We were on a road trip to another state when all of this happened. I was already having a bad day, but it got even worse after hearing that laugh. It belonged to a group of girls who had burned their hair while straightening it. They were throwing trash all over the street when I suddenly heard a voice in my mind.
“These humans keep throwing trash all over me and then say things like ‘Protect nature.’ I can’t stand them.”
“Huh?” I was terrified. I looked around to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, but people were staring at me like I was performing some kind of ritual. Maybe these were the side effects of that new medicine I was taking. Whatever it was, I tried to ignore it and kept walking.
I heard the same voice again a few hours later when some boys from my class threw cans on the ground and laughed.
“These kids toss cans and laugh, but they’d probably cry to their mommies if I threw cans at them. Too bad I don’t have hands.”
I looked around again, but this time I wanted to test something. I picked up the can and threw it into a trash bin. The moment I did, the voice spoke again:
“Look at this kid, picking up trash and cleaning me. Maybe if these kids were half as kind as her, I’d be clean.”
“Who are you?” I whispered.
There was silence for a moment, and then the voice returned:
“Are you talking to me?”
I checked to make sure no one was looking and whispered, “Yes.”
Another pause—then something strange and creepy:
“I don’t have a particular name, but humans call me ‘City.’”
It paused again before continuing:
“How about you help me, and in return I answer your questions?”
I didn’t have anything to lose, so I agreed immediately. The first thing City asked me to do was to volunteer for an organization called TEMA. It said they helped protect nature. The second task was to help people collect trash from the sea.
“How do these things even affect you? We’re not even in the city right now!”
“No questions. I won’t answer anything until you help me.”
I rolled my eyes and continued collecting trash. The last task was feeding animals. That part wasn’t a problem—I loved animals—but the annoying voice wouldn’t shut up, and it was starting to get on my nerves.
Three days later, after completing all three tasks, I finally got the chance to ask my questions.
“You may ask only one. Choose wisely.”
I thought for a moment and finally asked the thing that had been bothering me the most:
“How do these favors even affect you?”
There was a long pause before it answered, calmly:
“I used to be part of nature before humans turned me into a city. Think of it as an older sibling supporting the younger one without showing it.”
This experience taught me a lot. I still don’t know if I was hallucinating that day, but I continue feeding animals, and I never left that organization. I finally understood the value of nature.