| General Fiction posted May 21, 2023 |
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Fiction
Stargazing
by zanya
Granma they used to call me on planet earth. Now it's Moongran. Never thought I would find myself here in this alien environment. For a lifetime I was happy to knuckle down to the daily grind of child rearing, commuting, beating the traffic gridlock, feeding the dog, paying the mortgage without having much head space left for existential questions, like why are we here and what is out there in the great blue yonder? I was a busy Mom when humans first stepped onto the lunar surface for the first time.
I didn't want to leave my familiar surroundings on planet earth. I was scared to go and scared to stay.
My fifteen- year- old grandson, Alpha, wouldn't leave without me. He wanted Granma to have a new way of living where there would be no fear of getting washed away by landslides or floods. The final straw was that summer day,( I don't remember dates since arriving here) when the skies opened and we had to take refuge on the roof of our two-storey, stone, farm house from the floods caused by the torrential rain. Earlier that year as Spring was bursting forth no rain fell and budding plants and trees died as they emerged from the soil. Famine was staring us in the face. Beneath our feet our farm was turning to dust.
Alpha believes we must leave planet earth if our species is to survive. As a scientific nerd, he thinks our only chance of survival is in linking up with a species from another planet, who will teach us how to live in a different environment and make babies with a new and adaptable species.
I don't really know where we have arrived. Both Alpha's parents seem at ease in their new environment. Maybe the fact that they are both physicists allows them to understand. It seems irritating and foolish to ask endless silly questions. We are not on the red planet of Mars. That is inhospitable to humans. I am told we are somewhere on the fringes, spinning in space. We see a lot of debris spinning past us, antennae from old rockets and bits of metal. It's weird.
Am I frightened? Yes, out of my wits with fear. But there was no alternative. My beloved Joe passed away a year before we made this strange journey. I don't think Joe would have come along. He believed we could fix earth's manmade problems with some concentrated effort.
One strange aspect of this 'house move' is that we have divested ourselves of 'stuff', possessions, clothes, cars, furniture that simply couldn't be transported here. I don't miss it. Except perhaps my books. Alpha reassures me he can eventually rig something up for me. I managed to take one copy of the poem 'Ozymandias' by Percy Shelley written in 1818. That poem always held meaning for me as a reminder that even the greatest rulers, dictator or democrat, and their regime will eventually fall. And so too, it seems our planet home is now under threat. Unimaginable but true.
Already Alpha is asking questions like 'what did apples in the orchard smell like?' 'What sound did bees make?' Such earth- based realities are slipping away and being replaced by the sounds of the void, the vast space all around us. But sound is difficult to detect here or is that our ears have to attune to new and different decibel levels.
I haven't seen any beings or aliens, is it? We have no idea if there are any such beings here. It's just a vast expanse of space. I'm afraid to think it through. Just surviving takes all the time we have. Sometimes I hear odd noises or at least noises I didn't hear on planet earth. They scare me. They're like phone beeps or pings. No dogs bark here and no babies cry.
As a septuagenarian, such a world, for me, is the stuff of science fiction. I never really read many books of that genre. Maybe science fiction will help ease us into this new reality. Science fiction was a popular reading genre back on planet earth. Earthlings devoured books and films on the subject.
You see, I've just used the word 'earthlings'. Maybe I'm adapting to this new reality.
I'm not sure if this was a good idea. But everything was changing around us. I grew up surrounded by green fields where sheep and cows roamed and provided food and money for families. I miss the sight of sheep and lambs on a Spring evening in April as earth warmed up. I long for the sound of a cow lowing in the distance on a March morning when hoar frost still covered the grass. I find myself clinging desperately to such memories, holding on to them for dear life. They help to anchor me in this new reality. But they too will fade eventually. What will I do then?
Planet Earth was becoming uninhabitable. We couldn't battle the seismic shifts in the natural world. We found it difficult to let go of our cars. We did try hard to change our ways and move away from fast fashion, fast food and air travel.
We never thought it would happen to us. I think of the biblical story of Noah and his Ark. Was Noah, too, escaping some sort of cataclysmic event and trying to ensure that continuation of life with his pairs of animals and birds. We think of it as just a story but it may have basis in fact.
We were masters of the universe or so we thought with our often, blithe and unthinking use of the earth's resources and our pursuit of money and power. Everything we did was calculated in monetary terms, how many children we had, what clothes we wore, what house we lived in, what car we drove, where we went on holiday, what school or college our children attended. Money or lack of it defined our existence. I haven't yet figured out what will define us here in our new spatial habitation.
Life wasn't like that when I was a youngster. As children we wore clothes that were mostly hand-me-downs. Air travel was a rare experience. Mostly we grew up, lived and died in our childhood neighborhood. Nowadays that pattern has changed significantly. The industrial revolution brought about a cataclysmic shift in how humans lived in terms of money and movement. But that's a topic for another day. The technological revolution impacted us humans even more, both positively and negatively.
Here we are. Our precious planet earth is ailing and we have contributed to that decline.
Enlightened scientific minds tell us that our planet's decline is inevitable and that we must migrate elsewhere, to another planet to survive. Is this the new frontier?
It is often said, also that God is a scientist. If so, let's hope his scientific plan takes us to a safer place.
I'm scared to think of dying in this environment.
How soon before memories of planet earth fade to a blur?
Who would have thought that at this stage in life I would be so preoccupied with existential questions? That used to be a matter reserved for the young ones.
This fictional musing doesn't really shed much light on these big issues. I look forward to reading about how other writers view this question.
************************
Beyond The Stars contest entry
Granma they used to call me on planet earth. Now it's Moongran. Never thought I would find myself here in this alien environment. For a lifetime I was happy to knuckle down to the daily grind of child rearing, commuting, beating the traffic gridlock, feeding the dog, paying the mortgage without having much head space left for existential questions, like why are we here and what is out there in the great blue yonder? I was a busy Mom when humans first stepped onto the lunar surface for the first time.
I didn't want to leave my familiar surroundings on planet earth. I was scared to go and scared to stay.
My fifteen- year- old grandson, Alpha, wouldn't leave without me. He wanted Granma to have a new way of living where there would be no fear of getting washed away by landslides or floods. The final straw was that summer day,( I don't remember dates since arriving here) when the skies opened and we had to take refuge on the roof of our two-storey, stone, farm house from the floods caused by the torrential rain. Earlier that year as Spring was bursting forth no rain fell and budding plants and trees died as they emerged from the soil. Famine was staring us in the face. Beneath our feet our farm was turning to dust.
Alpha believes we must leave planet earth if our species is to survive. As a scientific nerd, he thinks our only chance of survival is in linking up with a species from another planet, who will teach us how to live in a different environment and make babies with a new and adaptable species.
I don't really know where we have arrived. Both Alpha's parents seem at ease in their new environment. Maybe the fact that they are both physicists allows them to understand. It seems irritating and foolish to ask endless silly questions. We are not on the red planet of Mars. That is inhospitable to humans. I am told we are somewhere on the fringes, spinning in space. We see a lot of debris spinning past us, antennae from old rockets and bits of metal. It's weird.
Am I frightened? Yes, out of my wits with fear. But there was no alternative. My beloved Joe passed away a year before we made this strange journey. I don't think Joe would have come along. He believed we could fix earth's manmade problems with some concentrated effort.
One strange aspect of this 'house move' is that we have divested ourselves of 'stuff', possessions, clothes, cars, furniture that simply couldn't be transported here. I don't miss it. Except perhaps my books. Alpha reassures me he can eventually rig something up for me. I managed to take one copy of the poem 'Ozymandias' by Percy Shelley written in 1818. That poem always held meaning for me as a reminder that even the greatest rulers, dictator or democrat, and their regime will eventually fall. And so too, it seems our planet home is now under threat. Unimaginable but true.
Already Alpha is asking questions like 'what did apples in the orchard smell like?' 'What sound did bees make?' Such earth- based realities are slipping away and being replaced by the sounds of the void, the vast space all around us. But sound is difficult to detect here or is that our ears have to attune to new and different decibel levels.
I haven't seen any beings or aliens, is it? We have no idea if there are any such beings here. It's just a vast expanse of space. I'm afraid to think it through. Just surviving takes all the time we have. Sometimes I hear odd noises or at least noises I didn't hear on planet earth. They scare me. They're like phone beeps or pings. No dogs bark here and no babies cry.
As a septuagenarian, such a world, for me, is the stuff of science fiction. I never really read many books of that genre. Maybe science fiction will help ease us into this new reality. Science fiction was a popular reading genre back on planet earth. Earthlings devoured books and films on the subject.
You see, I've just used the word 'earthlings'. Maybe I'm adapting to this new reality.
I'm not sure if this was a good idea. But everything was changing around us. I grew up surrounded by green fields where sheep and cows roamed and provided food and money for families. I miss the sight of sheep and lambs on a Spring evening in April as earth warmed up. I long for the sound of a cow lowing in the distance on a March morning when hoar frost still covered the grass. I find myself clinging desperately to such memories, holding on to them for dear life. They help to anchor me in this new reality. But they too will fade eventually. What will I do then?
Planet Earth was becoming uninhabitable. We couldn't battle the seismic shifts in the natural world. We found it difficult to let go of our cars. We did try hard to change our ways and move away from fast fashion, fast food and air travel.
We never thought it would happen to us. I think of the biblical story of Noah and his Ark. Was Noah, too, escaping some sort of cataclysmic event and trying to ensure that continuation of life with his pairs of animals and birds. We think of it as just a story but it may have basis in fact.
We were masters of the universe or so we thought with our often, blithe and unthinking use of the earth's resources and our pursuit of money and power. Everything we did was calculated in monetary terms, how many children we had, what clothes we wore, what house we lived in, what car we drove, where we went on holiday, what school or college our children attended. Money or lack of it defined our existence. I haven't yet figured out what will define us here in our new spatial habitation.
Life wasn't like that when I was a youngster. As children we wore clothes that were mostly hand-me-downs. Air travel was a rare experience. Mostly we grew up, lived and died in our childhood neighborhood. Nowadays that pattern has changed significantly. The industrial revolution brought about a cataclysmic shift in how humans lived in terms of money and movement. But that's a topic for another day. The technological revolution impacted us humans even more, both positively and negatively.
Here we are. Our precious planet earth is ailing and we have contributed to that decline.
Enlightened scientific minds tell us that our planet's decline is inevitable and that we must migrate elsewhere, to another planet to survive. Is this the new frontier?
It is often said, also that God is a scientist. If so, let's hope his scientific plan takes us to a safer place.
I'm scared to think of dying in this environment.
I didn't want to leave my familiar surroundings on planet earth. I was scared to go and scared to stay.
My fifteen- year- old grandson, Alpha, wouldn't leave without me. He wanted Granma to have a new way of living where there would be no fear of getting washed away by landslides or floods. The final straw was that summer day,( I don't remember dates since arriving here) when the skies opened and we had to take refuge on the roof of our two-storey, stone, farm house from the floods caused by the torrential rain. Earlier that year as Spring was bursting forth no rain fell and budding plants and trees died as they emerged from the soil. Famine was staring us in the face. Beneath our feet our farm was turning to dust.
Alpha believes we must leave planet earth if our species is to survive. As a scientific nerd, he thinks our only chance of survival is in linking up with a species from another planet, who will teach us how to live in a different environment and make babies with a new and adaptable species.
I don't really know where we have arrived. Both Alpha's parents seem at ease in their new environment. Maybe the fact that they are both physicists allows them to understand. It seems irritating and foolish to ask endless silly questions. We are not on the red planet of Mars. That is inhospitable to humans. I am told we are somewhere on the fringes, spinning in space. We see a lot of debris spinning past us, antennae from old rockets and bits of metal. It's weird.
Am I frightened? Yes, out of my wits with fear. But there was no alternative. My beloved Joe passed away a year before we made this strange journey. I don't think Joe would have come along. He believed we could fix earth's manmade problems with some concentrated effort.
One strange aspect of this 'house move' is that we have divested ourselves of 'stuff', possessions, clothes, cars, furniture that simply couldn't be transported here. I don't miss it. Except perhaps my books. Alpha reassures me he can eventually rig something up for me. I managed to take one copy of the poem 'Ozymandias' by Percy Shelley written in 1818. That poem always held meaning for me as a reminder that even the greatest rulers, dictator or democrat, and their regime will eventually fall. And so too, it seems our planet home is now under threat. Unimaginable but true.
Already Alpha is asking questions like 'what did apples in the orchard smell like?' 'What sound did bees make?' Such earth- based realities are slipping away and being replaced by the sounds of the void, the vast space all around us. But sound is difficult to detect here or is that our ears have to attune to new and different decibel levels.
I haven't seen any beings or aliens, is it? We have no idea if there are any such beings here. It's just a vast expanse of space. I'm afraid to think it through. Just surviving takes all the time we have. Sometimes I hear odd noises or at least noises I didn't hear on planet earth. They scare me. They're like phone beeps or pings. No dogs bark here and no babies cry.
As a septuagenarian, such a world, for me, is the stuff of science fiction. I never really read many books of that genre. Maybe science fiction will help ease us into this new reality. Science fiction was a popular reading genre back on planet earth. Earthlings devoured books and films on the subject.
You see, I've just used the word 'earthlings'. Maybe I'm adapting to this new reality.
I'm not sure if this was a good idea. But everything was changing around us. I grew up surrounded by green fields where sheep and cows roamed and provided food and money for families. I miss the sight of sheep and lambs on a Spring evening in April as earth warmed up. I long for the sound of a cow lowing in the distance on a March morning when hoar frost still covered the grass. I find myself clinging desperately to such memories, holding on to them for dear life. They help to anchor me in this new reality. But they too will fade eventually. What will I do then?
Planet Earth was becoming uninhabitable. We couldn't battle the seismic shifts in the natural world. We found it difficult to let go of our cars. We did try hard to change our ways and move away from fast fashion, fast food and air travel.
We never thought it would happen to us. I think of the biblical story of Noah and his Ark. Was Noah, too, escaping some sort of cataclysmic event and trying to ensure that continuation of life with his pairs of animals and birds. We think of it as just a story but it may have basis in fact.
We were masters of the universe or so we thought with our often, blithe and unthinking use of the earth's resources and our pursuit of money and power. Everything we did was calculated in monetary terms, how many children we had, what clothes we wore, what house we lived in, what car we drove, where we went on holiday, what school or college our children attended. Money or lack of it defined our existence. I haven't yet figured out what will define us here in our new spatial habitation.
Life wasn't like that when I was a youngster. As children we wore clothes that were mostly hand-me-downs. Air travel was a rare experience. Mostly we grew up, lived and died in our childhood neighborhood. Nowadays that pattern has changed significantly. The industrial revolution brought about a cataclysmic shift in how humans lived in terms of money and movement. But that's a topic for another day. The technological revolution impacted us humans even more, both positively and negatively.
Here we are. Our precious planet earth is ailing and we have contributed to that decline.
Enlightened scientific minds tell us that our planet's decline is inevitable and that we must migrate elsewhere, to another planet to survive. Is this the new frontier?
It is often said, also that God is a scientist. If so, let's hope his scientific plan takes us to a safer place.
I'm scared to think of dying in this environment.
How soon before memories of planet earth fade to a blur?
Who would have thought that at this stage in life I would be so preoccupied with existential questions? That used to be a matter reserved for the young ones.
This fictional musing doesn't really shed much light on these big issues. I look forward to reading about how other writers view this question.
************************
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