A Transition Tale

Transition Network as advanced by Rob Hoskins is a detailed approach to meeting profound challenges that society faces going into an unknown future. It is importance to envision our future prospects by telling stories in order to create worthwhile and inspiring possibilities. Here is my Flash Fiction submission to this end. I hope you like it.

Once upon a time a magnificent beauty was held captive in a dark
dungeon by evil Overlords. Gaia was ill-treated and defiled simply
because she had what the evil Overlords lusted for.

While she languished, the Overlords squabbled over ways to off her.
One Overlord, Peak Oil, threatened to deprive her of energy until she
starved. Another, Global Warming, wanted to turn the heat up higher
and higher until she perished. “Take her wealth and watch her die of
poverty and destitution,” screamed Economic Collapse.

In the nearby town lived a Poet who loved Gaia. Saddened by Gaia’s
suffering he longed to free her from her plight. He thought and
thought but found no way to free Gaia from extinction at the hands of
the evil Overlords.

I am only a poet, he said to himself. Words are all I know. I am
neither King nor President, not even Mayor or Alderman. What can I do?

At wits end, he resolved to write the story of Gaia and instill in it
the sacred spirit of empowerment by using all his imagination and all
his faith and love. With all his heart, he wrote and wrote until he
had created a very special story.

He read this story to a neighbor who declared it to be a wonderful
story and he showed it to his wife. She liked it too and asked the
poet to read it at her sewing circle. When he did so, they asked for
copies for their husbands and friends. Now dozens were reading his
marvelous story and telling scores more…

In time, the Poet, inspired with hope, was reading his story to a
gathering of hundreds of thousands in the great public square. The
people were so moved by the story they marched on the castle of the
evil Overlords in protest and demanded Gaia’s release.

The Overlords sneered at their petitions and ordered henchmen to dump raw sewage and everything vile and toxic over the parapets and onto the protesting throngs below. The people were so insulted and angered by these odious deeds that they rose up to overthrow the Overlords and banished them forever.

Epilogue

Now truth be told, t’wer a long and difficult struggle to rid the land
of the evil Overlords. But by unity of purpose and perseverence the
people overcame all obstacles and inaugurated their new leaders:
Visioning, Networking, Truth-Telling, Learning and Love…

And one sunny day, when all this had come to pass, the Poet and Gaia
were sipping sassafras tea made with pure water drawn from a crystal
clear babbling brook. He told of how he wrote her story and how one
thing had lead to another and at long last she is now free from the
clutches of the evil Overlords.

Gaia immediately realizes the significance of this story on an even
deeper level.

“What’s the title?” she asks.

To honor her and show his appreciation, the Poet presents her with his
original as a special gift.

“It’s called ‘A Transition Tale’.”

© 2013 Frank Rummel