The brilliant beam of the early morning sun cuts through the grass outside and treats me to different hues of green. The pale green blades of grass give off illusions of warmth, inviting me to step outside and take a walk towards the woods.
   

I give into the temptation but immediately feel deceived as the cold bite of the fall air nips at me. Each individual hair on my arms stands up, longing for a warm shelter it cannot quite reach. Deceit. Betrayal. Although we feel these sentiments throughout our everyday lives, they are ironic to feel when surrounded by the purity of Earth, nature.
   

I continue to hike through the land in front of me, like the march of the minuscule insects below me, and the scurry of the squirrel next to me, purposeful even if their daily lives were disturbed by the rain of the night before. My feet carry me to a barricade of trees, where no two are alike. Some are tall, some short, some in between; some are crowded with leaves, others left bare; some are colorful, while others lack vibrancy; and some trees are close together, while others are isolated, like an outsider of a clique in society.
 

 And then it hit me: although nature appears pure, it is corrupted by the principles of dominance and hierarchy. Some trees are bigger, have more leaves, are more vibrant in color, and are closer to one another, while others appear to be deprived of these qualities, almost by the design of an unseen hand. They create a hierarchy, full of leaders, subordinates, cliques, and outsiders. Looking around again, I no longer see the pure essence of nature.
   

The march of the insects below me transforms into an insect’s escape from the stomp of my foot, akin to an earthquake in our world. The squirrel’s sprint to his family becomes a squirrel’s attempt to escape from a bigger predator. And the trees, much bigger than me, become giants trying to overpower both me and each other.
   

The walk outside has led me straight into nature’s battlefield for supremacy.