Heavy
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Ancient Mother
She started off Bright and Screaming with Joy or Loud Reprimand -- when her Children weren't Behaving Right. Older now, She constantly sucks her teeth. You can hear this Steady Disapproval in the static between stations. At first, Pale Men of Progress were annoyed, thinking it must be some mistake they needed to tune out. After tweaking and training their machines, they grew desperate and even sought to Shoo Out the Wily Pigeons Pooping and Roosting in the Receiver. Alas, At last, Atlas had to admit that these emissions were the hissing of their Ancient Mother. Who had birthed them out of Stardust.
Forced
She remembers when They were just minute motes swirling in the hot, dark soup of her rocky womb. But that was eons ago and She has been through a lot since then — Periods of Hot-Quaking, Times of Near-Forgetting in Frozen Solitude. More recently, She enjoyed a long, gentle Calm — Rocking her babies in the not-too-warm sun, Singing lullabies in Temperate Tempos, Full Bellies, Safe Homes, A Steading Sowing and Sewing, A Sturdy, Patterned Quilt of Seasons. But now, They are pushing her in unprecedented ways — the ugliest, most clever, most naked of her many children. Forced by Them, Her breath is coming Hot and Fast now, Furious, Deep, and Destructive, Bending, Breaking, and Snapping some of her Eldest and most beloved — Their ancient, verdant crowns — Fallen and Gone. In places, She is Coerced into intense, unnatural, and unwanted Pregnancy. She bulges green — Exploding in pollen, ticks, and mosquitoes, Buds bursting painfully in mid...