The spider goddess rode the stars as they spun over the small blue planet. Her lover was next to her, encased in a silken chrysalis, safe from the cold, and even from time itself. She had once been known as Arachne, and then Ariadne. She was waiting. Awaiting the call for joy that would awaken her beloved Dionysus. Awaiting an opportunity to spin her influence in the mortal world, to weave connections where there had been none. She waited.
She watched all. The birds sang to each other in the trees, telling of nests, and babies, mates and the long journey. Fish danced in the ocean, telling of food and predators. Mammals called to each other and postured, telling of dominance and warning of dangers. But the plants did not speak to each other.
Arachne noticed this and believing that all beings need to be able to communicate, she thought on the matter. Plants could not vocalize and they could only dance as the wind moved them. They needed something new. She thought and thought, imagining the words of fish dancing through water currents, and the words of birds floating through the air, but none of that was quite right. And then she saw it.
The earth did not move as the water and air did. It was still and quiet. But roots still grew through it, even through the most dense clay. Her webs were strong, she would make them one. A web that would connect each plant to all the others nearby.
From her center she pulled a strand of mycillium and attached it to the root of a big tree. Then she began to dance. Each plant she touched became another anchor for the strands. She danced and danced until she had touched each plant many times, as many times as there were other plants. When she was done, there was a delicate, invisible web beneath the earth that connected each plant to every other.
In that net, molecules flowed from one plant to another and the trees knew of the bushes, the bushes knew of the perennials and the perennials knew of the annuals. But that was not all. In truth each plant suddenly became aware of all the others big and small, short lived and long. And they began to talk.
They spoke of the wind and the water, of being eaten and eating, of pollen and pollinators. Some plants were not getting what they needed in order to thrive, and the other plants wanted to help. Along the strands of mycillium, they sent water, minerals and sugars in a grand market place.
Even the bacteria participated, trading one element for another
Arachne was delighted. The plants thrived and became more dense and healthy. they made more food for the birds and mammals, and what moving creatures left behind became food for the plants. More communication had made all life thrive with greater vitality. Needs were filled that had not been before. Sharing happened that had not occurred before and all life benefited.
The Earth bloomed.