Calvin and Hobbes were walking down their favorite trail one day behind their house.
Calvin and Hobbes enjoyed the peace of the forest.
Except today it was strangely quiet.
Hobbes noticed.
"Where are all the birds?" He asked, as he and Calvin walked down the trial.
"Beats me." Calvin said. "Maybe they're still asleep."
Calvin and Hobbes continued.
Just then they walked into a clearing.
"Hey!" Calvin shouted. "What happened to the trees here? Who cleared out the woods?"
Hobbes gasped.
The middle of the forest, where Calvin and Hobbes enjoyed playing, had been cleared out, completely. All that was left were stumps in the soft dirt.
All the animals were gone, and only a bulldozer sat in the middle of the sad place.
"But all the animals!" Calvin screamed. "What will happen to them!"
Hobbes stared at the scene with quiet shock.
Calvin rushed out into the middle of the pit.
"THERE USED TO BE LOTS OF ANIMALS IN THESE WOODS!" Calvin screamed. "Now it's just a mud pit!"
Hobbes approached the sign nailed to the only tree standing.
"The sign says, "Future spot of Hamilton, shady acres." Hobbes snarled. "Shady Acres? The only shade I see is from the bulldozer!"
Calvin slapped his forehead in disgust.
"Where are all the animals supposed to live now?" Calvin yelled. "How would people like it if animals tore down houses and put in new trees?"
Calvin and Hobbes exchanged glances.
Calvin hoisted Hobbes into the bulldozer.
"No good." He said. "They didn't leave the keys."
Calvin sighed.
"Ok, come down."
Hobbes came down.
Just then, Calvin spotted something.
"Oh NO!" Calvin screamed.
"What is it!" Hobbes asked frantically.
Calvin and Hobbes looked down at a small dirt pile.
"This is where we buried the baby raccoon." Calvin whispered. "now its grave is gone. It's now just a dirt pile!"
Calvin started to break out in tears.
"HOW CAN PEOPLE DO THIS!" He screamed. "The forest! The animals! THEY'RE ALL GONE!"
Calvin collapsed onto the ground.
Hobbes bent down, and patted him on the back to comfort him.
"All that work nature put in to make this forest." Calvin whispered. "Destroyed."
Hobbes nodded.
"The forest has gone with the wind." He said. "Look."
Calvin looked up.
There was a slight breeze and in it, some leaves were blowing around.
"It took hundreds of years for these trees to grow." Calvin sighed. "and they leveled it in a week."
Hobbes watched a bird fly above the pit high overhead.
Calvin sighed.
"Pretty soon there won't be a single spot left on the Earth worth fighting over." He sighed. "what a stupid world."
Calvin and Hobbes walked home.
"Why do people do that, Hobbes?" Calvin asked. "Isn't the world polluted and destroyed enough?"
Hobbes sighed, and placed a paw on Calvin's shoulder.
"We must accept the fact of progress." He said. "We can't stop it. It's been going on for years."
Calvin sighed, and nodded.
"I guess so." Calvin said. "But what about our woods? Pretty soon, it'll torn down completely, and more houses and towns will be put in!"
Calvin and Hobbes looked out the window of their house.
They saw a deer out in the front yard.
"There's always some kind of hope that everything will be okay." Hobbes said. "Hope is never gone."
Hobbes patted Calvin on the back.
Calvin shook his head.
"Do you think it would be possible to get people to see the error of their ways?"
Hobbes thought about that.
"No." He said, finally. "They probably will over a long period of time."
Calvin looked out the window.
"And that was our favorite place to play." He sighed. "Now it's gone forever."
"Shall we go outside and go down that other trail?" Hobbes asked. "That's our property, they can't mess with that."
Calvin smiled.
"Yeah." he said. "That's a nice place."
Calvin and Hobbes rushed outside.
Despite the fact that their favorite place to play was gone,
Despite the fact that the animals had to find new homes,
Despite the fact that the raccoon's grave was gone,
Despite all that, sadly, Life goes on.
Dedicated to the memory of Mama Kitty the Himalayan cat. A friend to the entire family. Sweet dreams, Mama.
(1988-2005)