I'll Tell You a Story

A Forbidden Planet

"The temperature is rising," a familiar voice says, crackling through the static.

"I'm heading," I intone, trying not to let my fear echo. The device in my helmet begins to transmit the sound waves from my voice.

Something in my head tells me this is suicide--being the first man to be on this forbidden planet. For how many years, there was nothing known about this, even its name. As if no one dared to do research about its origin and mysteries, as if it is a secret no one should know. But not until I and my team decided to have this confidential "project"--we will be the first settlers on this planet.

I take a lazy step forward, trying not to make any sound. At first glance, the darkness is horrifying as death. Fortunately, my spacesuit has several special features enough to give me light and detect movements in great distance.

I continue my walk--a bit slower speed than I did a while ago. The gravity, as I observe, is 1g like from our home planet. The temperature is favorably dropping, keeping now its range suitable for human beings. The sand on this planet is metallic gray. I play a handful of it in my palm. The mountain range makes my eyes wide open and twinkles its bright green depths. It is like a midnight panoramic view, waiting for the welcome of the sun, in the silent corners of our planet. The only dismal news, a really hard one to swallow, is that the few dull standing trees are leafless. There is still no sign of water. The chance of survival here is again questionable.

The unexpected choppy sound of the movement detector makes me pause. I let it escape in the air for a while; the intensified jerky noise grows louder and louder. My heart races, sending more blood to my cheeks and providing a jolt powerful enough to bring back my body to mobility. As I carefully search the place, a decimated cry is surprisingly heard in the background. Honestly, it signals horror to me. Moments after, I catch a silhouette--a figure wobbling abnormally not far from where I am standing.

My blood runs cold as the cry I heard lately is now accompanied by the horrendous screech of rusted hinges. My eyes freeze in their sockets as the shadow grows bigger and bigger. At the blink of an eye, the shadow is now right in front of me, floating an estimated two feet above the ground. Its face is still blurred to me, but its perfect set of dazzling white teeth is revealed. The dagger-like teeth, soaked in its saliva, suggesting I am a mouth-watering meal.

"Don't move," I manage to calm myself.

I do not know if it is effective or anything else. The shadow slowly melts as fog roams the area. In just one blow of the wind, the fog is gone. I find it weird, but when I drift my gaze, it bares the dust to show some bones. I immediately examine them--realizing that the bones are as size as of humans'. Some of the bones are cranial. This discovery really stuns me--are we not the first settlers here?

But it is not just to the bones that catch my attention. Under the pile of bones is an outlandish material and I never saw anything like it in my entire life. The thing is a fading tangerine sheet and about my size of a palm. Curiosity over safeness, I speedily scan the material.

"Made of molecule chains called polymers which are often made of carbon and hydrogen," I heard the voice again from the device in my helmet.

As the voice furtherly tells the result, I try to find more clues by reading some printed words on it.

"Do not litter; protect mother earth!" it says.

The voice starts to talk again to me, crackling through the static. "Welcome back, this is our home...before the destruction."