Never in all of my days on Pinta Island or at the CDRS have I ever had such sweet tender grass. The flavor was like all of the ripest fruits and leaves I’ve ever eaten blended together at the same time and the water tasted even sweeter. “I feel so refreshed and energetic. That’s a pretty big deal coming from a tortoise you know,” I said cracking a smile.
“It is nice to see you smile George. Hopefully, now that you are relaxed and ‘energetic’,” Eldey said air quoting with his stumpy wings, “things might make a little more sense.”
“You mean you can see me smile here?” I asked, astonished realizing the corners of my beak were actually curving upward.
“Yes, George. As you have noticed, things in the Garden are a little different.” He stated pausing slightly. He shook his head and slapped it with his stumpy wing. “I need to remember my manners. I never even asked you if you like the name George. You see, we animals in the Garden get to choose our names. Many of us have chosen a name that has to do with our last days back there on earth before our extinctions. Being mainly a food source for sailors and a stuffing for European pillows, I did not have a given name from the people. So I chose the last place where great auks once roamed and consequently where the last three of us were taken.”
I noticed a sadness appear in Eldey’s eyes, and he turned away as he recalled his past, especially at the mention of the last three great auks. I wanted to ask him more about the last three and what happened, but I figured I had more than enough questions for him. I’d be sure to ask him more about his past at a later time. It sounded like we’d be spending a lot of time together on this mission.
“The name Eldey sounded a lot better than our other homeland which was referred to as Funk Island. Imagine being called Funk or Funky after the terrible smell emanating from our nesting colonies,” he said laughing half to himself. “Anyway, enough about me. Let us start with what you would like to be called.”
That was a hard question to answer, but I told Eldey “George” was as good a name as any. Plus hearing Fausto call me simply George back at the research station was one of my last happy memories back there.
“Fausto!” This thought of him made me wonder what was going on with him back at the CDRS. “You said I am here and there somehow. What is going on at the research station now if I am here? Won’t Fausto realize that I am missing? I don’t want to worry him,” I said while realizing my disappearance could cause Fausto distress.
“I am glad that you are worried about what the people will think when you are not there George. That is progress from your initial attitude when you arrived here,” Eldey said with nodding approval and increased hope in his voice.
I felt anger well up in me at the mention of the people and my apparent concern about them. I think that came out in my response to Eldey, “I don’t care about the people, but Fausto has always been kind to me. I’d hate to hurt his feelings. I know he would miss me terribly if I weren’t to come back.”
“Well caring about one person is a start,” Eldey said with a smile. It was something about his eyes that made me feel peaceful. “So George, as Martha had interjected earlier, we are trying to organize a rescue mission to help save other animals from the fate of most of us here and to help save the people from themselves. I know you do not care about the people in general, but I want you to think about Fausto back at the CDRS. Keep him in mind as you decide whether or not to join us.”
I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to know what this mission to save mankind was going to entail. Here in this garden, I was content for the first time since before the Last Raid. I was tempted to let Eldey know that I wanted to be left alone for a little while to enjoy this place. His eyes drew my gaze, and I could tell it wasn’t quite that easy. I tried to look down at the ground, so I could say no, but he cleared his throat causing me to look up again before I could utter another word.
“I think I am being too hasty; asking you to join us when you do not even understand where you really are. I do not think that I can explain the Garden to you as well as Astuto. Maybe we should take a short walk over to the tree,” said Eldey pointing his wing.
I tried thinking back to all of the famous names of extinct animals I had ever heard of back at the CDRS, but Astuto didn’t ring a bell. We began walking toward the tree, and I noticed that I was able to walk almost gracefully along the brook. I had the feeling of flying, the way I did the day I was hoisted into the air on Pinta Island before being jammed into the crate that would take me to the CDRS. I also noticed that Eldey seemed to almost fly with his minuscule wings that I had assumed were useless.
We came to a tree that towered into the sky above us. It had golden leaves as I had never seen before, and there on the lowest branch of this golden tree, I noticed the unmistakable pillar of extinction, the dodo. He appeared to be reading some sort of scroll as we approached. He had a round gray body as I had seen in so many pictures, tiny white wings, and three rounded poofy feathers sticking out of his rump. But the thing that stood out to me was his face. His beak looked like a yellow squash with a brown spot on the end. And his face, well it wasn’t exactly pleasant to look at. It had the appearance of a person’s foot after being in the ocean too long. He was ugly.
“Astuto, we have brought George here for the mission. I have not told him what we would like his part to be. As we expected he is a little confused by what is going on, so I thought it might be helpful for you to explain the Garden to him before we discuss the mission itself,” Eldey said, catching the dodo up to speed.
Astuto looked at Eldey and simply nodded. Then he looked carefully at me with a stern look. He seemed to be able to see into my very core, and it made me shiver. His eyes stared at me from within his fleshy face. He frowned slightly and shook his head.
“You know Tortoise, you aren’t much different from the people you have come to hate,” the dodo said bluntly, placing down the scroll he had been reading.
This statement hit me like a slap in the face. I didn’t know what to say, and I found myself getting angry that he would accuse me of such a thing. I mean I never killed anything, unless you count some clumps of grass at the research station.
“But you…you don’t even…” I stammered.
Astuto cut me off and continued, “I can hear your thoughts here in the Garden. I can hear your judgments of my appearance and it stings, like how did you put it….like a slap in the face.”
I was speechless. Who was this creature? Was he reading my thoughts right now? That dodo had no right to be in my brain making judgments about me. He didn’t even know me or what I had been through.
“You are right. I shouldn’t be listening in on your thoughts. You are still of that world, and not yet of this one. It is not your fault that you feel animosity toward me and the people. All this hatred was not how it was meant to be, you know? It’s important to know where you are before you choose where you will be. Don’t you think Tortoise?” Astuto said, forcing a small unconvincing smile.
I simply nodded my head in agreement. He adjusted his stout feet on the golden branch and hopped to the ground beside me. The dodo beckoned me to have a seat on a rock at the base of the golden tree.
“First let me introduce myself. As you have deduced, I am in fact the dodo bird. Whereas you are the poster boy of endangeredness, I am the international symbol of extinction. Did you ever hear the quote by William Cuppy about my kind at the CDRS? He once stated that ‘The Dodo never had a chance. He seems to have been invented for the sole purpose of becoming extinct and that was all he was good for.’ Tell me that isn’t a cruel statement. I didn’t plot out my extinction or plan for my ill-gotten fame. We all have our baggage, Tortoise. Whereas you hate the goats that made your family starve and the sailors who ‘soupified’ your family, I could say I hate the rats, cats, pigs, and sailors who ate dodo eggs and killed all of us from the island of Mauritius, but where would that get me? Hatred doesn’t accomplish anything except to breed greater hatred,” Astuto said peering straight into my eyes; straight into my soul, letting his final statement sink in.
I couldn’t help feeling sorry for Astuto, but how could he say I shouldn’t be angry? That’s all I’ve known for over 40 years and probably for the next 40 as well.
“I do understand the temptation to be angry with me for saying that Tortoise. I can’t make you let go of the anger you have, but I do hope that sometime in the future you will find peace,” Astuto retorted.
“We can agree to disagree on how I should be feeling,” I told him none too kindly. “Let’s get back to why I’m here and why Eldey brought me to see you.”
“Eldey is helping me and some others organize a rescue expedition of sorts. He brought you here to talk with me because I’ve been here in the Garden longer than he has. I understand its ‘dynamics’ a little better than he does. Let’s start with simple things first and get to the more complex ones later. My chosen name is Astuto, which is the Portuguese word for ‘intelligent’ since the name dodo comes from a Portuguese word for…,” he paused searching for words, “well let’s just say it’s a Portuguese word for the opposite of intelligent. Dodo was one of the nicer, more respectable terms that the people had for my kind.”
“So can you explain to me where I am exactly?” I asked.
“Well, you are there in the present outside of the Garden at a place you call the Charles Darwin Research Station. You are also here for the time being with us in the Garden until you make your choice about whether to join our mission. Either way,, you will end up here eventually,” Astuto said, cocking his head to see how I’d respond.
“I thought I was having some kind of strange dream. So am I dead then?” I asked.
“Not exactly. There is a time for that if that’s the option you choose, but that time is appointed for a later date,” Astuto explained.
“Yeah, in 23 years and 6 months or something…” I said under my breath.
“Oh, I see you have been talking to Martha. Well, that would be one choice. To continue on at the CDRS until your ‘official’ extinction date or you can choose to leave there voluntarily now and come here to help us with our mission,” Astuto said air quoting official then scratching the underneath of his beak with his claw.
“So you mean I can choose to live there with Fausto for the next 23 years or come here?” I probed.
“Indeed. Except I can’t guarantee Fausto will be with you the whole time,” he said.
I could tell he must have some insight into Fausto’s personal extinction date too, but I didn’t want to know. Instead, I chose to redirect the conversation back to this place. I had to admit, I enjoyed the peaceful, almost joyful feeling this place had to offer as well as the food, but I didn’t know if I was ready to be officially extinct just yet.
“So where exactly is here? You keep referring to it as here,” I asked hoping for more of a clear, concise explanation.
“You are there and here,” Astuto said much to my dismay. “The Garden is known by many names, but it is best known as the Garden east of Eden.”
“Wait! Do you mean to tell me this is the Garden of Eden? Like from the Adam and Eve story?” I inquired sarcastically.
“I am surprised that you have heard of it, but yes, Tortoise. That is exactly what I’m saying,” Astuto stated.
“Fausto used to read many stories to me when he’d sneak back to visit me at night. That was one of the stories that intrigued me because people and animals seemed to live at peace with one another, which is so different from what you and I have experienced back there in real life. But I always thought that was something of a fantasy story; a nice thought, but nothing more,” I clarified, hoping the old bird would assume better about the knowledge of this century-old tortoise in the future.
“Well I can see you don’t believe it, but there is truth to that story, Tortoise. You see, we were created for mankind to have dominion over us. That was the original plan at least. We tried our best in the olden days to help the man out, but we weren’t designed for that position. The dog got the closest and was deemed ‘man’s best friend’, but even the dog couldn’t fulfill the role of helper, which the man required. The man named all of us, and we lived happily alongside him in the Garden eating all the fruit we wanted. It was a good design,” Astuto recalled with a sigh.
“So you’re saying we were all here in the Garden living happily until Adam and Eve ate the fruit from this golden tree, and then we all got kicked out of the Garden because of the serpent or something like that?” I mocked, rolling my eyes.
At the mention of the serpent, Astuto and Eldey shuddered, but Astuto continued, “Yes, that’s the short and simple version. The serpent had told Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of knowledge. That is not this tree. This golden tree is the tree of eternal life, which Adam and Eve never partook of before getting exiled.”
“Is that why you can live here in the Garden for so long?” I asked a little more humbly.
“You are sort of correct George. The Garden is a refuge of sorts for all of creation. There, on earth where misery exists, we can go extinct, but here there will always be a representative of our kinds. That is why in the Garden there is only one of each of us. We represent our entire species from beginning to end; the good times and the bad,” Eldey explained, trying to connect the dots for me. “You see if you remember the Garden story and some of the finer details, only the man, the woman, and the serpent were directly cursed...”
“And the ground,” Astuto interjected. He seemed to want to make sure that Eldey remembered all of the finer details.
“Yes, and the ground,” Eldey said, correcting himself. “That is why the man and woman had to start growing their own food. It is also why the food there does not compare with that which you will find in the Garden. But I know you have already discovered that.”
“Oh,” was all I could say trying to make sense of everything I had just been told. The Garden of Eden was a real place. Extinction was real, but it wasn’t. Here I could live happily ever after, but back there at the research station I would face another 23 years of pictures, people feeling sorry for me, and personal sadness possibly without Fausto. Astuto’s next question caught me completely off guard.
“So Tortoise, are you ready to save the world?
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