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[SHORT STORY] - The Earth Wants Light |
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The Earth Wants Light
Back before it was populated with what we see today, the Earth was a lone rock stranded in space; sleeping and waiting to be brought into The Light. It traveled eons in the darkness where it could see nothing. It would dream of what The Light could be. It wanted desperately to see The Light and be amidst the other planets that had their colors shine bright against the dark recesses of space. And while Earth traveled and slept and dreamt through the Eons, it began gathering up bits and particles of other rocks and building itself bigger, in hopes that The Light could reach it better. So it moved on and on and on, gathering more and more, getting bigger and bigger. And as Earth grew, so did its dreams. More would the Earth anticipate the day The Light would be found. Earth began to quake with excitement as it grew and grew and grew and dreamt and dreamt and dreamt. It wanted so badly to shine like the planets it passed. Earth wanted to be colorful and beautiful like the planets it admired. Soon, Earth stopped growing for it could not hold any more or else it would slow down and never find The Light. Earth was disappointed, but kept moving along; dreaming of how wonderful it'll be when it finds The Light.
Well, sure enough, Earth was floating through space one eon and happened to see a shiny speck of light ahead of it. Overcome with joy, Earth began to move along towards the shining spot in the middle of black space. Well, as Earth began to get more and more excited as it neared the speck, it had almost missed a planet dead in front of him. Earth slowed down and looked at the planet. The planet was small, grey, and icy. Earth looked at it and said "You look like you need to be closer to The Light. Wouldn't you like to be closer to The Light so you could shine and be beautiful?" The little planet just slowly turned and said "I do not want to shine. I've shone before, but I do not want to shine again. It is not for someone as small as me." And with that, the small planet just kept slipping along, away from The Light and Earth. Earth was confused, but didn't want to let the small planet keep him from being out of The Light, so Earth moved on.
The speck of shine was getting bigger and brighter as Earth got closer and closer and more and more excited. And Earth became distracted once more by a pair of planets that were in his way. Earth slowed down and looked at them. The one closest to him was a deep blue color and was much larger than the last planet. This planet had a faint ring around it and a distinguishing dark blue spot on its face. Earth looked at the planet and cheerfully said "You're beautiful! You must have been in The Light! What was it like?" The blue planet turned to Earth and said "What is wrong with you? The Light does not shine on me and never has it shown on me enough to make me as beautiful as I want to be!" Earth was shocked, and replied "But, you are so pretty with your blue color. Surely you must be happy to be so gorgeous?" The blue planet looked blankly at Earth and said "I am not worth as much as I want to be with such weak blue, compared to my sister ahead of me. She has taken most of The Light from me. I was once in front of her, but she hurt me and gave me a deep spot on my face and made me ugly. Now I am not able to be as beautiful as her, even though I want to be. I will never be like her, ever." And with that, the blue planet turned around a went away. Earth was puzzled at why such a beautiful planet would think such of herself just because another planet was greedy. Earth became very angry and began to boil with rage. Without noticing it, Earth's surface began to erupt in magma and volcanoes, spewing molten rock and gases from the ground. Earth looked at the sister planet and began moving towards her. As soon as Earth was close enough, it yelled "Why are you so cruel to your sister planet? She admires you and you just take from her! Why are you so greedy?" The sister planet turned around swiftly and faced Earth. Earth noticed that this planet was a deeper and more colorful blue than its sister planet. It too had a ring, but the ring was facing upward, surrounding her. The sister planet looked at Earth in disgust and said "Because I made it here on my own and didn't stop to let others beat me here. I wanted what everyone wanted, and that was to be in The Light, so here I am. I am better than those behind me. I am much more beautiful and larger and stronger than them, so I deserve to be in The Light here more than them." Well, Earth was just about ready to burst into a tirade on how awful she was, but before he could say anything, the sister planet looked Earth over and said "And why should you be any different? Look at you! You're surface is scared from pole to pole with fire and burnt rock. Why should someone as beautiful as me give up my light for someone as ugly and as weak as you?" Earth was overcome with a deep sadness. It was true what the sister planet said about him; but Earth didn't realize that that did not make him any less than her. Earth began to cool down and become very cumbersome. Soon, Earth was freezing over and getting colder and colder from his sadness.
Earth moved on towards The Light, but at a much slower pace. As Earth was moving, he began to think if he was really wanting to be in The Light. If he was so ugly and weak, who'd want to see him? Earth became very upset and began to cry. Soon, his frozen-over craters of rock were covered in thick sheets of ice from his tears. Earth cried and cried for many centuries as he moved slowly toward The Light. Before long, Earth met another planet. Earth was crying and looked up one year and saw a massive planet in front of him. This planet was golden and far larger than any planet he'd ever seen! It had many rings around its body, making it that much bigger. Earth, feeling scared and afraid of what such a large planet might think of him, tried to slip past. But, as he was almost past it, the massive planet spotted him and said, "Well hello there, young planet. What are you doing so far out here? Shouldn't you be near The Light?" Earth turned and looked at the planet and said "You.. you think I should be in The Light? But why should I be so close to The Light when I'm so horrid?" The massive planet drew back in curiosity and asked "What would give you such a horrible idea such as that?" Earth began to moap and say "Because there are planets that are far more beautiful and better than I. My surface is an empty land of nothing but a frozen scar. I am ugly and weak, so why should I be closer?" The massive planet looked down on Earth and said "Because you are just beginning to be the beautiful and strong planet you will be when you reach The Light. Don't let other planets tell you what you are and who you are when you are still finding out for yourself." Earth looked back at the massive planet and was relieved and encouraged. Earth began to warm up with happiness and confidence and melt its frozen surface. Soon, the Earth's frozen-over craters were vast oceans of the one solid sheets of ice. And soon, there were tiny islands where the melted ice couldn't reach.
Well, Earth was feeling inspired to continue to The Light and be the beautiful planet it always wanted to be. So, Earth thanked the massive planet and began moving closer to the now bright speck. Feeling more confident than ever, Earth began to dream again of how it'd be when it entered The Light. It began dreaming of how beautiful it'd be and how proud it'd be when The Light shown on him. An during Earth's dreaming one century, Earth ran into another large planet colored orange and with a large red spot on its belly. Earth looked at this titanic planet and asked "Am I close to The Light right now?" The orange titanic planet stirred and smiled upon Earth. The planet looked at Earth with friendly eyes and said "Well, that depends on how far you wanna go? If you're looking for a scorch, you're way far away. But, if you're looking for a fun time, you're smack-dab on it, my friend!" Earth replied "I'm wanting to be as beautiful and proud as I dream I am." The planet looked at Earth and said "No why would you wanna be beautiful and proud like the rest of these hard-surfaced rocks? Wouldn't you rather be a rockin' planet having fun and enjoying the simple life forever?" Earth was a little offended by the blatant question it asked, so he said "Well, I want to be beautiful and proud. I've always wanted to be and I will be what I dream I am. I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to continue on to be who I want to be." The orange planet rolled his eyes and coughed "Alright. go for it kid. But you're not gonna make it through those asteroids ahead; they're nasty little buggers." Earth looked behind him and saw a long belt of asteroids blocking his way to The Light. Earth turned back to the titanic planet and said "I am afraid, but I'll make it because I have confidence in my chances to make it, so good-bye." And Earth turned around and began moving towards the asteroids while the orange planet looked on snickering.
Well, Earth wasn't lying when he said he had confidence in his chances, but he was still afraid. And before he knew it, he was face to face with the asteroids. They weren't very big at all, but there were millions upon millions of them. Earth was intimidated by them all and tried finding a way around them, but they were just ignoring his trouble and kept moving along, leaving him lost. Well, Earth looked at them all and said in a strong voice "I'm trying to get to The Light, so I'm going to have to pass through you all and I'll be on my way." But suddenly the asteroids all looked at Earth and stopped and just looked at him viciously and said together "Not on your life, punk!" Frightened and stunned by their defiance, Earth lost some of his confidence, but knew that he'd need to get through them in order to make it to The Light. So, Earth began moving through them. And as soon as he entered the belt, they began attacking him; running into him and crashing into his surface. Earth became terrified and tried moving faster through the belt, but only made things worse as he was being beaten by hundreds of asteroids as he moved closer to the other side. Scared and hurt, Earth began doubting that he'd ever make it to The Light and be what he's always wanted to be. Earth lost a lot of his confidence as he was continuously beaten by the asteroids and began to give up. Earth was feeling alone and weak. He didn't have much more energy to make much more of an effort to go through, but, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something in the midst of the battery. Earth saw between the fluttering asteroids glints of the once small speck of light. Earth knew he was close to the end, so he pushed further and further. Motivated to make it to the other side, Earth went faster and stronger through the asteroids barrage. Taking more and more pain, Earth finally burst out into the calm space on the other side of the belt. He was so relieved that he made it through such a horrible ordeal. Battered and hurt, Earth was very weak, but still had enough energy to move on. Another few eons of exhausted traveling to The Light, now brighter than ever, began to take its toll on him. Earth became very fatigued and weak; slowing down and feeling ill. Earth's surface began to move and shift, moving the islands into a larger mass and making one large sea. Soon, there were green plants growing on the land, starting different reactions on his surface.
Well, Earth was getting tired of having to keep move and move closer and getting weaker and weaker on the way. Soon, Earth was practically dragging himself along. Earth was so tired and hurt. He had never felt so weak in his life. Earth's dreams began fading again, making him lose faith in his travels and hopes. Earth soon began sleeping again, accepting the darkness again. Earth just wanted to give up and accept that he'd made it this far, and that it was going to be as far as he'd ever get. Earth, disappointed and empty, began sleeping deeper and deeper until he was completely asleep. Well, Earth fell asleep for a long time, letting things stay the way they were. He was comfortable after awhile because he didn't have much to worry about and was feeling better and more stable. Earth just stayed sleeping, enjoying the peace away from the clambers of what he faced. He didn't want to leave this comfortable spot. Soon, Earth was ready to wake up, but instead of starting back on his journey to The Light, he decided he'd just stay where he was and enjoy what he had. So, Earth woke up and began looking around and making the best out of where he was. Earth could see The Light, but it was still not bright enough to make him as beautiful as he wanted to be; and that was just fine with him. Earth began just sitting there away from The Light, watching the universe change and flex. Soon, Earth became bored of this simple life and began dreaming again. Earth dreamed of how he used to desire so deeply to be the best and most beautiful planet he could be. Earth began feeling the warmth of such a happy dream, but felt the disappointment of not being there already. Earth was happy and content where he was, but he still wanted to be the best planet he could be. Yet, Earth remembered what happened t him when he did go for his dream. He remembered that pain he felt, and he remembered the excitement he had. Earth began to wonder if he was fine where he was or if he should accomplish his dream. Earth puzzled himself over this problem for many centuries, wondering "what if's..." and rethinking his dream and where he was. Amidst this period of thinking, Earth was interrupted by a passing planet. Earth looked at the planet. The planet was smaller than him, but was completely red and very rough. Earth spoke to the planet saying "Hello, fellow. What brings you out here?" The red planet responded back to Earth "I had a little problem with chasing a dream I had. See, I wanted to be the most I could ever be by moving closer to The Light. So, I set out to be my full self." Earth looked at the planet curiously and interested, and asked "Well, what happened?" The red planet continued on and said "Well, I traveled to The Light, but I guess I was getting in over my head because I began to get too close. I was a green planet before then, but now I'm burnt red because I was too close to The Light. So, I figured that my dreams were a bit extreme and I'm going back to living my content life out here." And with that, the red planet left.
Earth was left puzzled by what the red planet had said. There's no way a planet could get "too close" to The Light. Earth began to think harder about his dream. Earth thought about how if he did go after this dream that he could end up getting hurt again. Earth also thought about how great it would be for him to be the best Earth he could be. Stuck thinking again, Earth went between ideas and attempted to make a decision. Well, Earth decided that it'd be better to be the best Earth he could be, even if he did get hurt. Earth was willing to take the risks to be better once more. so, Earth began moving towards The Light. Earth moved closer and closer to The Light and began to notice something. Earth began to notice that there were more and more colors on him than before; he was becoming beautiful. Earth became overwhelmed with joy as he got closer the more color he had and the more beautiful he became. How happy Earth was to see himself become more and more beautiful that ever. His dreams were coming true and Earth kept growing happier and happier. But, soon, Earth started to feel hot and uncomfortable as he got closer, but he shrugged it off as he was still becoming more and more beautiful. He kept getting closer and closer to The Light, and kept getting more and more beautiful, but also kept feeling more and more uncomfortable. Soon, Earth became too uncomfortable and decided to stop and look around. Earth was shocked at what he saw.
Surrounding him and his colorful surface were flames reaching out from The Light. Earth was very very close to The Light; too close. Earth looked at other planets that were zipping past him nearly on fire, and burnt red and orange. Earth yelled out to them "Why are you burning so hot and going so fast?" The planets replied "Because we're beautiful here! We're MOST beautiful here! In fact, we need to get closer to The Light so we can the most beautiful of all planets! We need to be beautiful! It's our dream! We must have our dream come true!" Earth was frightened by the eerie response they gave him. Earth began rethinking his dream again. Earth began to think about the possibility that maybe there could be too much beauty. Maybe he didn't need all the beauty. Maybe he didn't need to be the most beautiful planet. But, Earth also thought about how wonderful it'd be to be the most beautiful planet ever. Earth thought about the respect he might receive as the most beautiful planet. Earth thought about how if he were the most beautiful how he could show to the sister planet that he was worth it, that he was not ugly and weak; he was the best.
Earth was stuck deciding between having beauty and having ultimate beauty. Earth thought and thought about which was best. He was very confused. Earth didn't know which was better! He wanted to be beautiful, but he also wanted to be the most beautiful planet. Then Earth decided he'd choose which one was more important. So, Earth looked at his choices. If he were to be the most beautiful planet, he'd be admired by all and looked up to and would have the fame and desire he always wanted from those planets that doubted him. And then Earth thought about if he settled with regular beauty. Earth thought about how he'd be happy and comfortable with being just beautiful. Earth thought about how he could still be Earth and be beautiful and happy. It was then that Earth realized what he needed.
Earth realized that if he were to go on to be the most beautiful planet, he'd be doing it for the other planets and wouldn't necessarily enjoy it. Earth realized that if he did stay with regular beauty, he'd be doing it for himself and be satisfied and content, maybe not even care what the other planets wanted. So Earth turned around and went back to where he met the red planet. It was on his way back that Earth noticed his surface blossom in vibrant colors all over. The heat from The Light had started a fast growth of life on Earth and caused it to spread quickly. Earth looked as the oceans became their deep blue and the mountains became their snow-capped peaks, and how the plains became their bright green, and how the desert became the dry gold. Earth looked as different things full of different colors emerged from the land and sea. Earth watched himself blossom into the most important planet he could ever imagine: a host planet for life and creation.
Well, Earth settled in around the red planet and stayed put for many more centuries. Earth sat in peace and happiness for a long time before he was disturbed once more. It was one year that Earth was approached by a stray asteroid and asked "Am I close to The Light? I want to be beautiful like you." Earth looked at this tiny asteroid and smiled and said "Well, if you wanna be beautiful like me, how about you stay here with me and every time The Light shines behind you, I'll make you the most beautiful view to the life on me?" The little asteroid thought long an hard. Finally, it decided to stay.
Well, Earth and the little asteroid matured together for many more ages. They became the two most beautiful views to the life on Earth, for if you look at the little asteroid when The Light shines behind it you'll witness the most beautiful view in the sky you'll ever see: an eclipse. And the life on Earth would later go on to visit for themselves the other planets that Earth had met during his travel and would come to discover that out of all those planets, that Earth was the most beautiful planet out of them all.
*NOTES*
I've always been interested in writing short stories that people can "learn" from, so I decided to do this one just spur of the moment. I had no idea where I was going to take this story, all I knew was that I wanted to portrait a planet learning something. Hope you readers enjoy it! I like it.
 CopperbeltJack · Wed Jul 18, 2007 @ 09:37am · 0 Comments |
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NAMES
There is a book,
Where all that will be removed,
Is written.
This book is record.
Record of Death.
As Time proceeds,
So does age.
And as we age,
We die.
Victims of Time.
And so,
When the time is right,
We are killed,
And our names recorded.
Recorded in Passing.
Our name,
Scaring Parchment.
The scribe of this book,
Is the Manager of Life.
Death, to us.
Keeper of Names.
It is Death who writes us in.
It is Death that monitors Time.
Waiting to next take names,
Nothing more.
Names, not Lives.
And yet we fear,
Death.
When Death only takes names,
While Time takes lives.
Without Blame.
And we know,
We cannot control Time,
The Killer.
So why,
Fear Death?
Why not fear Time,
The Murderer,
Instead of Death;
The Scribe.
The Keeper of Names.
*NOTES*
I was up late one night and thought about why people are afraid of death instead of accepting it as an inevitability and instead fearing the shortening of time instead the end. I personally would be more afraid of wasting my limited time than dying. I'll leave this for you to decide which is more important to worry about (if anything is worth worry).
Dream Avatars (Donations will result in everlasting appreciation & a cookie)  His name will be Oskar Schindler CopperbeltJack · Wed Jul 18, 2007 @ 09:30am · 0 Comments |
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