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debated the possibilities, but to no avail. It reasoned that the gun would be quick, but seemed violent. Whereas the injection might be slow and traumatic. When it suggested that the gun might be cheaper because veterinarian drugs are always so expensive, I sent an official rebuke to the council from the foreign ministry for even considering such a thing. In the end the council was deadlocked and couldn’t reach a decision. “I’ll leave it up to you Leigh, whatever you think is best, I’m not fussed.” Thankfully Leigh opted for the drugs. He reached into his bag and took out three syringes. One small one and two about the sized of aerosol cans. He filled the large ones from a bottle of green solution. As he approached Harcha it was clear that, while the sedative had certainly calmed her, it had not entirely erased her veterinarian anxiety. Leigh gave her a calming pat on the neck and then injected her with the local anesthetic. After waiting a few seconds for it to take effect, he found a large blood vessel in her neck and inserted a large needle, allowing the blood to flow out. He attached one of the large syringes to the needle and injected in the solution and then quickly repeated the process with the second. As soon as he finished, Harcha took a deep breath, her back legs collapsed and she fell to the ground with a thud. Although she continued to twitch, Leigh assured me she was dead. He touched her eyeball and got no reaction, just to confirm it. It was all amazingly quick. So the great cellular nation of Harcha was no more. When news of the green solution reached her ruling council – a ruling council that had diligently monitored and adjusted all her many vital life systems day and night for over 30 years – it gave up and disbanded. The billions of cells that depended on the ruling council to maintain their environment and the flow of nutrients ceased to function. The carbon molecules remaining in Harcha at this moment in time will now follow their enumerable predecessors that have come and gone throughout the three decades that this great nation has existed. They will be dispensed among other cellular nations like worms and bacteria on their continuous journey around the universe. So what was Harcha? Harcha was an event like a whirlwind weaving its way across the desert, picking up sand and discarding it as it goes. Harcha consumed molecules to form carbon-based cells and then discarded them as they were replaced with new cells. Just like our great sporting clubs – Manchester United, Juventus, the New York Yankees – sweeping up players, fans, officials, beers, soft drinks, hotdogs and then discarding them and replacing them as they weave their way through the community. Or empires – Roman, Ottoman, British – sweeping up citizens and discarding them as they twist their way through history and then vanish. Or nations sweeping up proud, flag-waving patriots who will protect the borders to the death. The great events – people, pets, species, nations, clubs, islands, bridges, cults, ships, rivers, companies, religions, gangs, brothels, orchestras – all get names. They are measured, tagged and remembered. But most of our events – birds, fish, rocks, waves, shooting stars, escalators, tsunamis, flowers, still-born babies, rainbows – come and go without ever attracting a name. If the whirlwind sweeps up sand in the desert, or leaves, lollie wrappers and cigarette butts it will not be remembered. But there is a point where it becomes so large that we do give it a name – a name like Katrina. Katrina ripped up the Florida coast and tore New Orleans to pieces causing death, devastation and suffering on a massive scale. So what was Katrina? Was Katrina alive? Was Katrina evil? Did God make Katrina? Does Katrina have an afterlife? Is she reincarnated? Did she go to Hell for what she did? We are Katrina. We are Harcha. We are Paul Holland. We are Uluru. We are God. |
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