Alevs - The Walking Talking Plants

On an island named Sageis far far away from the rest of the world, behind a volcanic mountain lived plants named Alevs that could walk and talk. Some Alevs lived in homes and had a family while others lived in the gardens. Many of them lived in a forest but all the trees moved around as they wished. The Alevs could sing and dance. The Alevs sang with the breeze and laughed with the rain. The Alevs had many friends who were plants and animals. Many Alevs belonged to human families.

Some of the Alevs were doctors and others were teachers. Some of the Alevs were healers while others were musicians. All the Alevs were beautiful. Some were green in colour, others were brown. Many of the Alevs were purple, yellow, white, black and red in colour. The Alevs bore flowers of rainbow colours. The flowers changed colours according to the mood of the Alevs. When the Alevs were happy they became rainbow coloured, when the Alevs were angry the flowers became red or black in colour, when the Alevs were cool and calm the flowers became white in colour. The flowers became of variegated colours in different seasons.

The people living on the island were very simple. They were content that they had a place to live and enough to eat and wear. They were at peace and goodhearted. None of them were richer than the other because no one owned anything. People could live anywhere. They shared everything with each other. The island did not have any schools or hospital as the Alevs were their teachers and healers. The Alevs taught them that sharing is caring and that the earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth. Nobody saved anything so there was enough for everyone. For many generations, the people had helped each other like a family. They followed and obeyed the Alevs. The Alevs were very generous and kind. They were loved and respected by everyone. They were considered as wise as a sage. Life was bliss on Sageis.

One day on the island, there came an evil magician named Flemsy. Flemsy was very tall, strong and good looking. He wore silk robes. His turban was majestic and adorned with precious greenish blue gemstones which matched the colour of his eyes. His robes were embroidered with golden thread and silver leaves. His long golden hair shone brightly. He had a very soft and sophisticated voice. The people of the island were fascinated by him. They did not know that he wanted to own the island as there were no rulers or rich people on Sageis. Flemsy took the biggest house on the island. He had not bought the house because till Flemsy came to the island, nobody had to buy or sell a house on the island. People lived where ever they pleased. But he declared it as his home. He made some papers and put his signature and seal on it. Nobody thought of asking him how he could declare himself as the owner of the house. Flemsy was a businessman and he knew how to sell his ideas and wares.

Flemsy thought that so long as the Alevs are protecting the people, he would not be able to rule or own the island. He wanted to kill all the Alevs. He invited the people to his house and fed them with delicious food, fruits and wine. He told them fascinating tales of the islands and other lands on the other side of the mountain. He praised them for their simplicity. But he told them that unless they owned homes and lands they would not be safe. They must secure a future for their children by owning the land and house they lived in. They should not work for the lazy, the old, the Alevs, for the people who were not related to them and for the diseased.

He told the people that he would sell ready homes and buy their lands. He explained to them that the people in the world outside the island people were educated and sophisticated. They never allowed plants and animals to live in the house as they caused diseases. They lived luxuriously as they worked only for their own family. In fact, there, even their children and their parents had to work for themselves when the children learnt how to work and the parents had to live separately with other parents away from the town. People started wondering what it would be like to have their own home, silk robes, wine, precious stones. How easy life would be if they had to work only for their family! How comfortable it would be if they could separate the old people to a different part of the island! How easy it would be to work for the children only till they started earning!

 The Alevs warned the people against Flemsy. But some people disobeyed them. Some people started declaring lands and houses as their own. The rest of the people did not want to be poor and homeless. They too declared that they were owners of the land they were living on and the house they lived in belonged only to them. The people of the island ignored the Alevs and started quarelling with each other. Finally, they called Flemsy to settle the dispute. He told them that he would make papers for the houses and give his sign and seal to declare the ownership of the land. But they would have to pay him in precious stones and gold. The people decided to collect all the things they had and started declaring ownership. They all wanted to pay Flemsy and own a house.

One day, Flemsy killed an Alev and put gold and precious stones around it. People saw the gold and gems around the dead Alev and they fought to get the gold and gems. Flemsy started a rumour that all the Alevs contained gold and precious stones. Nobody knew what was inside the Alevs because most of the Alevs lived for hundreds of years. When an Alev died, it was used to build a home. Now people started to think if they would kill an Alev, they could become rich and wealthy. They saw that the place where the Alev died was becoming dark and black. It started throwing out blood, poisonous liquids and dangerous gases. But the people of the island started thinking that the Alevs were diseased and poisonous and should not be kept at home. Many people wanted to kill the Alevs to get gold and precious stones. They were attracted to the gold and the precious stones they had seen on Flemsy. They secretly started plotting and planning on how to kill the Alevs. They started killing the Alevs near their homes. But they did not get any gold or precious stones after the Alevs died.

So the Alevs decided to live far away from humans and near the forests and on the mountains. The humans started falling ill due to the poisonous liquids and dangerous gases and blood that was around the space where the Alevs died. People started buying medicines from Flemsy. Flemsy did not want anyone to get healed by the plants especially the Alevs.......he wanted the humans to buy medicines only from him. Though secretly, he used the dead Alevs to make the medicines. Flemsy killed a few children of the humans and spread rumours that it was the Alevs who had taken revenge.

The Alevs were sad at how badly the humans had started behaving with them. The humans refused to talk to the Alevs and listened to Flemsy. Flemsy gave them beautiful gifts from different parts of the world that he had been to. Although these gifts were useless to them, Flemsy convinced them that these were the most precious things in the world and outside the island they would be considered the richest and the wealthiest people in the world. Actually, the gifts were simply stones with radiant colours. He told the humans he had schemes which would make them rich and powerful. Flemsy told them that there were many countries in the world where people lived a long, comfortable and healthy life. They lived as they pleased. They were very cultured and sophisticated. None of them spoke to the plants and animals or allowed them in their homes. He managed to convince them that many of the humans in the island were diseased due to the Alevs and other plants and animals living inside their homes. He assured them that there was nothing to worry because he had medicines for all the diseases caused by Alevs.

Many humans on the island believed whatever Flemsy told them. The elders of the family who worshipped the Alevs begged them not to believe Flemsy. But the young humans were fascinated by the colourful stones and the dreams of becoming rich and going to lands far far away from the island. They threw the Alevs out of their homes and some even started killing them. The Alevs were so shocked that many of them started running away to forests. Flemsy declared himself as the ruler of the island.

Many of the Alevs put their foot down and started growing roots and became fixed in the spot that they stood. They grew very tall and saw that many humans on the island are becoming diseased and were dying due to the foul and poisonous gases and the toxic liquids coming out of the ground. They called Flemsy to cure the diseased. Flemsy sold all the medicines at the highest cost. If the humans could not afford the medicines, they had to gift him a dead Alev. Many of the people joined Flemsy and started the business of selling the medicines. Flemsy paid them with medicines and colourful stones.

Flemsy convinced them that if they wanted to become rich, they should kill the Alevs. Though the humans of the island were very clever people, the medicines which Flemsy gave them made them more weak and ill. And to become stronger and healthier, they again bought more medicines from him. Many people could not afford the medicines. Flemsy asked them to gift him a live or dead Alev. Flemsy gave the people medicines and colourful stones in return for the dead Alevs gifted to him. Very few people on the island understood that Flemsy was evil. The elder humans were warned by their children that they would be thrown out of the house and would have to live in a separate part of the island if they interfered in the job, business and success of their children. Some of these old people wanted to leave their home and families but they thought that their children would come to their senses.

Day by day the island became more toxic and poisonous. Even Flemsy fell ill but his own medicines could not cure him. He secretly called some of the Alevs to heal him. But the Alevs knew he would kill them so they refused to come. He told the humans of the island to gift him live Alevs and promised them he would give them precious stones in return. Some humans who had travelled to other islands found out that the stones given by Flemsy were worthless but they could not tell this to the people of the island because then they would become poor.

 After a year, Flemsy became very sick and ill. He wanted to tell the truth about the Alevs to the people of the island. He wanted to inform everyone that the Alevs were good and kind. But some of the humans who worked for Flemsy killed him because he wanted to tell the people of the island that the Alevs were the only ones who could save them. Ultimately, one of the humans who killed Flemsy was declared as the new ruler of the island. He made the other humans who helped him to kill Flemsy as his ministers and gave them lands which had once been occupied by the Alevs.

Secretly the ruler and his ministers brought and kept the Alevs at home and worshipped them. But they told everyone that in order to be rich they must kill Alevs and in order to be healthy they must buy the medicines they sold. The Alevs in the forest knew that the island and the inhabitants would soon die due to the poison they were creating by killing the Alevs and consuming the medicines. They were not worried because they were magical. Even if one seed, flower or fruit survived, they could again become a family and a forest anywhere in the world but the inhabitants would soon die. Gradually the people of the island started killing not just the Alevs but also each other. They divided the island, the people, the homes, the families and even each other. One day, a volcano destroyed the Sageis island and killed all the people of the island. But the Alevs survived as their seeds again became plants not just in Sageis but all over the world.

The Alevs did not want to see, hear and talk to the humans anymore. So they gave up their eyes, ears and mouth. The plants from all over the world too did the same. But even today they can see, hear and talk if we apologise to them. They heal us and give us everything we need even if we don't worship or respect them. Even today, the poison spread by killing the trees makes us poisonous, jealous, selfish and blind. Sadly even today, most people of the world trust a Flemsy more than an Alev. They trust medicines made from the plants but not the plants. Even today the greed of humans can destroy everything they have. But even today, a seed of an Alev can create a forest and faith can create many Sageis islands.