When Licht died at 77, he assumed he would go to heaven. Er, well, at least he would go somewhere like that after death.

But instead, after flubbing an afterlife survey, he finds himself reborn into the spherical body of a Nature's Ego: A small, spiritually aligned plant-based life form that he finds out through his system interface is charged with the duty of protecting the forest in which he inhabits.

"How am I going to do that from the inside of a gigantic rabbit-beast, though?"

Oh yeah. First, he has to find the means to survive in this forest. With strange energy fueling plantlife and animals alike to morph into unrecognizable and uncomprehending enigmas, there's plenty of competition to be had along the evolutionary ladder. Not to mention the worst monster of all: People.

His orb-like body is a natural resource that nations around covet, after all.

I did mention that though, didn't I?

Notice: Naturalist is not being sold on Amazon kindle under a different name nor is it available anywhere else. This is the original.