The Great Race of Life

Long ago, Man, Beast, Flora, Bird, Fish, and Bacteria were good friends. They sat on a red tiled roof, overlooking the vast landscape. One day, Goddess Earth, Grand Universe, and the Gods announced a race that would change their lives. Father Sun, Mother Moon, and the Ocean Emperor would also be there to watch and judge. The six friends accepted and got ready. The race began and soon, they were off. They came across an impenetrable mountain, too high and steep for them to climb. The only way past was a large hole underground in front of them. Together, they jumped down the gaping hole and swam through the groundwater below.

The deities watched to see who would come up first to the surface of Time. Bacteria arrived first and kept evolving as they ran. Fish and Flora rose around the same time and continued onward. Bird arrived and Beast made it shortly afterward. It was several cosmic moments before Man finally emerged. As the race continued on, Father Sun noticed Flora had great endurance over most of the other racers. However, even Flora was getting tired fast. Her leaves were turning wrinkled and brown, and she soon felt hundreds of years old. A concerned Sun looked at Flora and then had an idea. Sun bathed Flora in his rays, giving her newfound strength, bright colors and better growth than ever before. Soon, Flora had converted Sun’s energy into her own. Flora saw her friends falling behind. “This isn’t fair,” she said to herself. “I don’t want them to exhaust themselves like that.” To give her friends strength and endurance, she spread leftover oxygen to each of them. Soon the race was even once again.

The racers kept going until reaching a fork in the road. One path was a thin river hidden by the shade. The central path was covered with grass and rocks. The third path led to an erupting volcano nearby. The friends had to act fast.

Bacteria couldn’t decide which path to take. Then Bacteria thought, “Why not take all three?”

Bacteria split up into several forms and zoomed down all three paths. Not hesitating, Beast, Flora, and Man ran straight ahead. Fish was about to follow them, when he noticed the hidden river to the left.

“I’ll take the less beaten track,” he stated.

Fish jumped into the river and swam down it with all his might. Feeling content in his new environment, he decided to stay underwater forever.

“I don’t need to keep running after them,” Bird then thought. “I’ll just fly instead!”

Bird grew a pair of wings and took off. He enjoyed the new feeling of freedom. He looked down at his racers who were now just below him. Beast looked up in shock and yelled insults at Bird, angry that he would cheat and skip over the land. “I can’t hear you from up here!” Bird cawed. Bird flew ahead and left his friends behind.

Goddess Earth became concerned that Bacteria would keep splitting across the land without any purpose. With a snap of her fingers, Bacteria transformed into two mighty brothers. The younger brother was highly curious about the world around him. He wanted to merge not only with the land, but with the organisms inhabiting it. He then split himself into dozens of places, merging with a host of living things. It wasn’t long before he merged with Fish, Flora, Beast, Bird, and Man. Sensing good curiosity in him, his friends allowed him to merge and protect them. Bacteria would help fight off foreign invaders, while his friends would provide him with energy from food. However, the older Bacteria brother was the opposite. He expressed disgust at any organism that was different from himself. Instead of being curious and harmonious, he wanted their energy for himself. To him, other life forms were inferior edible objects. Getting excited and battle-hungry, he entered his competitors in addition to other living beings, attempting to make them ill and steal their life forces. To this day, the brothers are locked in an endless battle over the possession of life.

It wasn’t long before the finish line was approaching. Once the racers made it past, their fates would be sealed by the higher powers.

“Beast!” Man cried. “I can’t keep up with you on these two legs. Provide me with some support.”

“I don’t think so,” Beast replied. “I am going to win this race to prove that I am the highest animal.”

Fish and Bird were already ahead of everyone else.

“Please, Beast,” pleaded Man.

Beast sighed and said “Very well.”

Beast glowed in a white light and bright circles flew from him and landed beside Man. The circles morphed into dogs, cats, birds, and all forms of pets.  The pets were loving and encouraging toward Man, even helping him hunt and spy on the rest of the racers.

 Sensing distrust, the Beast snarled. “You dare use my kind to do your bidding? That’s very sly of you, to use your new ‘pets’ to try and defeat us!” Beast dodged an attack from one of the man’s hunting dogs. Beast looked at his former friend one last time. “It is done. You’re on your own from now on.”

Filled with a new hunger for power and knowledge, Man formed a variety of tools from his brain; spears, wheels, metal, and eventually, electricity. The more he used his magic, the faster Man seemed to create. Earth Goddess begged him to stop, but Man would not listen.  The Ocean Emperor became concerned for Man as well. While Fish became a part of him, the other racers would be welcome to visit and take brief breaks. Man, however, was a rather rude guest. He stole the fish, extracted resources from the ocean floor and vowed to learn all of the Emperor’s secrets. On land, Man carved deep trenches into the Earth Goddess’ skin, cut down trees, and was soon ahead of all the other racers. “Try and beat my divine intelligence!” he called back to them.

Flora soon burst into rainy tears. “Oh Man,” she sobbed. “Why are you doing this? Are we still friends? I thought we were supposed to race together.” Indeed, Earth Goddess herself was disappointed at the unfair sportsmanship.

Finally, the six racers made it past the finish line. “It is done,” said the Gods. “Based on the results, you all will go your separate ways, yet be able to be in contact with each other.”

“Fish, Flora, Bird, and Beast,” announced Sun and Moon. “You all have passed this ultimate test. For that, you may pass and live your lives as you see fit.”

Then Grand Universe, the leader of them all, said a final message to the racers. “Before you go, listen carefully. Your race has only begun. Though you may have passed the finish line here, there is no ending out there. I warn you that all of you will eventually get tired and not be able to race anymore. I am sure many of you have already noticed that fact. Therefore, you must be able to create others like yourselves who will take your place. Likewise, they will need to rely on other living things to continue the race. The cycles of creation and destruction for you have now begun.” The stars in the universe then burst into fiery dust and entered into the six racers. They were granted the ability to reproduce and pass down their knowledge to future generations. Fish, Beast, Flora, and Bird bowed respectfully and disappeared into the void ahead.

“Bacteria,” said Earth Goddess. “I have given you the duty to support all other life forms in this world. Alas, I have made the mistake of forming your older brother. Allow me to vanquish him where he…” Before she could finish, the older Bacteria brother had already moved ahead. The younger Bacteria brother chased after him.

“Man,” said the Gods, before he could move through the gate. Man looked up at the deities before him. “Once you move past this boundary, you will have two choices. You can either restart the race to make amends with your friends and the land.” Man looked behind him and saw a hill of sludge hovering over the village that he and his friends were in before the race. “Or,” Earth Goddess added, “You can continue your pursuit of power and knowledge, unaware of the consequences until it is too late. Man then saw a vision of him and his companions on the roof being devoured by the flooding sludge, the sludge that he had caused during the race. “You and your friends will reunite with me soon,” said Grand Universe as a last farewell. Without looking back, Man continued on his way.