BECOMING IEVA
Chapter 1
This is a story about a fawn that just came to existence in a meadow on a planet from another galaxy. The planet is called Aluna. It's so far away that the data to build the story has to travel a long distance but thanks to a micro-wormhole the story reaches us sooner than later. Still the story unravels slowly. But the first data-streams have just arrived on Earth and I can tell you that the story begins like this:
In a meadow far far away
A fawn was born
It was born different
It was born... blue
And with only one wing.
And I am aware that for some of you the fawn may just be an old suitcase on some wooden legs standing in a green patch in front of a former Lambeth social housing estate. And you may be wondering rightfully where all this is going.
Let me begin and take you on a voyage, the voyage of becoming Ieva. A journey that many of us will easily recognise as we all share milestones with our becoming, no matter what forms and shapes we grow into. All life stories begin with the landing in a strange world where we desperately are trying to understand ourselves in relation to the other what ever that may be. This story is not different but at the same time, is not the same. Indeed, this story began with an abandoned derelict suitcase found unexpectedly in a Lambeth bin. It was one of those moments where past, present and future become all one. Big bang, badaboom and there was life. A fawn was born not just once but twice. First as a thought in a mind, then as an entity in the physical world. Yes, it is an old suitcase and incomplete. But doesn’t all life start incomplete, vulnerable and uncertain of its destiny? So like a seedling in the ground this seed has the potential to grow tall and strong, if we chose to believe so. This suitcase sparked a dream and an adventure that I know will grow in an amazing story to tell our future generations one day. And doesn’t all good adventure stories start with the packing a of suitcase?
This story is as much yours as mine. We have many participants that are building this story. You see the story can only evolve with unattended things found in nearby streets. One discarded piece of wood here and there, and badaboom, if they find their way to Meadowland, we may have a leg or two perhaps three… well in Meadowland anything is possible. But I am getting ahead of myself.
So this is the beginning of a fawn born in an extraordinary meadow.
The meadow where the fawn was born, was not an ordinary meadow and it was not a magical meadow, but it was a meadow like you have never seen before where anything was possible if you believed in it strong enough. The meadow was called Meadowland. This land was populated mostly with flowers and as you must have figure out by yourselves, they were no ordinary flowers. The flora, that means all the flowers, plants and trees moved. They were mobile. How extraordinary! They always moved together in unison because they were all connected by an underground root system that covered the whole meadow, even the entire planet I think. But I am not entirely sure about this as yet. You see, I have not ventured further than this primary observation point, the Meadow. But soon I will. Just waiting for the winds to settle and the Fawn to grow.
Inspired by the concept of a "Wood Wide Web", see Simard et al., (1997) Net transfer of carbon between ectomycorrhizal tree species in the field, Nature volume 388, pages 579–582.
Now I told you that this land is not magical but not ordinary either. Meadowland has land creatures like the flowers. They are many different species of flowers in Meadowland. We have only observed one so far. Be patient my friends, we shall observe more as the story develops. Meadowland is also home to some sky and space dwelling creatures. Some space creature you will only see at night time and only as a passing light, high up in the sky. They never land on Aluna. But some others you will see as they do make stops on Aluna and especially in Meadowland. Not so long ago we had a space creature that landed right here in Meadowland. And guess who it was... none other than Prof Geo of course. Don't you know Professor Geo? Well let me enlighten you. He is the most knowledgeable creature in the entire Universe from the Milky Way to the molecular clouds of Orion and to Taurus in the outer rim of our Universe. And he knows all sorts of shapes and forms that you can find in this Universe we call our world.
You see he is a traveling Professor that flies around the Universe, well like a comet you might say, and collects all sorts of information that help him to better understand how shapes and forms are born and develop. And you would not believe the things he knows but I am getting ahead of myself. Now coming back to Meadowland, Prof Geo will drop in every week, mid-week most likely but you never know exactly when. He can drop before you go to school or when you come from school or even late at night when you are sleeping and then you will only see Professor next morning. But he will come every Wednesday like clockwork to teach us about a new geometric shape or platonic solids. Platonic? What is that? That looks like to be an advanced course already. But let’s start with a beginner's class for our fawn that was just born, after all. You will recognise Professor immediately, he wears a bow tie, a hat and a robe and I can tell you when he wears his teaching gown, he means business...
Although we have weekly excitements with the arrival of the Professor, most of the time it is business as usual in Meadowland. The fawn is mostly quiet and trying to be inconspicuous since hheirs parent is still out there gathering nutrients for hheirself and of course for the youngling once returned. A small explanation before I continue. The fawn is nor a she, nor a he nor an it. The fawn is a hhe, short for h/she and rather than him or her, it will be hheim and his or hers will become hheirs. So there you have it, gender neutral pronouns. We must be prepared for all sorts for when the time will come where we will be reaching out beyond our solar system towards the vast open space ahead of us, our Universe. But let's proceed further with the story. The fawn has only one parent. They feed on a particular phenomenon that occurs, well on a regular basis but always at a different location. So the parent may be at times gone for a long time. These space creatures can actually travel at the speed of light… that is very fast. Despite gone for a considerable amount of time, I can reassure you that the infant is in a safe place and not to worry hhe has enough energy to sustain hheirself while the parent is gone. Also don’t forget, it has the flowers to keep hheim safe. You see this is why they come to this place. Now very few know this but I will tell you exactly why the fawn and the flowers are getting on so well. You see these creatures feed in space far, far away so rich in nutrients that even they cannot intake it all.
Now very few know this but I will tell you exactly why the fawn and flowers are getting on so well. You see these creatures feed in space far, far away so rich in nutrients that even they cannot intake it all. So I let you guess where I am going with this… well when they poop there is still a lot of nutrients in their droppings. I say poop, it’s not like us, it is more like a big cloud that drops on the ground due to the strong gravity on this planet. This cloud is slowly soaked in by the ground and then consumed by small creatures living in the ground that release in their droppings at last the just perfect food for the flowers. It’s a like a sweet nectar for them. They love it and need it. So, it is only fair that in return they give back something and they do so by looking after the fawn while the parent is gone. We have similar arrangements on earth actually. We call them symbiotic relationships. You might want to have a look around and look out for them. Some you may see but actually the most important of these relationships you will not because they are really tiny, microscopic and happen in you, in your body. Don’t be frighten, it is a good relationship like the one between the flowers and fawn. But there is plenty of time to learn about those sometime later.
We had the most beautiful day today but then we were invaded. Meadowland was swarmed by a plastic invasion. It happened before, especially on beautiful days like the one today but never to that extend. We know exactly which species is behind all this and we shall not drop names. What’s wrong with them? Living on the other side of the planet they like to cluster in tall towers and in great numbers. It feels like they form a big organism only aware of itself and disconnected from everything around them. We just don’t understand why they don’t care about where they leave their artificial materials like plastic because it never stays where they leave it. And it will spread like a plague around the planet all the way to Meadowland. It is scary and of concern but not in meadowland. There is something going on with the flowers. As I told you before the flowers are mobile and at the first sight of plastic invasion they circle around plastic items and for a little while nothing much is happening but then slowly the plastic items seems to disappear into the ground. You see the flowers are eating the plastic.
Obviously, a flower doesn’t have a mouth, we all know that. But we know something that very few have observed. In their root system hide tiny, tiny, little creatures, microscopic creatures, that are able to digest the plastic material. We can only see them with a magnifying glass we call now, microscope. And once broken down the flowers can feed on it. How wonderful, isn’t! I think so. And so there we are seeing slowly the plastic disappearing underground. And even the fawn got excited and helped out by putting his weight onto the plastic so to get it quicker to the root system. So, it may have taken a bit of time to get rid of the plastic invasion in meadowland but certainly much, much, much less time for it to disappear naturally as it takes nearly a thousand years for it to decompose without intervention. In very little time, Meadowland returned to its usual business and its usual harmony and glow. But, shush, let’s keep this our little secret, at least for a little while longer. It’s just that if we bring this solution to the culprits they might pollute this planet with even more plastic. It is important to get to the root of problem first which is to help them to learn to fit in with everything else and not be so antagonist (ask your parents if you struggle with this word, it is a bit of a mouthful!). But for now, Shush!!!
Now, did I mention that the fawn glows at night. It was only recently I was fortunate enough to experience this phenomenon and only by coincidence. Perhaps it is time to talk about how came about my special rapport with this planet. I must admit I can’t explain it. One day I had a dream. I saw a strange place unknow of me. Night after night, this new world came to existence bit by bit. But the strangest thing was that the dreams were not just filled with images but also with feelings and emotions. Over the days, my connection to the planet and I believe especially to the Fawn grew stronger. I am still puzzled on the why and the how. Maybe with time I will be able to tell you more. But for the moment, let me continue and tell you about my dreams from Aluna and more about the Fawn.
One night, I was able to observe briefly a very very special moment, a moment of special beauty, the summer solstice on Aluna.
Aluna has only one sun but once in a year their sun seems to duplicate, a sort of rare reflection mirror phenomenon. It is so luminous and so full of colours that your senses are overwhelm to the point of pure state of wonder. This event inspires reverence to all living things in the Universe, so it is said. And it is a moment where everything everywhere in this part of the Universe unites and stand together as one. We have special moments like these on Earth as well but less and less attention is given to them. Humans don’t seem to get up much these days to watch our solstice and come to think of it, we don’t seem to get up for anything these days. We seem to become the flora like in the old days on Aluna where trees could not move. You see trees have evolved to move on Aluna only because we kept cutting them and cutting them up till very few of them were left here on Earth. There is a special connection between Luna and Earth, the Fawn and me, I can’t explain right now. Hopefully more on this relationship will unravel as we continue with the story. So patience my friends.
Today, the flowers are all on one side of the green patch and the fawn is trying to jump the wall. How bizarre, what is going on? All the flowers are frightened. But I hear a noise in the distance and slowly getting louder and closer. Ah, I can see now, it’s lawnmower day. Let me explain what the lawnmower is. It is just another invention of those creatures that I mentioned before that are responsible for the plastic invasion. The lawnmower is nothing but an instrument of mass disruption filled with anger and contempt, if you ask me! You see it is not that difficult to understand. There are really only 2 types of creatures in the Universe. There are those that are curious and know how to learn, so to understand all the things around them and will go with the flow. And then, there are those, well, that will just do about anything they can for the world around them no to change. You see for them, it is in their nature to be afraid of what they don’t understand. So let me explain. If you don’t want to get soaked, catch a cold and become very sick, you will avoid staining in the rain for too long.
Everyone with common sense know that. But you will not believe me if I tell you that there are those that would want to do all they can to change the weather so that they will have not to move. So it is. And the drive behind all this is just fear. They are afraid because they don’t know or don’t want to know. Unfortunately, there are more and more of that breed and they are spreading on all levels in our society not unlike a cancer would spread in a body. We don’t want to be afraid like this, miss out on our education, experiences and all those wonderful things happening around us. Luckily, the lawnmower’s hovering on this patch is very short and very vigilant to not to harm our little ones. Very quickly the flowers and the fawn settle down again to continue their playfulness and life learning games.
Exciting times, the fawn is going through a growth spurt. They can be quite disconcerting for any younglings even for the humans. We have learned a little bit earlier the importance of the flowers in the fawn’s life so far. They are here to support hheim and they just doing that. The flowers will help hheim to see hheim through this as well. Now the most interesting changes happening right now, is that one of stumps, we have observed since hhe’s birth, is growing into a small wing and the other into a beautiful flowering tail like a bouquet, one of the smaller sizes for the moment. That is all normal since hhe is still in hheirs infancy. However, the fawn is changing into something that I believe will become one of the most majestic space creature ever to exist. I can sense it. But we are a long way from that. Unless we get to see hheirs parent that we know is still out there in space gathering food. But there is a feeling of excitement surrounding the fawn. Perhaps our wait to see Mother will be becoming to an end soon as our youngling can feel that feeding time is getting closer. The fawn is so looking forward to the reunion because hhe is getting a bit hungry. Of course, the fawn is missed Mother but right now because of the growth spur, hunger is starting to feel uncomfortable. But not before we try out that wing.
Summer is really on its way. On this planet and like on our Earth, summer is the bearer of warmth and comfort to all living things. We have yet to talk about the planet but all in due time. Suffice to say that the planet where our story is unfolding has several different ecosystems of which meadowland is just one of them. It has also more than one moon, three in fact. Meadowland had proven to be the perfect nursery for our little one. Today, the 5-petal flowers are in a two-line formation. A new recorded behaviour from these flowers I must add. They surely know nothing about country music, line dancing or chorus lines, something else must be triggering this formation… of course, I understand now. They have formed two parallel lines so to guide the fawn through and encourage hheim to test his wing… we are learning to fly. What else are wings for? How exciting. However, you may be wondering, how so, since we only have one wing. It would be logical to try to fly since this function is mostly associated with wings. But we need at least two wings if not 4 or 8 for that, like so many other creatures on this planet. We only got one. No other one-winged creature was at sight, and unknown to the Fawn has ever reached Aluna so far. So, there is no one to ask, no one to copy, no one to look up to or model onto. Surely someone must have seen another one-winged creature at some point in time… and where are all the Elders when you need them!
So, the meadow was cleared to give as much space as possible to the fawn. Hhe stood on one end of the meadow, stretched hheirs wing as hard as hhe could and kept running faster and faster but reached the other side and there was no lift off. The fawn was a bit disappointed at first but hhe was not ready to give up. Now at the other end of meadowland hhe started again running towards where hhe started. Still no lift. Success doesn’t always come with the first trial, sometimes you have to try many times before you succeed in accomplishing something you have never done before. The fawn took a moment to gather hheirself and tried again and again and again. Still we had failure to launch. Not once was the fawn able to rise even the slightest. But the fawn was not beaten up; no, no, no. You see the fawn never thought that just because one had only one wing that one should have two. It also never thought that just because one is a winged creature that one should fly like most winged creatures on this planet. All that means, is that, maybe, just maybe, one’s only wing was not a wing for flight but it was a special wing with a function unknow to us as yet.
Hhe felt from the start that hhe was born different but hhe wasn’t aware as yet how different hhe will grow to be. But hhe is not worried. And so shouldn’t we. You see when you believe that we are as much different as similar and that there is no good or bad in being different, well then, the only thing to worry about is to find out and explore that difference so to learn how it can serve you best. You see, life is mostly about the discovery of new qualities, to learn and to nurture and to use for the greater good of the Universe. And I let you in a little secret, did you know that the Universe likes to be observed and that if you smile at the Universe, it might just smile back at you. And it may just smile at the fawn. But right now, exhausted, the fawn lied down to rest wandering of what else wings could be for and slowing fell into a deep state of rest wondering and dreaming of all other wonderful things hhe can be tried tomorrow and the day after tomorrow… and after… and after… zzzz-zzzz-zzzz...
Meadowland has seasons and has also rain like on our Earth. It is not a magical place. Why do we know that? In a magical place, things appear, disappear, change form and shape just because, for no reason necessarily. Meadowland is not a place like that. It is an evolving place where the sciences have evolved and have infiltrated into all living creatures. Like not so long ago, a new species of flower appeared. It did rain a lot. Water is good of course and very much needed by all creatures. But even on Meadowland, it is also good not to get too wet. No one likes to be soaked and especially when it is cold and when there is no sun to dry up after. So “umbrella flowers” pop up like mushrooms. They are tall, much taller than the 5 petaled-flowers we have met right from the beginning. Now come to think of it, we have yet to name these. Perhaps you can come up with a fitting name for those little fellas! When it rains the umbrella-flowers spread out in the meadow and slowly the 5 petaled-flowers will cluster in small groups underneath them. And what about the fawn you may be wondering? It certainly cannot get too cold and wet either. Well amazingly some umbrella-flowers cluster around him and form a big protective umbrella over it. Slowly our little fawn lies down, the umbrella-flowers come even closer and all just wait for the rain to stop. Some 5 petaled-flowers even huddle around Ieva and find shelter under its wing so to keep it company. And when the rain stops, I can tell you this. It is not usual business. Well only because after the rains, there is simply plenty of playtime to catch up with. After the rains, Meadowland is becoming livelier than ever.
The sun is shining again in Meadowland. Like on our earth, meadowland is getting more daylight and the midday sun is getting hotter. Summer must be on its way and in summer the meadow is in celebration. It celebrates life and lots of different variety of flower join in the festivities. Today we have observed that 2 new comers have germinated... One species has long solid petals that go upwards and downwards and actually, look like a fan and the other are shaped like candy floss but they look prickly and actually are prickly at touch. So careful in not getting too close to these. The “breeze-makers” and the “coolepops” only appear when the temperature rises above unbearable, I have observed. When it gets hot, you know, so hot that you are barely able to stand straight because you are literally pushed to the ground by all those photons coming down on you like a torrential rain, the “breeze-makers” spread out evenly across the meadow and start gently rotating. It looks like the 5-petaled flowers know exactly what that means and it looks like they like it as they seem to perk up. They must not like too hot temperatures. Well who does!
Thanks to special instruments, we now know that they create a gentle funnel of air. They pull the cool air from the upper layers of the atmosphere down on the meadow. But it so gentle that you can’t see it, not unlike our twisters we have here on earth that seem to be getting stronger and stronger due to climate changes. So very soon a cool breeze is slowly remedying against the scorching heat of the sun. But what about the other species that also is new in meadowland - the “coolepops”? They also help against the heat but they take the heat out of the soil you see. Well you can’t see all that but with our instruments we can measure and record particles activity from under the surface and above but to fully understand all this, it sometimes takes a lifetime to learn it all, so complex and technical it is. We will just understand this right now, and that is, that the “Coolepops” get close to the breeze-makers and slowly cool down the soil by extracting the heat and injecting the cold. So you see, they are all working together to keep the place cool. As Professor Geo once mentioned, cooperation gets you in better shape than competition. And who better to trust than Prof Geo who knows so much on shapes. Prof is a real authority on shapes and forms, more than anyone else in this Universe. So when he says something we believe
The days have gone by and our fawn is getting on with whatever young space creatures do at that age, but today with a small difference. There is something in the air that can be sensed from the flowers and the fawn, an excitement, an anticipation… The fawn is low on energy and had been running lower and lower as yet has not be fed since hheirs birth. Have you not wondered on how the fawn feeds? Well I can tell you that the fawn is hungry and in serious need of feeding soon. But Mother is on her way! The flowers can sense it and so can the fawn. Mother must have entered our solar system and must have just passed the outer rim of Aluna’s solar system. The solar system that Aluna belongs to is massive. It is composed of many planets and so many moons. We don’t know from which direction Mother is coming from but Mother is on the way to Aluna. And not empty handed. Mother is coming fully charged. You see these creatures feed on protons found in plasma clouds. Our sun was once a cloud of plasma before it condensed into a very hot mass, a star. Well the sun is full of activated protons which makes them really hot, too hot to feed on. Getting your protons from clouds is much safer, trust me. So, mother must sometimes travel very far to all corners of our universe to find these clouds hhe can feed on. It is a real spectacle when one of those creatures enters a plasma cloud. The elements of the cloud in contact of these creature start to luminesce with all the colours found in the rainbow and more. It is wonderful. Very few have ever witnessed such a spectacle. They glide through the clouds again and again and again to filter out the particles on which they feed on – the protons. Careful not to mixed them up with photons. Protons can be found everywhere, you would not believe but they even come from our rocks on our planet but too few to bother feeding on. These creatures need much more and also they don’t want to feed all day long. When they found a plasma cloud and once they have their fill, well, they go on for a very long time without having to replenish their source of energy. My proof, well, since this story began, the fawn has not fed once and has been living on hheirs reserves which proves my point. Careful observation is key to understanding. Anyway, plasma clouds, protons, are a fantastic source of energy which will last them for a year at least, I believe.
It nearly felt that the entire planet was at a standstill wanting to soak in the love and the peace created by this moment. There is nothing more tender and profound than a bond between a mother and her offspring no matter species there are. It’s Universal. It is true, moments like these are rare and it is good at times to stop and embrace that moment fully. Experiences enrich our being not wallets. And so, for a few days, the fawn and Mother were inseparable. All you could hear is a very faint humming noise. Hummm, hummm, hummm. It was a Happy Hum. It was the protons transferring from Mother to the Fawn. You could not see them or course as they are very, very small but since they were so many you could hear them as they burrowed their passage through the particles that populated the atmosphere of Aluna. Suddenly without warning, Mother spoke. “But my little one, how shall we call you?”. The 5-petaled flowers that were gently going about their business since Mother’s arrival, stopped, on the spot… a name, a name, a name for the fawn… you could start to hear as they repeated the chant “a name, a name, a name for the fawn” and the peaceful silence that was casted over Meadowland since Mother’s arrival was lifted.
Another few days have gone by and the fawn is barely alive. Hhe certainly has not moved much. Still not to worry, we have learned that protons are released by the sun and some rocks. Despite not available at the same level as in plasma clouds, they still can nourish the fawn, even poorly. But one morning, my friends, there was Mother. Mother has landed. It’s indescribable. These creatures stand tall, so tall, you cannot stop being in awe in front of such majesty and beauty. There are flowers running down the back of these creatures, from head to tail, of colours that no imagination can master. The tail, a bouquet of life. Mother is the epiphany of effervescence. Stream of lights are running up and down the legs and body. The wings, once stretched, can cast a shadow bigger than an oak tree. This was mother. Mother came back, of course to bond with hheirs off-spring. “Good morning, my little one” Mother said. The fawn, suddenly energised, got up and got closer to hhe and closer to stop between her front legs and there they stood for a while to greet each other. It was so tender and there was so much love that emanated from this moment that the entire meadow stood still and did not make a sound. Peace and love reigned in meadowland this morning and beyond.
The peacefulness and quietness dissipated swiftly to be replaced by a growing feeling of excitement and anticipation even more so before the Mother landing. But what is going on? Well, let me tell you why right now. A naming requires the presence of none-other than Fleur – the oldest creatures in the entire Universe. Fleur is the Mother of All and she is a she. Fleur is the creature that witnessed all other creature’s creation and rumours has it, that she even witnessed the creation of the Universe herself. But that is just a rumour because, well, it is said that the Universe emerged actually from nothing in a big bang. There was nothing other than Fleur before when suddenly where she was last resting, we could hear a Bang so big with lots of light that spread to all corners of our empty space or was it? Well so the rumour tells us. Actually, some others rudely or mischievously just say that where ever the old girl farts, the nauseous cloud left behind chases empty space away only to fill the space with new celestial bodies. But this is just hearsay as Fleur does not suffer from flatulence only because her physiology doesn’t comprise a digestive system like we know it as humans and as mammals. Fleur and like the fawn and Mother, nourish directly from particle matter found in space not unlike our plants on Earth that nourish from photons in a process called photosynthesis. It is said and now known that Fleur can moved between different levels of spaces – the space between space. Nothing comes from nothing. But we have to leave it to that for the moment as this knowledge is part of a very, very, very advanced lesson only a few of you may follow one day. Myself have yet to follow that lesson.
New flowers are arriving daily at the moment in Meadowland. Professor is also continuing to come and go. This week Professor Geo were teaching us about “triangles” and without a doubt after the class the flowers with the fawn will try to form all the different shapes of triangles. I need to refresh my memory to remember all the different types of triangle but I do remember one type, the isosceles Triangle. It is also called the Golden Triangle. It arrived on Earth a long time ago as we can recognise this shape in various cultures’ architecture going all the way back to Egypt, then Greece and finally Europe in the Middle ages. Thanks to Professor, we have Pyramids, The Pantheon and Notre Dame of Paris. So you see, simple shapes are not to be dismissed, even if we don’t notice them any longer, they are all around us forming the basis of our being. Never forget the simple things of life as they are part of us and made us.
Mother had been here now for a while and suffice to say, the Fawn is fully charged and I am not going into details to tell you what a fully charged fawn can be up to! I will leave it to your imagination. But I can tell you this, Mother may have lost a flower or two, if not three since the fully charged fawn. But it is all part of life and it is certainly a lot of fun, even Mother could not stop smiling at some point despite trying to not let go of hheirs airs of maturity and authority. But there was a moment Mother let go and joined the effervescent joy that the fully charge fawn released. It was infectious, even adult couldn’t resist.
I would like to thank very much some local children that contributed here with their flowers and contributed in their own way towards this story so to speak. It is absolutely extraordinary what young minds can come up with over one weekend. I must admit I had to become very protective of those flowers as unaware to the children, their flowers became quite an attraction to some young fox cubs at night. Some flowers, especially the “Apache Flower” which became the cubs favourite, required a few repair interventions after some tumultuous nights. The cubs were mostly interested however in liking off the remaining sweetness from the bottle caps. Even some 5-petale flowers needed a bit of TLC. But all survived. What are a few bumps and bruises when young… All far too quickly forgotten. In any case, it was all happening in Lambeth last summer. An amusement garden for all, by day and by night.
One morning Fleur was here standing tall in the middle of Meadowland. Fleur was not voluminous, quite on the contrary. She was refined, probably the most refined creature you may ever encounter in this entire universe. She was also the most giving creature in existence participating with all her being into the Creation of which we all belong to. She was a giver not a taker. She was nurturing not controlling. She was order not chaos. These are the things we can put words onto as they are difficult to see. However, when it comes to her appearance, it is probably easier if I show you in pictures what she looks rather than finding words that will not do her justice. Sometimes, linear linguistic thinking can be very limiting in fully appreciating an experience and its beauty. So sometimes, it is better to use just your eyes, but not just any eyes, your objective new eyes, eyes not clouded by preconceptions nor stereotypes. So, close your eyes, clear your mind and appreciate what you see in those pictures.
Fleur is a bit camera shy at the moment but will catch her soon
In the meantime, the chant “… a name for the fawn…” grew stronger and stronger, as the numbers of flowers grew with every passing day and so also the names came in. New flowers dropped in from all corners of Meadowland. What a joy to see Harmony amongst so different species… competition had no place on this planet, indeed. Everyone worked together. Integration not segregation was key to this community. It was a joyous time. And despite being Fleur’s privilege to name creatures on this planet, it did not stop the Flowers to shout out names. It was not being unruly, it was just a bit of organised disorder like we have on this earth with Carnivals. “space” shouted one flower, “Johnsie” another and for a few days, names were shouted aloud. We had “Audrey”, we had “Eva” and we had “Luna”. But Fleur stood still and stoic amongst all this hustle and bustle. Spending so much time in her realm alone, she tremendously enjoys being disturbed by other creatures, by all creatures. She is actually a very good teacher – the best, you might say. You could go to her, and ask her about anything and everything and she will tell you stories about it, stories she loves to tell. She is the greatest story teller ever. You would literally just stop everything to hear her stories. You could also easily think that she is using stories to keep everyone quiet. But I can ensure you that this is not her intention. Who wouldn’t sit quietly and listen to the most amazing stories that this Universe has to offer from the only creature that belongs to beginning of everything everywhere!
And so after stories and name shouting, the moment arrived where the fawn was presented to Fleur by Mother. The fawn kneeled with hheirs front legs and gave Fleur the most courteous bow hhe could master being a youngling and not quite fully understanding what all this fuss is about.
But the fawn tried hheirs best as hhe captured the essence of the moment, of being a very important moment in hheirs life. And the fawn was not in the business of intentionally bringing disappointment and distress to Mother and other creatures. Mother spoke again: “My dear Fleur, Your Grace, it pleases me, to, once more, stand in front of you and present you with a youngling. How shall it be named?” And Fleur replied: “My Dear Child, it warms me to see you again with child and to sense you so splendidly flourishing. The sight of You brings joy and peace to so many but mostly to myself. Now let’s see this youngling.” The fawn was all this time kneeled right in front of her, but since Mother is so tall, Fleur mostly inclined upwards and hasn’t paid much attention to the youngling. This is about to change, as she started to incline downwards towards the fawn. I know she was, you could just feel it. You see, Fleur doesn’t have eyes like you or me… but still she was able to sense everything around her. And if you had eyes, you could see from her gait that her attention went from the Mother to the Youngling… Also she didn’t have a mouth but words resonated in all the living creatures around her… was it telepathy? We don’t know, we just knew that words and sentences appeared in our heads… sometimes even images. They appeared in my head too while observing this scene only perhaps because I have been on this planet so long that my brain changed to be more receptive and attuned to the surroundings. Born with a difference, some earthlings perceive the world around them, not lesser nor better, but just differently than most. Variation is part of Universe and key for evolving. So, have a go at sensing Fleur… and perhaps, just perhaps, you may not need to read what follows… but don’t worry if you can’t right now, because like with everything across the Universe, practice makes perfect… and there is plenty of time to practice if you chose to give yourself time to do so but not today.
Today is not about you nor us but about the Fawn, the fawn yet to be named. And that moment has come. Suddenly, every creature in Meadowland stood still, so still that you could not sense a single movement, a single atom. You could say that this was the moment where the entire planet stood still, if not the entire Universe. A solemn moment of quietness where all creatures and others were looking outwards and were fully present and engaged in the moment where a new creature, a one-winged fawn will be presented to the Entire Universe. After a moment slowly, you could feel slow vibrating particles emanating from Fleur… and they were getting stronger and stronger to the point where words began to resonate in each creature in Meadowland and beyond. Some even said that creatures on other Moons nearby could make out what follows:
“The Child shall be called Life
Or IEVA.
As it has brought Meadowland to life,
It will bring life to the rest of the planet,
And beyond.
Child, Ieva, come closer
You shall be blessed,
Go Forth
And Spread Life
Where there is none.
But there is more.
For your courage and
Strength
I have a gift for you
Brought from the future
A bionic growing wing
You shall become a 2-winged space creature
You will travel far far away
Do lots of good deeds.
But not before
Some more growing up to do
With many, many adventures right here on Aluna.
Promise me, Child!”
And so were the words that resonated in all of us. No one moved except Ieva who stood up and stretched two beautiful wings, wide… and we looked and we saw the most fulfilled creature ever, proud, so happy and content with two wings…. One silvery-grey and the other pure white… and if you stood back and looked from a distance high up… all you could see in that moment was a blue, a silver-grey and a white dot radiating in the dark, not unlike our earth with its moon and our ever-growing International Space Station. And so ends the story of Ieva’s coming to life but her life story, the becoming of Ieva is just beginning.
Chapter 2
The business of growing up
Growing up is a business that many of us can’t wait to have behind us, especially when it comes to humans on earth. We always seem to be desperately wanting to be older, taller, wiser, a step closer to adulthood. It is true they are not easy years especially the sharp ascent to the puberty threshold. Each year you wake up in a body never quite the same. Human earthlings usually avoid inconsistencies whenever possible. We look upon change not necessarily as an opportunity to thrive and gain new experiences but rather more as an obstacle or a doorstop. But not for Ieva. Ieva enjoys every moment of hheirs growing up. Mostly staying around the nursery meadow to begin with, Ieva is slowly moving away to explore new ecosystems whilst of course doing some more growing up. Two distinctive features are becoming so apparent that you could hardly miss them. First a neck is started to grow and second a luminescent back. You can start now to see the energy flowing back and forth hheirs body, well mostly at the back for the moment.
The Fields of Diversity
Ieva’s neck is growing taller, with each week passing but still has not reached its full length. Ieva has continued hheir journey and is now approaching the Fields of Diversity. But what are the fields of diversity you may wonder. Well they are fields, very large fields with no end at sight, filled with flowers, nothing but flowers and flowers of all sorts. Once a year these fields that are usually empty get filled with flowers of all genus. Once a year, species after species of flowers come here to gather, to exchange and to prosper. You can say that they come here to mix it up and create new species all a little bit different. This is why these fields are called Fields of Diversity. You see the more diverse a population of the same species gets, the better its chances of surviving adversity. This is the place where they grow stronger. But also, this is the place where you can count all the flowers of Aluna well if you are possessed with the data collection bug and wish to spend a lifetime counting. But not us, so let us enjoy the experience.
The flowers were mostly white. Nothing too extra-ordinary about that you might say. We have white flowers back on earth like snowdrops, daisies or lilies. But you see they did not arrive to the fields, white. They slowly changed colour once assembled. I must tell you that the flowers of Aluna can change colour as they see fit. I’ve seen them changing. The fields of Diversity underwent a radical transformation into a white blanket that disappeared into the horizon. You see by being mostly all white, they are sending back all the ghastly rays from the suns Aluna revolves around so that Aluna doesn’t get too warm, not unlike what our ice caps do back on earth. It was a unanimous communal decision without reservations – the right thing to do! But not just for their existence, this was also a very important contribution towards all life forms living on Aluna. Ah well, they are doing their bit to avoid a climate emergency. Accountability, Responsibility and Sustainability is their motto if you must know.
This week is very special, there is like a festival going on. It’s the festival of the fields of Diversity. It’s were all flowers exchange pollen. Pollen is a seedling. It’s like “the birds and the bees” story earthling parents tell their children if you wish to know more about the specifics. But for now, we shall just be impressed with the general view of it all. There is like a nonstop mist of all the colours of the rainbow floating above the fields with sudden random small explosions, here and there, of more colourful mist, pow, pow, pow, till suddenly a gentle breeze begins to blow over the fields only to settle all down which only signals the end of the big gathering of the flowers of the fields of Aluna. In a very short time, the flowers disperse in small groups only to leave the fields of Diversity empty to rest, till next time.
At the Forest Edge of Aluna
...
Acknowledgements
First I would like to thank everyone that stopped so far and showed an interest in this project. All I am trying to say with this project is that it doesn't cost much to embellish and enhance our living spaces and mood. All you need is a bit courage, initiative and creativity. In respect to that, this experimental community project proved to be successful and everyone around played their part in this success.
Here are just a few thank yous. I am grateful mostly to the passing children and parents, to David (local gardener) for providing me with lots of flowers, to Nothing Hill Genesis for allowing me to carry on with this project, to the gardeners for not complaining that I interrupted their routine. A very big thank you to the Kennington Park Cafe for keeping their mozzarella white buckets for me. I am absolutely so grateful with providing so much material to explore with my art. Also a big think you to Spring Garden Nursery for providing plants towards Ieva as a teenager.
Finally another I am very grateful to Mathilde Bleuchot for kindly providing the background motif on this webpage especially designed for this story. I am proud to say that Mathilde is family. Mathilde has just been awarded her Art Degree in textile design at the Haute Ecole des Arts de Mulhouse (Alsace). A truly gifted designer. Thank you Mathilde.