{"id":1192,"date":"2020-08-22T16:25:37","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T16:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/?p=1192"},"modified":"2024-08-23T18:52:05","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T18:52:05","slug":"one-way-or-the-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanvolcano.net\/en\/one-way-or-the-other\/","title":{"rendered":"One Way Or The Other"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Other formats: PDF<\/a> | \u00edslenska<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"One<\/a>
Illustration by B\u00f6rkur Sigurbj\u00f6rnsson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIsn’t life such a dream nowadays,\u201d commented a small toucan rhetorically to a larger one as they sat on a branch of a genip tree, baking themselves in the early morning sun, after having stuffed themselves with large quantities of the delicious genipap fruit. \u201cI mean, now with the humans gone, everything is so much quieter, so much safer. You can feel the air is fresher when it gently touches your beak as it moves about the wetlands. We’ve seen an end to all that inhumane human destruction. The deforestation has come to a halt. The climate catastrophe has conveniently eliminated the species that caused it. It’s like true nature has returned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI must say I don’t see the world as lyrically as you do,\u201d the larger toucan replied in its usual calm and melancholic voice. \u201cI don’t see that the is an awful lot of difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo? How come?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou see that jaguar down there among the lower branches?\u201c the larger toucan asked calmly without any discernible change in tone. \u201cCarefully making its way toward us?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy god, yes,\u201d shrieked the smaller bird, letting go of the branch, hovering up in the air and flying over to the crown of the next tree, where it settled down again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d said the the larger toucan after joining the smaller one at its new location. \u201cNext time, it’s not that unlikely you won’t. You’ll be an easy prey for that hungry cat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smaller bird did not reply, remained uncharacteristically silent, staring into the distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne way or the other,\u201d the larger toucan continued. \u201cHumans or no humans. It’s all the same. We eat. We are eaten. That’s true nature for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n