Part 2

For such as we, endings come quickly. They are but one stop on the wheel that turns us all, we are taught, and we lose ourselves in them, only to be caught up again in new beginnings. For the Ni'Cushla, they who always had been here, they who had no reason to think they would not always be here, it was not so. Their end came to them slowly, masking itself in the cries of the helpless, wrapping them up in love and duty, and waiting to grow strong.

It began, of course, with men.

Of how they sheltered us, I have told you, and not I alone, but others before me. Of how they gave to us fire, and showed us how to cook, to plant, to clothe ourselves. The rudiments of their tongue they taught to us, and encouraged us as we found our own, laughing like children as we named each new thing. These things we know, for the stories of our people are stored in our hearts. We, unlike any of the creatures of the earth, save perhaps the great fatty whales, or perhaps the playful dolphins of the waters, became their companions. They poured out unto us their love, the mercies of which they were capable, and they helped us to prosper. In the end, it was our prosperity that meant they must go.

(Part 1)

I meant to say, and didn't...

Yesterday, on my way to the bus stop, I saw two men, one black, one white. They were walking almost abreast of me, openly holding hands. That made me smile -- it takes a special sort of courage to be so nonchalant. Unfortunately, I think I'm the only one who smiled. They were scowled at. One well-dressed black man looked them up and down, and clenched his fist. A group of youths idling on the street corner near the courthouse and the police station hurled insults, and, with a policeman looking on, made as if to approach them.

I say again, they've taken nothing from you. What they have doesn't threaten you or yours in any way. You don't have to like them, but how about leaving them alone? How about choosing to not actively make their lives miserable? What about who someone chooses to sleep with, if that someone is not you or your partner or family member, is your business? Get over it. Or aren't there enough troubles in your own life?