Totem Tales
an excerpt

Turtle: Mother Earth: Gaia
In the beginning, in the world of barren, there were only water creatures. Crocodiles, alligators, snakes, fish, turtles and water bugs roamed the earth's watery landscape. The world was young and as such, had very little land.
One young turtle name Gaia loved to look out at the land. Every morning and every night, under the sun and moon, she would swim up to the top of the water and climb onto a log that had fallen there. There she would lie, watching the lands spring up out of the water.
One day there was a terrible rumbling. Loud booms and light flashed across the tops of the water and scared all the water animals into hiding. There came a great splash as a giant brown arm fell into the water at the shoreline and became stuck there from the muck and grasses. The next morning the sun shone brightly as ever and the animals came out of hiding. Gaia, always curious, swam to the top of the water to investigate. What she discovered there was a log. She didn't know what a log was, but she knew that it didn't breathe and the only movements it made was directly accompanied with the movements of the water as the cool wind blew over her glistening shell. The other animals shied away from the log, not knowing what it was. Gaia swam back to them and told them what she had found. “You must swim up and see!” she excitedly told them. But the other animals were not interested. So Gaia swam up by herself and climbed on top of the log to see what the top looked like. Once she was up there, she was shocked to discover that some land had popped up around her; land that had large logs shooting out it and towards the sky. They had feet that dug into the earth and arms that were covered in supple green scales. As she looked out in awe, the world rumbled again and more land sprang up out of the water right before her eyes.
Each day, Gaia would wait until she felt the rumbles in the water the vibrations in her shell. The other animals would swim away and hide, frightened of the unknown vibrations. She tried to tell them all about the magnificent things she was witnessing but they didn't believe her. They told her, “we are water creatures and this is where we belong. There is nothing out there that interests us. It should be the same with you. This is how our world is; it's been this way since The First and it shall be this until The Last.” But Gaia wasn't the same as everyone else; she cared what was happening and longed to explore more. She took to spending every morning and every night, under the sun and moon, lying atop the log and watching the world be built. She longed for someone to join her, a friend or maybe something more. She felt desperately alone. She thought the land was beautiful and wanted so badly to go out and see more. Her heart was so big and she wanted to love so much, but nobody would let her love them, simply because she wanted to learn more.
One day Gaia was lying on top of the log, desperately alone, watching the land. She had waited for the rumbles in her shell that day but none came. So she had swam up to the shore and climbed onto her log and was waiting for more land, but it appeared that the land had stopped being built. In the distance she could see bright colors and great giant mounds of land that went on and on. She lay on top of her log and began to cry. As her tears fell into the water beneath her, she lowered her head to look back at her land. As her tears hit the top of the water, she noticed the ripples and for the first time, she didn't look through the water but at the water and saw the top. She had never noticed all that she could see just by changing her focus away from what she was used to looking at. She watched in wonder and awe at all the things she had never noticed. She could see the ridges in the water that her tears had caused, moving out in ever expanding circles; she could see her own reflection staring back at her, she could see the arms with green scales that soared above her. And as she looked beneath her, she saw the sky that was above her. She watched the clouds move and shift. And then one of them smiled. She gasped and looked up, only to see Father Sky looking back down at her.
“Gaia,” he said in his kind voice. “I am Father Sky and I have been building the world. I have watched you as you watched my work and I have felt your awe and your desire to learn more. I have also felt your tears, gentle one, and I was drawn to you by your heart's wish.”
“My heart's wish?” Gaia asked,
“Dry your tears Gaia and listen to my words. I am builder of this world, earth maker and the creator. But I have finished my work for now. I shall need help with my next course of action. I will be creating more animals and animals that stand on two feet and speak that I shall call humans. I need a heart that’s big enough to hold all I create within, to mother it and nourish it, one who will connect to the lands I create and help others connect as well. I need one who will learn the lands, know the lands and speak for the lands when the humans ask their questions. I need one who will respond in the way of the land and become the symbol of the land, sea and sky for others to look upon.”
Tiny Gaia felt the need to pull into her shell, but she stood on her log, her little feet gripping the wet bark beneath her and angled her head up as far as her neck could stretch to see Father Sky. “There’s more land to be built once you have this?” she asked.
“Oh yes. There will be many beautiful things, big and little alike that I shall add upon the world. But I need someone to be the caretaker of the lands, who would care for it with my nature in heart and mind. You, Gaia. Yours heart and spirit is the one that I need. I will take you away from this pond, from this log and I will give you the entire world, for billions of years to come. Will you accept my gift?”
“But I’m so little and slow, how would I ever accomplish anything so great?”
“Do not second guess yourself, young Gaia. You are slower than others, it is true. And you are very low to the ground. It is these qualities in you that make it possible for you to hear me when others would rush about their day, ignoring all signs I lay before them.” Lord of the Rings quote? Even the smallest person can change the course of the future – smallest can change the world.
Gaia looked back down into the water where the fish, snake and others swam. No one had missed her all day. No one wanted to join her and not one of them wanted to learn of what else lie out there. She looked back up at Father Sky. “If I stay here, I will be lonely for the rest of my life, will wonder always about the treasures that live in the mists beyond the water’s edge. If I go with you, I will never die, will never stop learning and will never not have anyone to love and care for.”
Father Sky nodded. “And they will love you in return. They will be stunned by the beauty that you will give and will honor your symbol until The Last.”
“I accept then,” Gaia said. She was excited and nervous, but she knew her decision was a right one, and that it was a profound one.
Father Sky smiled and the sun shone more brightly than Gaia ever remembered having seen it. “Then close your eyes, gentle one, and feel my breath on your shell. You will be mother to this earth. You will come to be known as Mother Nature.”