The Free Radical

“Rodney! What did you do?” The call echoed through the Forest…

(See You At the Meeting by Kieskagato from their 2004 album You, Are the One, Who Can)

All the huff and bluster of the Forest’s collective consternation piled like clouds against the mountains, filling the Valley with an unsettled feeling.

Daisy craned her neck to get a better look… as to see what was going on…

Even the Tigers came out… all stiff and serious. (“What? A tiger? In Africa?” This is Canada. “Never mind.”)

Homes in the Burroughs stood vacant…

…as each of the Forest Nations convened emergency meetings to discuss the latest developments. Endless chatter in every direction filled the glades.

Those who couldn’t attend remembered back to when the world was still young and they met to fine-tune the Earthly experience. Who could ever forget when the Clover Elementals decided that White Clover blossoms would taste like nachos? At the time, nacho cheese hadn’t even been invented yet… but that was no barrier to Elemental mischief.

So what was all the fuss? The sky hadn’t fallen; the Earth didn’t quake… but something had been shaken up, something had been awakened. The Forest had known this energy before. To say that it was ancient could only diminish its mystery, for it was beyond old; it was foundational.

Crow medicine hung heavy in the air, lingering… as the Raven Nation asked again in stark seriousness “Rodney, what did you do?”

But Rodney wasn’t very forthcoming with satisfactory answers. For a gossip-loving raven, he was being rather tight-lipped. In fact, the only way that Rodney could be any more tight-lipped about the whole affair was if he’d actually possessed lips. Lips can easily form a tight seal; crooked beaks… not so much. (Have you ever watched a bird try to operate a drinking straw?)

“You’ll find out soon enough,” said Rodney as he wheeled amidst their shouts. “I poked the sleeping bear,” he added with a wink… and then immediately thought to himself: Perhaps I’ve said too much…