Author Information
Earth’s Mistake
Jorge Luis Domene
Bethzabe Anaya
Earth, son of Etropeus, the god of the universe, received a truly godly gift for his 5000th birthday: a planet. Various gods gathered together and sprung oceans, mountains and jungles from the once fruitless and barren land of the planet.
The young Earth loved to play on his new planet. After many centuries, however, he began to get bored; his planet needed something more. It needed someone else. So, he asked his uncle Zion, god of life, for a companion with whom to inhabit his rich planet. Zion immediately refused. Life, he said, was not something to play games with.
Livid with frustration, Earth decided to take the reins of his planet into his own hands and create life on his own. Consummated with rage, Earth gave birth to numerous creatures, which he called animals. He created animals that could soar, freely, hundreds of feet up in the air. He forged animals that could breathe under the sea and swim and incredible speeds. He made animals that lived in the land and could run great distances, dig holes and even climb up trees. At the end of the day, Earth felt content and satisfied with his hard work.
Soon, however, Earth was on the verge of regretting his actions. These creates were not at all like the gods that his uncle Zion created. Earth did not have the necessary power or experience to give birth to such perfect life forms. These animals were weak and dim-witted.
Greed ran throughout Earth’s heart and he began to use the animals as slaves. The animals performed Earth’s will without question or hesitation and they loved their god. They did not fight or argue, for all their activities revolved around the mutual purpose of serving god.
Etropeus became enraged as soon as he found out what was going on with his son. Earth had brought life to the planet, an action that only Zion was allowed to perform. For this, Etropeus banished his son for eternity, not allowing him to visit his planet ever again.
The animals did not know what to do now; their inner selves began to unravel as they were freed from their sole and mindless objective. They fought and killed each other for land, food and shelter. Their hearts held the hatred and fury with which Earth had originally created them. They were selfish and corrupt and only cared for themselves.
Etropeus named the planet after his son, Earth, and ordered the planet to be left alone by the gods forever. This planet now stands as a warning to every other god of what greed and anger is able to achieve.
