The Fight for the Grasshoppers

Somewhere within the throng of people at the Halloween party stood Enki, a young entomologist of California who had just arrived at his dream job. He was assigned to oversee the newly protected land in Santa Cruz, California, dedicated to the Zayante Band-Winged Grasshopper. Most people he told responded with a look of politely feigned interest, though his eagerness eventually stirred up some enthusiasm, even in those who understood not a word as he recounted his travails in studying this highly endangered species. His girlfriend, Namtara, stood nearby, laughing nervously whenever some less than tactful person questioned how they could stand each other, seeing as she worked for a pesticide company. Others simply avoided them both, horrified by their insect costumes.

One of Enki's jobs was to maintain a count of all the Zayante Band-Winged Grasshoppers that lived in the area. He was quickly able to recognize two individuals on sight, which he named Atra and Hasis. He flooded social media with pictures of them, even putting pictures of them on his desk as if they were his children. "Aren't they cute, Namtara? I can't imagine life without them or the others. They are such beautiful creatures." He sighed happily. His friends had begun to remark that he himself was more cheerful and chipper these days, such was the little creatures' effect.

Namtara glanced down at her tablet to read the email for the umpteenth time. She was not sure that the land development company wanted her to spray Enki's grasshoppers, but was it even worth the risk? If what she read was true, at some point the Protected Area would be taken over by developers anyway, and she and Enki would need as much money as she could save while he found another job. She typed back her answer.

A few days later, Enki came home looking devastated. "Namtara, they're dying! Someone is killing them. What have they done wrong? They don't eat crops - they are just part of the ecosystem!"

Namtara was stricken. She tried to justify it to herself - what were a few grasshoppers in light of all the horrors being inflicted on humans? But what about Enki? Wasn't he suffering now? She told Enlil Development that she would no longer work for them and suggested to Enki a means of combatting the pesticide she had developed.

Neither of them could have imagined what would come next. They were camping peacefully among the sand dunes, when flames began leaping across the desert, from one dry plant to the next. Namtara called the fire department while Enki beat out the flames. They stayed there for weeks, not daring to fall asleep lest someone should sneak in and burn alive this little world they had come to love.

And come they did. At high noon, with not a cloud in the sky to bring rain and halt the fire, the flames consumed another acre of precious land. Shame-faced, Namtara told the police about her experience with Enlil Development and that she suspected them of arson. She could hardly look at Enki, who just hugged her and thanked her for helping him. She began feverishly looking back through all her correspondence with them for any clue of their next move.

"Enki, Enki, I found it! The person I emailed with mentions something about water here, and how it could destroy the sand dunes."

"But how will he do that? And how can we stop it?" Enki wailed in dismay.

"I don't know. Maybe just get the grasshoppers out?"

Enki set his teeth and walked out to his workshop, where he had a supply of dried reeds. By the time Namtara had notified the police of her finding and returned, he had created several baskets that would let grasshoppers in and out but would float in case of a flood. He went ahead and put Atra and Hasis in one to ensure their survival.

When the flood waters came, they were dark with sand. Enki tried to wade into them to rescue the grasshoppers, but the roiling water overpowered him. Namtara pulled him out of the roiling waters as he gasped for breath. He clung to one basket, the one holding Atra and Hasis. They watched as so much of their labor vanished down the side of the dunes.

After the waters subsided, sinking quickly into the dry ground, they set off to search for any remaining grasshoppers. Seven baskets had kept their tiny charges high and dry. Enki counted every single one to be sure that there were enough to continue the species. He would stay until this race of grasshoppers could flourish once more.

May no race ever be destroyed again, and may Belet-Ili, the mother goddess, protect all her children.

Author's Note: In the original story, Enlil grows irritated with the noise of mankind and tries to destroy them, first with a plague, then twice with a drought, and finally with a flood. Enki attempts to protect mankind by having them entreat with the plague god, Namtara, by ending the drought, and by warning them of the flood so his favorite, Atra-Hasis, can build a boat and escape. First of all, I have made the humans in the story grasshoppers, as you so often appear to us the gods. Enki is a scientist who loves them, just as he loved humans. Instead of Enlil being a single person, it is a development company that wants to get rid of the grasshoppers and use their land. I changed the plague to a pesticide, as it would be easier to give and then reverse, and made Namtara his girlfriend to connect the story better. Humans could start a fire more quickly and easily than a drought. The baskets that Enki made replaced the boat that Atra-Hasis built. Just as only some humans survived the flood, only a few of these grasshoppers survived, including Enki's favorites, which I have made into two grasshoppers, as Atra-Hasis is quite a long name for a very small creature.

Bibliography:

"American Bird Grasshopper." Link.

"Dead Grasshopper 2." Link.

Lambert, W. G. and A. R. Millard. Atra-Hasis: The Babylonian Story of the Flood. Oxford University Press, 1969.

"Numušda (god)." Link.

"Sand Sand Dunes U A E Thin Dubai Dune Desert." Link.

"Service Designates Critical Habitat for Endangered Zayante Band-Winged Grasshopper." Link.

"Tumultueuze Water." Link.

"Wildvuur Brand Vlamme Hete." Link.

"Zayante Band-Winged Grasshopper." Link.