Cause and Effect

I remember where I was the day the moon broke in half; the smaller moon, not the big one. At the time I thought ‘This can’t be happening. I must be dreaming.’ Unfortunately, I was wide awake at the time.

It was one of those days where everything was perfect. My brother Athol and I had just hauled in our last net and the bottom of our boat was filled with fish, most resigned to their fate while a few flapped around noisily. We always took a couple of the ones that fought death the hardest and tossed them back; a sign of respect to those that provided us with so much.

Back in those days, the ocean was our partner in life. We sacrificed and prayed to the gods of the deep and in turn, they sustained us. That all changed when the moon broke in half.

I remember looking up at the early moon, the one that rose before the sun set. I don’t know why I chose that time to look up, but I did. It was not like one might expect. There was no sound or rush of the wind. The moon simply split roughly down the middle and fell away from the earth. Our scientists said it fell into the sun. It remained visible for a few more days before eventually fading into the distant sky.

And that was all there was to it; or so we all thought. It wasn’t long before the weather started to change. The winters were colder; the summers hotter. After one year, the oceans had begun to rise noticeably. We didn’t worry too much. Our scientists said everything would return to normal eventually.

I trust them. After all, our brilliant scientists are what made Atlantis what it is today.

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