
Alright, now let us jump into the letter. For the past few decades, I had bad feelings about the future earth, and it happened to be true. One knew that whenever there was a problem, a superhero would arise. And so the world would be saved by the heroes. So I created characters to occupy the places of being a hero. And their duty was to protect and save the world. But unfortunately, they became the reason for the destruction of the world.
This letter is quite long since the deeds they performed were uncountable. It took me a million years to create the perfect ecosystem and biodiversity. And the world today looks nothing compared to how it was at the beginning. To understand the current situation, one must know about its past.
So, I will tell you the reasons for the condition of the world today.
Let us travel back in time.
I created this world suitable for all living things to survive here. Some hunted for their survival, and some ate what they had. The resources were abundant, and life was going smoothly. They were satisfied with what they had, and nobody asked for more. There was no need to snatch away others’ belongings. The ecosystem was well constructed, and the food chain made everyone dependent on each other. The earth was rich in biodiversity, and natural resources were used by everyone equally on this planet.
Animals roamed freely, and some lived in caves for their safety. Suddenly there was a change in the system. The individuals invented fire through stones and came out of their cave from the darkness. The animals which were free started to hide from them.
Day by day, they improved their way of living. They started their civilization, and there was an increase in the population. Because of the sudden growth, the needs increased.
The hunting and gathering society changed to an agricultural based. The animals were used as the key to their products and made money through it. Their production increased as there was frequent rainfall and climatic conditions helped for their work. But because of lots of inventions, they started to work less and earn more.
And I think now you know who am I referring? Yes, it’s YOU, human beings. Since these involved a lot of human activities, a new system came into action.
Should I say you became smart or lazy?
It began when the so-called industrial revolution came into action. You started to harm the environment in the name of inventions and technologies. Due to this, there was a change from human power to machine power. And this led to urbanization.
You started to move from rural areas to urban areas, and population growth began to increase. Over usage of resources happened as a result of overpopulation.
For your survival, you built houses and factories on the cultivable land and water bodies. You never paid attention to how much this impacted the environment. The chemicals and fossils used in factories increased air and water pollution. Every day there were new diseases and new inventions to prevent it. But, you have never searched for a permanent solution.
You locked animals and enjoyed it in the name of zoos and circus. The love which you had for your pet was not even close compared to other living things. Plastic accumulating in oceans and on beaches became a global crisis. The marine animals
were found dead because of consuming plastics for mistaking as food, and you became the cause for their unreasonable death. Within a few years, you ended up with a pound of plastic for every three pounds of fish in the sea. It was your carelessness of throwing it everywhere and not in the garbage can.
So many things changed after the evolution of humans. Except one. The humans’ greed.
The wants were never satisfied.
When a place lacks natural resources, it is a sign of falling off the world. The rivers, lakes, and ponds dried up. The water shortage came into action. For food production, there was no water for farming and irrigation. It was a warning when people started to buy drinking water. That was the initial stage of the world entering the danger zone, yet no one cared.
Because of the change in the climatic conditions, living became so hard. It was either too hot or too cold, so you invented air conditioners and heaters. Global warming was not something that occurred recently. It had been prevailing since your over usage of everything.
And you were also a part of the increase in global warming.
Should I say part or the sole reason?
You eliminated the forest areas without thinking of wildlife. Life was the same for everyone. Many species have gone extinct because of the carelessness and greediness of the people. You witnessed their disappearance in front of your eyes and proved your identity by removing others’ existence.
This land has not seen rainfall for the years. You cut down trees for your productions and constructions of buildings. You never left an example of how a tree would look like for your future generations to know. It was easy for you to destroy the forest areas. But have you ever thought about how many years it took for its growth?
The amazon forest, which holds a massive amount of the world with oxygen, was burning. The home for million species of plants and animals destroyed within a few hours. It was a human-made disaster. You cleared the forest for your cattle to graze. But, you have never given a thought to the number of living things dying because of your action.
Now they are selling the air in a bottle to breathe, and still, there is no change in human behavior. You could have hidden seeds in the soil instead of protecting your assets and money in the locker. All are wearing air masks for your survival. Soon you will have to carry an oxygen tank on your back. No one tried to save anything for future generations. Will there be any after all these?
The world that was rich in natural vegetation and wildlife is no more. From up here, all I see are empty lands, dried lakes, and rivers. It is dark because of the pollution, and living beings are trying hard to survive in this polluted world.
You ran behind temporary happiness. You had all the money, but there was no life. Now you are running out of time, food, energy, and everything. Nothing is left here now. Are you not satisfied yet? You did not take any steps to prevent or save the earth. Because of your selfishness, many species went extinct. You built your habitat by
destroying others. And you have never given a thought about your future. Do you even have one? This generation would be the last to survive on this planet.
You poor souls!!
No one will be there to bury you. You destroyed these for your survival, but you are not going to be there to enjoy this so-called luxury living. You wasted your time and energy on temporary things and lost your happiness in life during this course.
Your greediness will disappear once you disappear from this world. You never took steps to clean the mess you created. You destroyed and removed whatever came in your way. You bring nothing to this world and leave with nothing, yet you tried to dominate this world.
You removed other living being inhabitants, and now you do not have one. What goes around; comes around. You had many chances to sort the things out. I thought you would realize your mistakes and would stop harming the environment. But you never did. The human race was supposed to save the world, not be the reason for its destruction.
Had you not been selfish, had you not destroyed the forest, had you not overused the resources, had you not polluted the environment, and had you cared for other living beings, the world could have been a safe place now.
You have never cared about others.
It was always about you, only YOU.
What more do you want?
That was a long story, I admit. But it is not a story rather the truth. You can ignore and eliminate it, but you can not hide it. The purpose of this letter was not to make you feel guilty but to make you realize your wrongdoings you have done to the world, which has given you everything.
You spoiled everything this beautiful earth had. After all these, now you are trying to destroy another planet. You are not satisfied, and you want more. I know you are researching the human settlement on other planets. You do realize that you cannot survive here anymore. And yet you do not want to admit the mistakes that you committed to this planet.
Are you planning to do the same things on that planet, which you did here? I can not sit idle and wait for another destruction done because of you. So far, I have never regretted creating you. But I am afraid that now I do. You have got nothing to destroy, but wait for your final day to come. Soon you will be my prey, and I am expecting with patience.
Dear Humankind, the game has come to its end now. You are the last species to disappear from this world. Sadly, there will not be any evidence of human existence on this earth. And you are the reason for your tragic life story.
Let this world rest in peace.
With patience,
Your creator.
By R.Gomathi Sridevi
A Sociology graduate who loves to put her thoughts down through her writing.
