The king and queen waved to the crowd, which parted as they approached. What a grand entrance they made, descending onto the runway lined by adoring subjects. The whale stopped at the entrance of the museum, and slowly lowered its head toward the ground while raising its tail into the air. As it gradually became more and more vertical, the monarchs slid down its body and were deposited onto a platform where they addressed the crowd.
The king recounted the events that transformed their planet from dull gray to the vibrant paradise they now enjoyed. He told of the sounds that used to come from deep under the planet’s outer crust, and their ascent on the backs of whales, out beyond the atmosphere. As he told of the cataclysmic destruction of Olo, holograms projected scenes into the air above him. Though the Ololians knew the story well, they watched with a thrill as whales emerged from under ground, turning their world to a dust cloud. When it settled again, the pulsing sound had ceased, and everything was transformed. When they saw Flash Meridian’s spaceship land in the very spot where the king and queen stood, everyone cheered louder than ever. This was the beginning of a new age on Olo, and everyone… the king and queen, everyone present, the whales and even Flash Meridian himself were liberated. Aino’s eyes filled with tears, and she glanced at Bucket, who had been freed in another part of the universe, to eventually find his home on Olo.
The king finished his address, and the whales came low to the ground, allowing the people to climb up onto them. They rose like hot air balloons, and their riders could look down on the images that covered the surface of Olo. These geoglyphs now had names, and people identified their neighborhoods in terms of the pictures.
I live in the purple rabbit, one might say, to which another might answer, I come from the flowered dress. Occasions like this let them see what was not visible from the surface.