By Marcia Fargnoli
One upon a time, there was a beautiful ocean current named
Benguela. She was one of the greatest
caretakers on Earth. She gave the most
abundant food on the whole planet and provided free meals to the tiniest and
most gigantic creatures in the entire world.
Animals from across the Earth traveled far distances to visit her. Dolphins, whales, seals, turtles, birds and
fish were among her children.
Beautiful Benguela was such an amazing caretaker that she
even provided water to those that lived on the land. The tiniest of water
droplets danced on her surface and moved across the parched landscape. Those in search of freshwater and food found
that she provided everything they needed to survive.
She was a great artist and at the end of every day she took
the time to create the most beautiful paintings with the sun. The colours were extraordinary. Some nights she was covered in a blanket of
mist and other nights the stars shined brighter over her than anywhere else.
She was an exceptional musician. Her
waves hummed the most delightful songs by day and by night. She never stopped singing. She was inspiring
and offered solace to countless weary souls.
She was joyful. She tickled toes with her cool comforting
waves. The children spent countless days
befriending her. They played for hours
on end and lost themselves in childhood games. Her waves danced continuously
and some went out on boards and boats and danced with her. She made people smile. She was distinctively
special and something unique and unmistakable about her resonated with anyone
who took the time to notice.
Yet there were others who didn't care. In fact they only wanted to make money from
her. They dumped poison into her, threw
garbage at her, blasted for oil, and cut and dug away at her floor. They took more food than they needed and they
searched endlessly for anything to bring money.
Greed ran rampant. Those in
search of wealth didn't understand her nor did they even seem to have a heart
to care about what they were doing to her.
The gluttonous humans took almost everything from her,
leaving her a shadow of what she once was.
Her children started dying. Whales, dolphins, birds, seals, fish and all
kinds of creatures washed up dead onto the shore. Yet, the ravenous continued, they said it’s
normal. They didn't understand the animals were warning them to stop.
Beautiful Benguela was so magical and gave so generously.
Why would anyone want to harm her? The people who understood and loved her
dearly knew something was terribly wrong. They cried vast tears each night for
her. The children wished upon a star
that she would no longer have to face such abuse.
Some people fiercely defended her. They called and they cried, but the bullies
continued. She fought to stay alive for
years, but Beautiful Benguela could not survive the constant torment from the
bullies and eventually she collapsed. This is how it came to be that we lost
the world’s most beautiful and generous caretaker.
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