She sat under one of the palm trees and admired the beauty of the complex ecosystem. Despite the scorching sun, the garden thrived with life. She could see a bird go for an insect, butterflies chase flies, bees pollinate the flowers and the goats and sheep grazing in the open field. This must be heaven, she thought ruefully as a lizard struggling to swallow a praying mantis caught her fancy. She was still admiring the biodiversity when he joined her.
“Are all these goats yours?”
“Yes, why do you ask?”
“Well, nothing. It’s …it’s just that …well, never mind.”
“You were wondering whether they wouldn’t wander away or get lost, weren’t you?”
“Yes. Where…where is their keeper?”
“They have no keeper.”
She picked up the hand fan. “It’s hot.”
“Scalding indeed,” he agreed and sat down beside her. “It is one of the consequences of the greenhouse effect.”
Here he goes again, she thought. 
“Have you ever imagined what it must be like being blades of grass?” 
“What?” 
“Have you ever imagined being roasted to death by the relentless sun day after day, burning you to death, yet unable to run for shelter because you are chained by your roots?”
“Well, luckily I can’t.”
“Don’t be silly,” he chided her. “Stretch your imagination. Imagine what it’s like trying to pierce through the earth’s hardcore, just to live, to survive, especially, when there has been no rain.”
“But we are not grasses, so what’s the point?” 
He ignored the sarcasm and continued in the same matter-of-fact way. “Or be eaten by goats, cows, and other grazing animals. You know the younger the better.” 
She looked at the goats grazing in the field again, devouring every green grass in sight and shook her head. She could see the goat’s big teeth pulling some of the grass up together with their roots and she couldn’t help getting the feeling that he could be right, that he was probably saying the truth, no matter how absurd.
“I was going to the river to fish,” he said abruptly, changing the topic again. “Care to come?” 
Another thing about Lucas is that he knows how to catch her interest. He is in fact, a master of suspense and she was disappointed, in spite of herself. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind. I have always wanted to go fishing.”
He picked up his backpack. “Then, here’s your chance,” he said as he started down the river road. 
She fell into steps with him. “You couldn’t even wait for me,” she taunted him. 
But the remark was lost on him. “Okay, imagine after succeeding in piercing through the earth’s hard surface, only to be trampled upon by animals, human beings or automobiles.”
“Speak for yourself; am as light as feather,” she said and jumped up to avoid stepping on the grass only to land on them again. 
“Imagine too, what it’s like being cut down every now and then.”
She shuddered. “Oh please, cut it off. After all, these blades of grass you are feeling so sorry for have no feelings.”
He shot her an intense look. “Who told you that?”
“Science,” she said triumphantly.
“Science my foot,” he jeered. “Don’t kid yourself; plants do feel adverse or favorable weather conditions. Your science says plants respond to stimulus, didn’t it?”
“I know, but…I …I,” she couldn’t find the right thing to say at that moment to counteract the argument. She just wished he would stop.
“But what?” 
“These things are mere plants. They are not human beings and can’t feel pain.”
He fixed his eyes on her. “I wish you wouldn’t say that: you know they do.”
They got to the river, and while she stood at the bank hesitating, he struggled out of his clothes and jumped into the water with a careless abandon. She heaved a sigh of relief. She was glad he was finally through or so she thought, but she was wrong.
“Just imagine what it’s like being beaten to death by the torrential rain or drowning in the flood, unable to run for shelter, chained by your roots. Plants can’t breathe in water in as much as we can’t, you know?” he said above the noise he was making in the water. He was breathing hard as if he, too, was having difficulty breathing.
“Oh poor thing,” she mocked. But mockery or downright sarcasm has no effect on him.
“Imagine what it’s like feeling the earth under you being gradually carried away by the high currents of the flood, rushing you away to your death as you lose your grip because there is no soil to hold your roots to the ground.”
“I wonder how we got to see grasses around,” she chuckled.
“Don’t be that way. All am trying to get across to you is that other things, except what we patronizingly call higher animals need our protection too,” he said coming out of the water. 
Again, she couldn’t help getting the feeling that he was right and that she was getting out of her grip. She wished he would stop the discussion. It was making her feel uncomfortable. She was therefore glad when he started fixing the bait to the hooks.
She sat down quietly beside him and watched him. Suddenly, he raised his head instinctively and scanned the trees overhead. Coiling listlessly in one of the branches was a black mamba. Its small, lethal eyes were regarding them gently. She saw it at the same time that he did. She put her hand to her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. The snake looked at them for a long moment, deciding they were harmless, turned and slithered away. He pulled out his gun and took aim.
“What are you doing?” 
In an answer to her question, he pulled the trigger and the snake slithered off the tree and fell to the ground.
“Why did you kill it?”
“If I hadn’t, it would have attacked you.”
“I don’t think so,” she shook her head. “It has been there all this while. Besides, it was already going away.”
“Well, we are not going to argue about that damned snake anymore, okay?” he picked up the cutlass. “I have run out of baits. Would you prefer to give the snake a decent burial or to get me some worms?” 
She looked at him for a long time and smiled. “You are impossible, aren’t you? Of course, I’ll get you the worms.” 
He winked. “Thanks.” 
She picked up the cutlass and went in search of the worms while he disposed the snake. A few minutes, he saw her coming back. She was shaking like a leaf under the wind. He stood up to meet her.
“What is the problem?” 
“I…I can’t do it. I just can’t,” she cried, shaking her head vigorously.
“Why?” he was puzzled. “Why can’t you?”
“It’s …it is too slippery, too…too fragile. I can’t pull it out. If I try, it only ends up breaking in two.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her. “The other half will survive if that’s what is worrying you. It’s a unicellular animal, you know?”
“I don’t care,” she said, a mean look on her face. “Can’t we use something else like …like soap or palm fruits?”
“We can, but frogs, grasshoppers, and tadpoles or small fishes are the best. They are sure bankers or we might waste the whole day without as much as catching a common tilapia.”
“But… but why use all these smaller animals when…when we can use some other things?” she insisted. But he was not listening. He was watching a seabird trying to swallow a fish. She followed his gaze.
“Can you see that?” 
“Yes.”
“And I hope that answers your question?”
She nodded.
“Some has to die for others to live. The fish has to die for the bird to survive.”
“It’s a cruel world,” she admitted in spite of herself.
“No, it’s not,” he objected.
She looked at him sharply. “Why did you say that?”
“Life originates from death and death from life. It’s a natural circle. We die only to be born again.”
“I see.”
As usual, as they fished, swam and explored the complexity of the forest, he explained to her some of the mysteries of the ecosystem. Suddenly, the weather became dark, and within seconds, the once sunny and bright riverside turned cloudy. The trees, once visible became one mass of moving bodies. All were lost to the dark power of the dark within seconds.
“It looks like it’s going to rain,” he said. “Let’s go.”