The Perfect Ending

The beauty and abundance of the Earth has been destroyed by men ruthlessly ravaging the earth for its resources. Gomathi Sridevi spins a scenario where the last man on earth is brought face to face with the fruits of his own misdeeds.

Dear Buds,

Let me introduce myself. I am the creator of this world. This letter will be delivered to the last species to go extinct. And if you are reading this, you know why you got this letter. Yes, you will be the last one to leave this world.

Alright, now let's jump into the letter. Over the past few decades, I have had bad feelings about the future of the earth. One knew that whenever there was a problem, a superhero would arise. And so, the world would be saved by the heroes. So, I created heroes. And their duty was to protect and save the world. But unfortunately, they became the reason for the destruction of the world.

It took me a million years to create the perfect ecosystem and biodiversity. And today's world looks nothing compared to how it looked at the beginning. To understand the current situation of disrepair of the earth, one must know about its past. So, I will narrate the conditions and events that led to the destruction of the Utopian world I had created.

Let's travel back in time.

I created this world suitable for all living things to survive here. Some hunted for their survival, and some ate what they had. The resources were abundant, and life was going smoothly. They were satisfied with what they had, and nobody asked for more. There was no need to snatch away other’s belongings. The ecosystem was well constructed, and the food chain made everyone dependent on the other. The earth was rich in biodiversity, and natural resources were used by everyone equally on this planet.

Animals roamed freely, and some lived in caves for their safety. Suddenly there was a change in the system. The characters which I created, invented fire through stones and came out of their caves in darkness. The animals which were free started to hide from them. Day by day, they improved their way of living. They started their civilization, and there was an increase in the population. Because of the growth, the needs increased.

The hunting and gathering society changed to an agriculture society. They used animals as a key for their production and made money through it. Their production increased as there was frequent rainfall and climatic conditions helped them in producing more. But because of lots of inventions, they started to work less and earn more.

And I think now you know who I am referring to. Yes, It’s YOU, human beings. Should I say you became smart or lazy?

It began when the so-called industrial revolution came into action. You started to harm the environment in the name of inventions and technologies. Due to this, there was a change from human power to machine power. And this led to urbanization. You started to move from rural areas to urban areas, and population growth began to increase. Overpopulation led to over usage of resources.

For your survival, you built houses, and factories on the cultivable land and water bodies; this impacted the environment. The chemicals used in factories increased air and water pollution. Every day there were new diseases and new inventions to prevent it. But you never looked for a permanent solution.

You locked animals in zoos and circus and used them as a source of entertainment. You used plastic carelessly and littered the earth with unwanted plastic. Plastic accumulated in oceans and on beaches leading to a global crisis. Marine animals were found dead because of plastic consumption, and you became the reason for their untimely death. Within a few years, you ended up with a pound of plastic for every three pounds of fish in the sea.

You celebrated the evolution of humans. Man evolved but man’s greed was not assuaged. The wants were never satisfied.

Slowly, the rivers, lakes, and ponds dried up. There was no water for farming and irrigation. Then people started to buy drinking water. This was a red flag that suggested that earth entered the danger zone, yet no one cared.

Because of the change in the climatic conditions, living became hard. It was either too hot or too cold, so you invented air conditioners and heaters to make your life more comfortable. Global warming is not recent. It had insidiously reached out its tentacles as soon as you started overusing the abundant resources I had provided.

You eliminated the forest areas without thinking of wildlife. Many species have gone extinct because of your carelessness and greediness. You witnessed their disappearance without a care. They died so you could live in comfort.

This land hasn’t seen infrequent rainfall for years. You cut down trees for your production and construction of buildings. You did not leave an example of how a tree would look like for your future generations. It was easy for you to destroy the forest areas. But have you ever thought how many years it took for its growth? The Amazon Forest, which holds a massive amount of the world’s oxygen, was burning. The home to million species of plants and animals destroyed within a few hours. It was a human-made disaster. You cleared the forest for your cattle to graze. But you never gave a thought about the number of living things dying because of your action.

Now they are selling the air in a bottle to breathe, and still, there is no change in human behavior. You could have hidden seeds in the soil instead of protecting your assets and money in the locker. All of you are wearing air masks for your survival. Soon you will have to carry an oxygen tank on your back. No one tried to save anything for future generations. Will there be any left after you have ravaged the land?

The world, which was rich in, natural vegetation and wildlife is no more. From up here, all I see is empty lands, dried lakes, and rivers. It is dark because of the pollution, and living beings are trying hard to survive in this polluted world.

You looked for temporary happiness. You had all the money, but there was no life. Now you are running out of time, food, energy, and everything. Nothing is left here now. Are you not satisfied yet? You didn't take any steps to prevent the destruction of earth or to save the earth. Because of your selfishness, many species went extinct. You built your habitat by destroying other inhabitants and their habitats. And you never thought about your future. Do you even have one? This generation would be the last to survive on this planet.

You poor souls!!

No one will be there to bury you. The irony is that you destroyed the world for your survival, but you are not going to survive to enjoy this so-called luxurious living. You wasted your time and energy on temporary things and lost your happiness in search of a materialistic life.

Your greed will disappear once you disappear from this world. You never took steps to clean the mess you made. You destroyed and removed whatever came in your way. You bring nothing to this world and leave with nothing, yet you tried to dominate this world.

You had many chances to sort the mess you had created. I thought you would realize your mistakes and would stop harming the environment. But you never did. The human race was supposed to save the world, not be the reason for its destruction.

Had you not been selfish, had you not destroyed the forest, had you not overused the resources, had you not polluted the environment, and had you cared for other living beings, the world could have been safe now.

You never cared about others. It was always about you, only YOU.

That was a long narrative, I admit. But it is the unvarnished truth. You can ignore and eliminate it, but you can't hide it. The purpose of this letter was not to make you feel guilty but to make you realize your misdemeanors and wrongdoings.

You spoiled this beautiful earth and now you are searching for another planet to ravage. Are you planning to do the same things on that planet, which you did here? I can't sit idle and wtch another destruction.

Dear Humankind, your game’s up. You are the last species to disappear from this world. Sadly, there won’t be any evidence of human existence on this earth. And you are the reason for your tragic life story.

Let this world rest in peace.

With patience,

Your Creator.