4
At that point in time she still did not like me very much, and I really can't blame her, because some things in our personalities just kept bumping into each other, scraping and poking at the most vulnerable parts every time we came talked to each other. And the age difference between us, while not significant for me even at the time, meant too much for her younger mind to consider friendship. Yet our loneliness kept driving us to speak to each other even at the risk of coming across a touchy subject. And it worked. With time, and a lot of trial and error, we slowly figured out the subjects we should avoid and the ideal psychological distance we should keep for the sake of peace. After the initial hostility she had displayed towards me, we had found a neutral zone, in which we could remain civil in our discussions. We had quickly figured out not to talk about those who were dead or missing, including parents and spouses.
That morning at the beach, she was trying to get her head around the many eons she had slept and the changes in the world: "I do not understand when the humans as a species changed from selfish brats into pesky gnats. How could they have changed this much during my hibernation? I remember when they were still just apes with pointy sticks, they weren't even that common. I raised my child through the time when they began to build villages and eventually cities. Most of the time they were too afraid of us to even approach us. Sometimes they tried to throw those pointy sticks at us, and occasionally they even worshipped us. Now they are everywhere. If you go to any place that used to be nice and they are there, and they usually have ruined the place. End up near one of their cities and you find them and their garbage everywhere. That and they come at you with flying things and try to force you away! I mean, it's not like they could actually harm us with their new weapons, but it's still annoying, and rude."
"Listen, you're a smart young lady. You know the time that has passed since you last were in contact with the world. You know how much weight you lost during your hibernation and you have seen how much the stars have shifted in the sky. I'm older and my hibernation was shorter. I have lived through several ice ages, periods of global warming, and magnetic reversals of the poles. I have been there to see most of the changes that have occurred, all of the stupid things that humans have done. I was around when there were only the hairy ancestors of humans, when the humans tamed fire, and I was around when they used a nuclear weapon against themselves. They even killed my pet lizard with one. Sure, they weren't trying to kill it, most of them didn't even know about its existence, but it still died because they used a nuclear weapon."
She gave me a confused look. The question on her mind was quick to emerge: "They used a nuclear weapon against themselves? Why would they do that? Nuclear radiation is poisonous to them, isn't it?"
I sighed deep and stood up. I searched for the right words, trying to explain this unique, backwards species. Finally I told her to walk with me for a while, as I do my best thinking on my feet. She called her daughter who was playing in the waves with my son and we all strolled down the beach. "As you already know, all animals have their special skills. The humans are, unfortunately, masters of division in all meanings of the word. They divide numbers, they divide living things into neat groups on the common family tree of life, and they divide themselves into groups. They don't just make one logical division such as the people of each continent having a group of their own. They divide themselves into multiple overlapping groups with no logical boundaries. Anything is a reason to separate themselves from themselves. Language, geography, and even though the species as a whole in almost completely inbred, they make divisions based on skin colour. As ridiculous as it sound, even their habits of worship are a reason for division."
"Habits of worship? I thought they no longer worship us."
"Oh, they don't worship us anymore. They have and have had thousands or millions of fake gods they invented for their need to explain the world. The vast majority of gods they invented in their arrogance and selfishness are supposed to look and behave like humans. Many supposedly favour the humans over other living things, and usually favour a particular group of humans over others. And none of these gods they invented are anywhere to be found for questioning. They are claimed to be invisible, residing in another dimension, outside of time and space or something like that."
She stopped and looked down as she spoke: "I always thought they were funny creatures at the most, but apparently I shouldn't take those silly little things seriously in any aspect. It's just useless to go worshiping imaginary beings when we are right here."
"There was a time when the humans revered the Earth, the Sun and Moon as gods," I reminded her and continued walking. "While they were mistaken in believing such things, they were right to respect the power of nature. Now that they have tamed themselves, they are no longer in touch with their natural life in the wild. They fear the natural world explainable by reason, so they want their gods to be all-powerful and other such nonsense, and they have become unable to see us for what we are. They look at us with fear and think of us as demonic beings, monsters, or even just simple minded beasts. They have all the reasons to both revere and fear us but just look how they have treated me. They keep trying to kill me but the worst they can do to me is to annoy me. Not just my touch but also my prolonged presence can be lethal to them. I can level down their cities by taking a casual walk through them. They once dropped me into a volcano, hoping it would kill me. I just swam in magma underneath the Earth's crust to locate an erupting volcano to get back to the surface, and on the surface I mercifully redirected the flow of lava away from the most populated areas. I have protected them from space monsters, ancient beings that have gone unruly after waking in an unfamiliar world, their own filth and garbage that became alive and several invasions of extra-terrestrial civilisations. Once I even fought aliens on the Moon, and I didn't go there on my own, they took me there on purpose! And still they freak out any time I show up."
"So unlike in the old times when they selfishly begged for favours, nowadays they are not even grateful for favours done without asking. Why do you let those idiots live? They are the most counterproductive creatures I have seen, and a danger to both themselves and other species."
"Well, even with their flaws they can occasionally be interesting to mess with. They're sort of a little pet project of mine, when my time is not bound to my duties. I suppose that is the only good thing that has followed the global hibernation, having more time. I don't have to oversee the work of others because thus far you are the only one I know that has awoken. In my free time outside of protecting the world from external threats I can concentrate on things other than my personal duties of caring for this island, its inhabitants and the surrounding seas. The downside is I can't tend to the entire world on my own and the result is humans overfishing the oceans, cutting down forests that are vital for the survival of the planet and doing a ton other things. But there are also individuals who see the damage their species is causing and they try to change things for better. I'm hoping their numbers increase so they can have a more profound impact on the rest of the population."
"So basically you are just watching the grass growing, waiting to see if the problem solves itself? Sounds like a boring job."
"Yes, right now it is quite boring, at least until more people wake up. Or the next time I have to protect the world from aliens or leaky nuclear plants. There's not much to do on this island. That's why I take so many naps in sunshine. I have to enjoy the time I have now, because when there is work to do I can't take naps."
We arrived at some large rocks. I noticed we had walked almost halfway around the island. "It's getting late. We probably should turn back now."
She looked at her shadow stretching across the sand and checked the position of the sun. "Oh, you're right. It's almost dinner time for the kids."
It was a quiet day. We did not become friends until a long time afterwards but at least she was there keeping me company. I complained about my job and she listened. She asked a question and I shared my knowledge. Those were small favours, but slowly they paved the way for the friendship that we didn't even anticipate back then.