Flash missed many things on Earth. People, his family, food, music, art…
P. J. Raygun approached Nebula X and said Clean my house. He said it partly to be funny, and partly to check whether the droid would respond to him or not.
Nebula X quickly began organizing the jumble of wires and electrical components heaped on the table before a vacuum tube extended from her left thumb and cleaned all the components of dust and other foreign particles. Raygun and Snowpants watched her until the hovel was spotless and every item was labeled.
Whoa! Snowpants said, You owe me!
Yeah Raygun responded in awe. Thanks. What should I have her do now?
Yard work? Snowpants suggested.
MEANWHILE…
Ash, Krate and Dock wasted no time in leaving Mars. Dock was the first to lift off. Nomicon would have to decide their next course of action considering the Wormhole situation.
As Ash and Krate’s ship finally escaped Mars’ pull, they looked back on the red planet with mixed feelings. A sense of unfinished business over-rode even their excitement about going home.
Mars, the god of war, seemed angry and menacing, accompanied by its moons, fear and panic. Ash and Krate now had a face to attach to the god. Wormhole.
MEANWHILE…
Waking, Flash too, looked out over Mars’ rusted face, his first terrestriall sight in ages. Though he still had far to travel, Mars seemed the gateway to Earth.
The sun was now bright and hurt his unaccustomed eyes, so long had he hibernated in the outer reaches of the sun’s kingdom.
With his radio and computer still off, Flash continued to converse with Holly Gram. Together they walked through Flash’s memories – at times scampering through sundrenched fields, at other times strolling hand in hand down starlit streets or darkened corridors.
With her companionship and guidance, Flash seemed to make sense of his life. The important things formed his foundation while the rest crumbled away, cast off as the refuse it was. Among those things discarded were expectation, judgement, anxiety, fear and the political church. Among those things retained were love, acceptance, tolerance and peace.
"Take a lesson from the strangeness you feel"
Long, long ago and far, far away, there was a planet which was occupied by only two people. Think of them as Adam and Eve if you will, for they were a male and a female, just entering adulthood. The planet Olo, however, had strict rules banning anything fun. The two remote occupants secretly rebelled in their hearts, against the harsh decrees under which they lived. No music. No touching anything, ever. No self actualization. Just the rulebook, the study of which, took up much of their time and permeated every thought, dictated how the felt and what they were, (and more importantly were NOT) to do. Below the surface, there lurked something big. Something loud. Something colorful and happy. They were both aware of it but denied that it was there. Like a whale, or a pod of whales, it threatened to surface on their tiny, tiny planet, shattering the only world they had ever known, breaching and blowing crystal fragments into the atmosphere and transforming their dull gray vistas into something resplendent and unrecognizable. They had both found tiny pieces of this crystal in the dirt. They would look at them, wipe the colorless dust from them and hold them up to see the light of stars refracted through the sparkling facets. Marveling at the beauty, they would put the jewels into parcels and send them to each other from a safe and acceptable distance. The tiny planet pulsed with a vibration that spoke to them. The rulebook said that they must stand very still and count the pulses with a waving arm outstretched before them in case they were ever to have to lead a crowd in appreciating the sound. But when they were alone, traversing the dusty surface of Olo, they instinctually responded by laughing, singing and something that almost felt like dancing. This, the rulebook forbade and so they looked away ashamed. "We have everything we need right here in the rulebook," they droned into the monotonous air. "We are blessed and happy!" their voices echoed. "Happy! Happy!" they bellowed into the emptiness. "Blessed and happy!" they cried, long, long ago and far, far away.
This came to me along with the following song lyrics:
"So take a lesson from the strangeness you feel, and know you'll never be the same. And find it in your heart to kneel down and say 'I gave my love, didn't I? And I gave it big sometimes. And I gave it in my own sweet time. I'm just leaving.'" – Jane Siberry, Love Is Everything.