The Planet That Wasn't

Epilogue

I look out over the planet. I'm back on the old spaceship, though, now it's been through so much it's more like a flying pile of scrap metal. I chuckle to myself, thinking about how things were so long ago. Well, it's only been 20 years, but it feels like a lifetime ago. We don't really have a complete government yet, but we all do what we can to protect and help each other along, and we all use subsistence farming techniques. I think back to the beginning.

When we first landed, I had just started in the bioplanetary scientific field. I had been so nervous at the induction ceremony! I was so red, I almost matched our second moon. That critical moment... the one the night before my induction. That was the first time I held my wife's hand. I sigh. That was the moment that changed everything in my life. I had finally set myself on the path I had always dreamed of, and I got to help others see the dream too.

I walk around to the different exhibits. This place was a museum, now. It almost surprises me how easy it was to get everyone to go pollution-free, and how far we've progressed. Most of the problem on Earth was that there were too many things we would have had to replace. We couldn't replace them, they were too ingrained into the lives of the general public to change anything. In fact, It's not completely horrible that we have to start over with a new planet; If we hadn't, we might never have been able to stop polluting the universe.

You see, when we were poisoning the planet, we didn't realize that it was also poisoning the solar system. Whenever a heavenly body spins, it sends out a signal; a certain frequency of note that it sings out to the universe, if you will. When you poison the planet, it changes that note, that frequency. It was sending out a poisonous signal to the other planets, causing them to begin getting sick as well. When Earth exploded, it stopped sending out the poisonous signal, and by now the other planets have fully recovered.

"Provost Kalem?" I hear a familiar voice say. I turn around to see Brie, walking towards me, two kids trailing next to her.

"Brie? is that you?" I ask, grinning from ear to ear. I walk to her, and we hug. I don't get to see her much anymore, seeing as she's the president of the luxury section of industry. We already have skyscrapers, and Brie and Benz owned one for their business; they were the co-CEO's of the only major gym/spa organization.

"How've you been? It's been, what, five years? I remember the last time I saw you, Leyna was only one." Brie smiled, pulling away from the hug. Her daughter, the one holding her hand, walked up to me. She had her hair mostly down, but had a small braid going down the side of her face. She wore a pink shirt, with a blue tutu on it, and the word fabulous written in cursive green above it. I knelt down so we could be eye to eye.

"I'm five, now!" She said, holding up a hand, fingers splayed way out. I smiled, and chuckled again.

"Well then, Leyna, haven't we grown?" I say, then ruffle her dirty blonde hair. She giggles. I stand back up, and look at her older brother. "And your son... Laance, I believe? I say, holding out my hand for him to shake it. He looked at me with his deep blue eyes, so dark they rivaled an abyss. His hair matched, and he slumped a bit. He was thirteen, I think. He wore dark clothes, with black hair and orange earbuds. He's not smiling, and reminds me almost exactly of myself at sixteen. He shakes my hand

"And how old are you, Laance?" I ask, still smiling. "Thirteen?" I ask, curious, pulling my hand away and putting my hands in my pocket. He laughed, and continued smiling when he said:

"Fifteen. But, hey, normally people tell me my eyes make me look older. I'm really interested in your job, what exactly do you do?" He asked.

"Laance! We were talking, and catching up! Don't make him talk about his work, he's trying to relax." Brie scolded, touching his shoulder. I laughed now, and smiled at Brie.