Earth: A Brief History
Sahil Agrawal
Sometimes, I forget the loneliness and the lack of control I have over myself and transcend to the memories I had made billions of years ago. Yet it feels only like yesterday. I see through the eyes of dust particles as we gathered and clumped together to form one collective consciousness. We now were one omnipresent being as metals welded and formed my heart. My bones then followed shortly after to form my protective mantle. However, from this singular moment, I would walk down a long, tenuous path that would lead to my downfall: life.
It all somehow began with a single cell born of the poisonous, choking gases in my environment which were emitted from protrusions in my skin called volcanoes. It became more biologically diverse as daughter cells kept multiplying into more and more. The first entity became known as ‘the god-cell’ and I watched with bated breath to see what this other god could create. It felt like we worked together as I made environments and it made the beings to inhabit my various biomes. From a singular unicellular being sprang many multicellular organisms as they moulded their inner-biochemical structures to suit what they inhabited. They would develop webbed feet for the oceans or wings to escape predators.
For the first time in eons this feeling of loneliness within the vastness of space faded. They were also entertaining as they would constantly devour each other and nurture their offspring in a rat race called survival of the fittest.
The age of Mammalia began soon after the age of dinosaurs and I began to see the conflicting sides of evolution as they produced these small creatures known as humans. Humans had no physical prowess and were devoured endlessly. However, to my surprise I saw something which I recognized in myself: intelligence and sentience or so I thought.
They used intelligence in a much more radical way than I though. They developed tools to trap, tame and kill predators. They slowly ascended the food chain as their numbers grew and their intelligence sharpened. They had soon cordoned themselves from the rest of the animal kingdom and developed strange habits such as covering themselves.
Yet my journey of self-discovery progressed in leaps and bounds too.
Humans multiplied relentlessly and became the most powerful beings. They colonised my landmass and the tranquillity of nature was replaced by urbanisation. Nature’s survival of the fittest regime was replaced by a society of co-operation and diplomacy. The most drama I saw was in a mere boardroom.
However, as time progressed, I realised that humans were drilling into me. Emissions and waste choke my throat. Where blisters and carbuncles clump together, large sores form. My resources are drained. I grow angrier by the day. I am sick and quake with fever. I sneeze hurricanes and tsunamis and bleed lava. I have become a slave to the usurper: humanity. My greatest hope perhaps lies in humanity abandoning me to plague some other planet.