My family and I were all sitting around the dinner table, listening to the ever-present sound of the rain against the windows.
“Da, when will it stop raining?” my youngest son asked. “I don’t know, my boy. No-one knows. Only when the Queen is smiling again would be my guess.” I answered. “The Queen? Who is she?” my lad asked. “The Queen of Rain, my boy. Our goddess who controls the weather and the seasons.” I said. “Tell me about the Queen, da!” my son pleaded. I looked at my son and smiled, and then I began my tale, the tale that I had heard from my grandfather after I asked the same question many years ago:
“Once our climate was temperate and warm. Sunlight bathed the forests and lakes, and we were at peace. We had our different seasons, warm and cold, death and regrowth. The cycles of life were in balance. Crops were plentiful and people were kind and friendly. Our society prospered. Life was good.”
“Then those in charge became greedy, anxious to enrich themselves no matter the cost. Machines of war were built, the factories belching great towers of smoke into the sky. The forests were cut down and the land laid bare as more and more materials were gathered for the ever-hungry war machines. People were oppressed, their land taken away from them, all in the name of the Planetary Government. The worship of our Queen, the goddess who has looked after us for centuries, was suppressed and later outlawed. Men were turning from the conservation of the land to the altar of industry and money. Those who opposed them were imprisoned or killed.”
“Wars starting raging as people rebelled against the Government. Many of the war machines were sabotaged or destroyed, but endless more took their place. Smoke darkened the skies and blocked out the sun. The streets ran red with blood. Hope was dying, and greed and corruption were the order of the day. “
“Then the rain started. First softly, and then harder and harder. Fires were quenched, and the filth and detritus of war were washed away. The landscape was cleansed. But still the rain persisted. Rivers and lakes grew larger and fuller. People had to move out of the lower areas, onto the hills and mountains to escape the rising waters. Still it rained.”
“Our Government tried everything to make the rain stop. It shot missiles carrying large explosives into the sky, hoping to disperse the clouds. It tried seeding the clouds with materials that would make the rain dissipate. A massive amount of money was spent in an effort to make the rain go away. But still it rained.”
“Eventually the long-forgotten spiritual leaders came forth. They condemned the warlike and greedy nature of the Government, and stated that our Queen was crying. Her tears were flooding the earth, filling up the rivers and lakes. She was crying for our lost innocence. She was crying for the broken bodies and blacked corpses. She was crying because of our greed and corruption. She was crying because we had abandoned and forgotten her. Naturally the Government scoffed at the idea that the Queen was responsible. They even locked up the spiritual leaders in order to stop them from spreading the idea that they, the Government, were responsible for the endless rain. “
“But the spiritual leaders were relentless, and eventually the people were swayed. The Government was overthrown, and peace was restored. People were given back land that was taken from them. Food and clothing was made available to those who needed it. People started asking the Queen for forgiveness, begging her to stop the never-ending downpour. Still it rained.”
“But Da, when will the Queen stop crying?” I looked into the innocent eyes of my youngest. “One day, my son. When all greed and violence has been eliminated. When we once again learn to cherish the earth, and to love and respect each other. One day when we are at peace with ourselves and nature. One day, my son, one day she will dream of the sun once more. But for now, she is our Queen of Rain.”
–END–
