Thursday, June 7, 2012

"The Blue Planet"

This is something I wrote a while ago, but it kind of fits today's prompt from dVerse 
http://dversepoets.com/2012/06/07/where-in-the-world/ 
(it's not a poem, not even a prose poem though, hope they'll let me get away with it..)

 
The Blue Planet

Sunday.  No hurry.  The music of the coffeemaker.  Fresh coffee.  Leisurely breakfast.  Sunshine. What can possibly spoil a perfect morning?  Sunday papers.  Scary headlines.  They make you feel so small and helpless.  They tell you the whole world is doomed, and there is nothing you can do about it.  They leave you no hope.  “You can’t let everything get to you,” he always tells her, “you need to distance yourself from the news and filter the information; you can’t just take everything in.”  She doesn’t know how to distance or filter.  And it gets to her.

 She prefers to stay away from the news.  But every now and then something in the papers catches her eye.  Something insignificant, in small print.   Today is one of those days.  She notices something that makes her stop what she is doing.  She picks up the paper from the kitchen table and reads the small print again.  Could they be right this time?  He doesn’t think it’s possible.  But what makes him so sure?  She could never understand that.  What if it’s really true?  It’s a bit scary… Yet so wonderful!  Her heart is beating fast.  What is it she’s feeling?  Excitement, yes, and – hope.  Above all, she feels hope.
  
-          "Well, what do you know?  I thought you didn’t like newspapers.  What is it you’re reading?"
She didn’t hear him coming.  She hesitates for a second, but it’s too late now: she has to tell him.
-          "They’ve discovered a new planet…and they think…they believe there might be life there, for…"
-          "Good grief!  All these years, and they still believe!  I guess, they just never give up, uh?"
-         "I guess..."
-        "We are unique.  There’s nobody else in the whole universe, but us.  It was meant that way.  There, there, darling, you look a little worried…  It’s all right, I’ll take care of you.  I’m sorry this silly story upset you.  Put the paper away.  Come, let’s get ready and go to the park, it’s beautiful out."
-         "I’ll just finish up in the kitchen.  I’ll only be a minute."

She smiles at him, and surrenders her lips to his.  She watches him leave and walk upstairs.  Not until she hears his footsteps in their bedroom above her, does she reach for a drawer to get the scissors.  The clipping is very small, he won’t notice anything.  Then she fetches a cardboard box from behind the large pots they never use.  She opens the box and looks at its contents for a moment.  Very carefully she lays down the clipping next to her other silly treasures.  Then she closes the box tight and puts it away.
***
A new planet, previously obscured from view, has been observed in the neighboring galaxy.  About 71% of the planet’s surface appears to be covered with liquid water, necessary for all known life.  Therefore, there is a strong possibility that the planet in question could be home to millions of species, including humans.  The newly discovered planet does not have an official name, and is referred to temporarily as the “Blue Planet.”


Live for the Love of it,
The Happy Amateur

12 comments:

  1. interesting...it is hard for me to believe we are the only intelligent life out there....to one day find it would be rather fascinating...i wonder though what we would do if we did...and would it be beneficial to them?

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    1. Good questions..I wonder, too.
      I have no doubt there's life out there somewhere.

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  2. Interesting way to see our world from another perspective. The ending was welcome surprise, one which I think works really well. It is odd to think that other worlds could exist, though I don't think it will be discovered in the time I have yet to live. What intrigues me about this story is how one assumes that if there is life on other planets, it will resemble ours. Is this because we will not consider it intelligent otherwise? There is perhaps some irony in the idea that life on other worlds exists but it is not different from ours. No doubt, were life to be discovered and our species met, we would have to find out a common way of behaving, otherwise we could not communicate. In some ways, I think your words here bring home that idea.

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    1. The reason for likening the alien world to ours was that surprise ending I was aiming at, so I'm glad it worked out. I wanted to plant a seed of doubt: what if really?.. I believe it's certainly possible.

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  3. I like your post. The speaker is likeable and I want to know more about her. The relationship between her and her husband is also intriguing, and there seems to be something about her that is alien to him, so there's a couple of levels that I see in here that fit in with the prompt. heidi http://biggerthanalasagna.blogspot.com/

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  4. Great post, though I'm not convinced that life that needs water, air or carbon is the only possible. It's merely the only known - I think! A good read.

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  5. Thank you, Dave! There's so much to learn still! Finding any forms of life would be great, but it's just tempting to think we might meet more people, like us, or almost like us..

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  6. Great flash fiction! I totally enjoyed reading it. I think she is from that planet, that it has better headlines than here. And I'm glad that you didn't solve the mystery for me or have her talk back. His arrogant attitude is the problem to escape: This world is the top and it will take care of us? My heart beat faster with your character's. Brilliantly understated.

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    1. Wow! Thank you, Susan! When I posted this on my blog earlier, I had no response whatsoever, and I thought maybe my story was..not so good. But then I decided to give it another chance, and maybe it's not so bad after all :-)

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  7. I was expecting another poem so this was a great surprise. Good job, nicely done.

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    1. Thank very much for visiting! So glad you liked my post :-)

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