365 DAYS 365 TALES

21st PLANET

A blinding white light enveloped him as he touched the red dot on that strange thing. The boy felt weightless for a moment as the thing started to get off the ground. He could see the land going away from him but he was unable to get out of that thing. Somehow he had trapped himself in this strange looking thing, which was now rushing forward to meet the sky.

The boy felt a pang of fear rise inside his stomach. What would happen when this thing crashes into the sky? His mother's face floated before his eyes at that instance. He couldn't think of his mother's disarray if something should happen to him. No, this is not the time to panic. If not for himself, he had to remain strong for his mother. He had to find a way to get out of this thing.

The boy looked at all the blinking dots on that thing. They were all of many different colors. He noticed red, blue, green and yellow among the familiar, but there were three others which he didn't knew. He cautiously approached near those blinking dots. He had already touched the red dot before, and it hadn't turned out well. He made a mental note of staying away from the red one.

With the red gone, the boy was now left with six choices. I have to take a decision quickly. He knew that with every passing second he was going away from his home, his mother. Just the thought of his mother stirred something inside of him, and without giving it a second thought he touched the blue one.

Nothing happened for some time. The boy was ready to touch another one when suddenly the whole thing jerked. He lost his balance and fell on the floor. He didn't feel anything different till he got on his feet and gazed outside. The clear blue sky was gone. All he could see was the darkness of the night.

No, what have I done. The boy had written his own fate. The fate which was taking him away from his mother, his land and all the things he knew. How can God be so cruel to me? The boy now wished he hadn't helped that weird looking stranger. Nothing of this would have happened then.

The boy roamed the forest that day searching for a decent kill. Sun had reached over his head and yet he was empty handed. His feet had urged him to go back and have some rest. But he knew better. Going back would have meant sleeping hungry for both him and his mother.

The boy had continued his search till he finally came across a rabbit. It had been cleverly hiding behind a bush, but the trained eyes of the boy had spotted it in an instant. He tightened the grip on his spear, as he slowly crouched towards the bait. He thanked the gods for sending this rabbit and threw the spear with all his force. The spear flew across tearing the air between. It was about to hit the rabbit when suddenly there was a blinding white light and then a CLANG.

The boy didn't understand what had happened. That spear should never have made that kind of a sound. It should have dugged into the soft flesh and touched the ground deftly. That kind of sound only meant one thing. He had missed his target. And that meant no food. But all his assumptions were proved wrong when that white light diminished.

Spear was deep into the rabbit's belly. He was ecstatic that his mother won't be sleeping hungry tonight. But then, what was that sound? That's when the boy noticed a strange looking thing which his spear had hit. It was round and made of something he didn't know. Sun's light was reflecting brightly from the whole thing. As much as this thing amused him, he was still confused. How had this thing appeared out of thin air?

As they say, curiousness is the mother of all things. It was the same for the boy. He went near the strange thing and touched it with trembling hands. It was so smooth, he felt as if his rough hands might affect it. With his hands still on the thing, the boy watched his own reflection on it. He was so amused by this thing that he started to circle the whole thing, his hands still on it.

He was jumping happily around it, when suddenly the thing jerked. The boy watched in horror as a gap opened in the round thing. The boy didn't know what to do. He was afraid that he might have damaged it somehow. He got frightened and turned to run for home. But a voice stopped him. A voice coming from that gap. A voice of a human.

Sitting inside this strange round thing, the boy dreaded that day. If he would have just went home, nothing of this would have happened. How could I? Yes, how could he leave an injured human behind? And if gods were so cruel to part him from his mother for helping someone, than he would gladly accept his fate.

The boy sat on the floor, lost in his thoughts. He didn't even realize that the darkness had gone from the outside, and the blue sky had returned again. That land which he was crying for was returning back. A sudden jerk clipped him back to his senses. He hurried onto his feet and stared outside. He was ecstatic to see that blue sky again. To see that ground beneath him again.

Something was still askew. This ground beneath him, it was not his ground. This was a color of charcoal, not that dirt color. The boy was terrified. Where am I? Before he could understand anything, the thing touched the ground. That gap through which he had come in this thing opened again. Outside stood a man clad in strange looking white robe. The man extended his hand forward and spoke something.

"Welcome to the 21st PLANET." 

***

cchinu (16/03)