I AM the WOLF: unveiling a new novel--#ecofiction #Amazonrainforest #amreading

Recently, I was delighted to find out that an excerpt from my recently finished novel I AM the WOLF, a novel of ecology and rewilding has been published by Down in the Dirt literary magazine. The standalone short fiction excerpt is recorded below on YouTube, and the text is pasted below that. Enjoy!

Shedding tears for the Amazon rainforest and “the only humans, the trees can trust”

     Two days later, Jamie stood in front of the basic physics class she taught at a small, private college. She was looking at her student, Casey, who was reporting on the findings of her small group for the class project.

     Casey, who was outspoken and cut a dashing figure with her close-cropped dark hair, and her high cheekbones, had natural leadership abilities. On the first day of class, she had challenged Jamie about the predicted uninhabitability of the planet in twenty-five years and said that she needed a reason to come to class.

     Jamie, who had been toying with “Meatless Mondays,” had gone completely vegan the first evening after Casey had challenged her in class. She mentioned in class that she had heard that going to a plant-based diet was the single most effective way to help the planet. Jamie felt better after a few weeks of going totally plant-based, and no small part of that feeling was knowing that she would be part of the solution for her students to have a habitable planet in the future. And it was as easy as swapping out the chicken—she had been going to put in her stew—for lentils. Jamie just put in some extra spices, and her stew had a wonderful golden color from the powdered turmeric. It also made the dish taste rich and peppery. It was so flavorful, in fact, that Jamie never looked back.

     Later in that same class, Casey suggested that they collaborate on a class project, using the science of physics, to create a paper to prove the importance of veganism to help fight what she and a few other students called climate catastrophe. The other students agreed with Casey about the project. The class vote that Jamie took about doing this class project was unanimous.

      Casey, who was the first presenter for the class project, was talking about the Amazonian rainforest, which is mostly in Brazil. Jamie had heard that the rainforest was being destroyed to provide grazing land for cattle (ultimately becoming burgers), and that the trees, some of which are thought to be more than a thousand years old, are being cut down to provide room for growing soybeans as feed for cattle. Jamie had heard the Amazon rainforest described as “the lungs of the Earth,” (because it produces so much oxygen), and she knew deforestation of the Amazon was a major contributor to climate change, but Casey had some information that Jamie hadn’t heard before.

      “We learned that the entire Amazon rainforest is the size of Australia and that the ecosystem in the Amazon is more than ten million years old, making it one of the oldest on the planet. We also learned that the ecosystem of the Amazon is a biodiversity hotspot. So many species are being lost that it’s a tragedy. Many of the animals, including the birds, and the insects, are only found in the Amazon rainforest and not in other places in the world. There are so many different species that some are still undiscovered. And now, with the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, the place where they live, the flora and fauna are going extinct. They will be lost to us forever. Those are just some of the findings of the group.”

     “And now Maya is going to speak,” added Casey.

     Jamie smiled. She was glad that Casey included other group members in leadership roles.

     Maya bobbed her head. Barely a hair fell out of place, on her shiny, shoulder-length dark hair, as she moved. She looked hesitant at first but then spoke loud enough for the entire room to hear.

     “One of our most shocking findings is that it is not unusual for some of the indigenous people who live in the Amazon rainforest to be killed—murdered, in cold blood—by mercenaries hired to protect agribusinesses' interests.”

     Maya was quiet for a moment. It was as if she had rehearsed this—a moment of silence for this devastating information to sink in.

     Casey shook her head. She looked disgusted, and something else rose in her as her eyes narrowed—a fierce determination. She looked as if she were thinking:

     People are being openly murdered, and the planet is at stake. We’ve got to do something about it!

     Silence boomed in the room. Not one of the students looked down at his, her, or their phone.

     They were looking at Jamie. As the professor, she was used to having the answer. But she didn’t have the answer to this problem.

     “I didn’t know about this either,” said Jamie, addressing the class. She tried to sound stern, but she felt sad. “But it makes perfect sense. This is what we are up against.”

      She was silent for a moment and then continued to speak.

     “Agribusiness,” she said disgustedly. The word came out of her mouth like she was spitting out a piece of rancid flesh. “The word says it all. There are some big-money interests here. They have too much power, but the world is changing despite them. They will not get away with this.”

     Jamie was silent. All the students nodded.

     “Maya?” Jamie asked. “What else did you find?”

     “We found plenty,” replied Maya, narrowing her dark eyes and looking stubbornly persistent.

     “For one thing, we found the indigenous people who live in the Amazon rainforest are also displaced by the fires that agribusiness sets to clear the land.”

     Maya was quiet.

    “Agribusiness again,” muttered Jamie through gritted teeth.

    A few students nodded.

     “And the people who live there, along with the animals, the birds, and the insects that live in the rainforest, lose their habitats,” continued Maya. “When the jungle is burnt down and cleared, most have nowhere to live, so they die. Since the indigenous tribes have lived in the Amazon rainforest for more than ten thousand years, the trees must miss them when they are killed. The indigenous tribes are the protectors of the Amazon jungle. They know how to live with the jungle sustainably and not take too much from it. The indigenous people are smart enough not to destroy the place where they live. They are the only humans, the trees can trust.”

     Maya’s voice cracked.

     As Jamie stood facing the class, she wiped the tears away from her own eyes. She shared Maya’s sadness. They both shed tears for the planet.

      Maya looked at Jamie and saw her teacher’s tears, and she started to cry more. She bowed her head under her shiny black hair so that her face was hidden. Sitting to her right, another student, a young woman named Dichen, put her arm around her shoulders.

     Casey started speaking again.

     “As you can see, the situation is dire, and even doing the research has upset people,” she stated. “We also learned that the Amazon is adversely affected by climate catastrophe, such as rising temperatures and weather events, like the massive hurricanes, which have been known to fell large swaths of trees in the Amazon basin. The rising temperatures affect plant growth and animals, birds, and insects as well.”

     “Talk about adding insult to injury,” muttered Jamie.

     Casey nodded and kept on talking:

    “And then the damaged rainforest is less able to fight climate catastrophe. It’s a real catch twenty-two.”

      Jamie nodded.

     “It’s surprising more people don’t care,” Jamie said to the class. “After all, it’s their planet too.”

      Most of the students nodded. A few had gone back to looking at their phones. Jamie started to dismiss these students as lost causes. But then something occurred to her. Some of these students might have been prompted by their discussion to look up more information on the Amazon rainforest. And those who were texting their friends or playing games might be doing so to avoid their feelings about climate catastrophe. Some of their emotions might be so intense that they didn’t know what else to do.

     After all, Jamie reminded herself, things will probably unravel in their lifetimes.

    Casey nodded as if reading Jamie’s thoughts, but then she added:

     “I’m not done yet. The water cycle of the Amazon is being disrupted by climate catastrophe and by the deliberate destruction of the jungle. And since water is so important— necessary for the plants and trees to grow, for the animals, birds, and insects to drink, and also in evaporating and joining the oxygen from the trees—this is crucial. The changing water flow of the Amazon rainforest even affects the oceans.”

     Jamie stood in front of the class, mesmerized. The students had found out so much more about the Amazon rainforest than she ever knew. She took a breath and addressed the class:

      “This is a massive amount of information—not that it’s not all important, but we have to narrow it down to make a point.”

       “There’s more,” continued Casey. “When one part of the Amazon is destroyed, it alters the other areas of the rainforest that have not—or have not yet been destroyed. And that’s how an ecosystem works. Everything is…”

     “connected,” replied Jamie, finishing Casey’s sentence.  “Just like…”

     “quantum physics.”  This time, Casey finished Jamie’s sentence.

     Then Jamie narrowed her eyes and asked:

     How much of the Amazon rainforest has been cut down?”

     “I don’t know exactly, but I know it is a lot,” replied Casey. “But I read that in just the past fifty years, twenty percent of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed, and that if humans don’t change their ways, the entire Amazon rainforest could collapse by 2050.”

     Jamie was in full professor mode as she stood in front of the room and considered the information just presented to her. At the same time, she thought:

     I’m learning something from this class, and it’s so different from my other basic physics classes, where I’m just trying to get the students to memorize the laws of Newton and the other major hallmarks.

     “Find out exactly how much of the Amazon rainforest has been cut down and at what rate it continues to be destroyed. We’ll need this to make our equations ironclad,” she stated with determination.

     As an afterthought, she audibly grumbled:

     “People are going to have to think about where their hamburgers come from.”

     Most of the students snickered, but a few raised their eyebrows.

    Casey looked like she was suppressing a snicker, but then she said with the utmost conviction:

      “Yes, people may be able to delude themselves into thinking they’re just eating burgers, but what they are really eating is the future and the air their grandchildren could have breathed.”

CINNAMON, my most recent novel, is available on amazon.com: Cinnamon: A dairy cow’s (and her farmer’s) path to freedom: Mason, Janet: 9781958419786: Amazon.com: Books

CINNAMON is also available through your local bookstore and library

(just ask them to order it if they don’t have it).

For more information on my novel THEY, a biblical tale of secret genders published by Adelaide Books click here.

To learn more about The Unicorn, The Mystery, click here:

The Unicorn, The Mystery now available from Adelaide Books — #amreading #FaithfullyLGBT

For more information on my novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here

For the entire issue of Down in the Dirt literary magazine, click here