It's been five years since my little brother asked me the mind boggling question that would upset my stomach and challenge everything I have known.

That evening, as thunder rumbled in the sky like a furious king, and rain answer its call with heavy downpour, leaving  goosebumps, Jachi wriggled into my bosom and hid himself.

" What if the earth could speak?" He asked.

I was lost and stuck in the highways of my brain networks trying to weigh the gravity of his words.

" You know, when the sea  speaks, floods come. When the skies talks, rain pours. 

What if the earth could speak?"

" I can't imagine," I replied, and lulled him to sleep.

Five years later, I'm standing at the brink of depression with nothing but guilt and anger wrapped around me.

" This war could have been prevented. We didn't, now we must face the judgement for the blood we have shed," Lieutenant April berated the general. 

She pulled her badge and tossed it at me. 

“ Keep it. After all, you have fought hard for it.”

I never liked the woman. To me, she was competition. But when the badge landed safely within my grasp, I felt an overwhelming emptiness.

" General, we have to stop... before it's late." I said to the bald headed commanded of our already sunken ship.

He didn't respond. He simply stared at the screen. The death toll and casualties of a war that was never meant to happen rebuked him.

I was court-martialed for crimes against  human rights, but even that was not enough to pay the debt I owed.

Barely a week later, Jachi was diagnosed with cancer. It wasn't age or infection. It was exposure to UV radiation. 

I never imagined that nature could bite back. But it did.

Our hedge of protection was coming off all thanks to us, and mother nature had left the floods, the rain, and the intense heat as a red beam.

A week later, I accompanied Jachi to the hospital for treatment. Leaning close, I whispered to him “ the Earth has been speaking long before now. We haven't been listening. I haven't been listening, but I will from henceforth.”

I only hope I would live long enough to calm her wrath.