I've been writing creatively lately. Still journaling. But doing some writing that is not just unfinished thoughts and unfulfilled emotions has helped me. It has helped me to find a moment of peace where my mind can play and imagine. Even if I don't write for that moment in time in the mornings, I sit with my books, read and dream. Trying to get those wishful dreams down in writing is a challenge, but one I honestly welcome which is not regular for me. I become frustrated at the first failure of a new project. And I've already failed many times in my writing journey. But the difference is that I don't feel discouraged to the point of freezing or worse, running.
This piece is for my folks, who took us on all kinds of trips as kids. And while we thought we were always on the go with our folks, our folks took the ordinary and made it extraordinary. A cabin motel became a wooded forest to explore. Hotels became large facilities to explore every crevice. Trips to visit family became rites of passage as stories were handed down generation after generation. It's probably why we have really great memories about the random places we went. But one thing was always certain: I felt safe going anywhere with them.
So here it is. I may post it again somewhere else like Wattpad to get further input, but I wanted this first one to be here with my other musings in life. It's edited but I could continue to work on this forever if I wanted to. But it's time to at least share it. Cheers!
My parents are great majestic explorers of areas unknown.
I recall a time when we were exploring the uncharted areas of Sector 9 in the Himalayan Galaxy. Sector 9, while mostly unexplored by our people, had known yet uncategorized threats. But my parents were explorers and they saw it their right to explore all, particularly areas that were deemed threatening. What better way to overcome the fear than facing it head on?
I recall gliding in our space capsule, endless stars and space rocks are all that can be seen through the little bubble window. My parents guide our transport through space. An older Earth artist, I think Dad said it was Digital Underground, played while Momma is at the helm steering through space debris like always. She used to be a speeder and get tickets all the time in the large space station nations. But now that her and Dad are explorers, she gets to speed through space with only her own expertise as guidance. I guess the fact that we have never drifted into an oncoming meteor shower proves her skill. Dad sits in the opposite bucket seat, multiple screens in front of him, giving guidance and updated route options as we glide and weave through space.
Dad used to be in the military. He reads the multiple outputs of data from the navigational screens. He doesn’t talk about his time there, but for some reason I feel that he chose to explore rather than continue the military because of the military.
“D, now don’t get too crazy with twist in this thing. Will throw us all the way off course. Take me forever to figure out where the hell we are.”
“D.R., I know damn. I just want to get there already. Kids, aren’t y’all ready to be there already?”
She is referring to myself and my sibling, but really to just me. Air is asleep in their comfort bubble, so she is really talking to just me. Wisps of lavender can be smelled from the semi-penetrable shell that houses their peaceful body, unaware of the jolts and sways of our space capsule. Air is too young to decide who they, so must be shown the most protection until they discover who they are and are able to begin protecting themselves.
I knew who I was really young, but it was difficult for my parents to understand. I was their first offspring and atypical to raise. But I know who I am and because I do, I am the last line of defense for Air. I love Air.
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We finally arrive in Sector 9 in the Himilayian Galaxy. At least we call it the Himilayian Galaxy. I know other beings, other systems, call it other things. The United Federation of Earth originally chose names of galaxies based on well-known places on Earth (until they ran out and started using a numeral system). The Himilayian Galaxy was one of the first UFE named galaxies and my folks have always wanted to go since they were kids. It was named well before travel to the galaxy was possible for carbon-based lifeforms. My Dad said that the nucleus of the galaxy always looked so intricate and that was just through images sent through space by a proxy. He had to see the real thing. And the planet in Sector 9 that he had in mind was one that had come recommended by one of his military buddies.
And as we started to pass through the galaxy, the intricacies and beauty became apparent. So many bubbles, smears, and whisps of different bright colors. Those colorful abstract images soon expanded into suns of many sizes with planets rotating around them at varying intervals and speeds. Sector 9 was as delicate and alluring as blown glass.
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We landed on our destination planet, Momma pulling off her expert free fall drop into the planet’s atmosphere (for what always seems slightly too long to feel safe), and buoys the vessel back up so that it can do a slow descent while Dad searches for a place to land. The landing didn’t even wake Air in their cradle.
“Alright, let’s get ‘em suited up” Momma says to Dad while he does all his final checks of the system engines while everything cools off. Momma unbuckles and squeezes between the two front bucket seats to get to the back seat where Air and I are still buckled in. I know how to unbuckle my own seatbelt, but I like when Momma does it. She always makes sure that the buckles don’t pinch and softly flicks my nose when she’s done. I hop out onto the floorboard and begin to put on my gear. I shoulder my travel backpack and change my riding shoes for my outdoor shoes. Momma and Dad got the shoes for me on my last birthday. They are standard gravity inducing Forces (outdoor edition), but Dad had Uncle Jazz spray paint them different galaxy colors. The paint even had gold flakes so that it shimmered a bit in lighting and the bright colors glowed in the dark. No need for CO2 tanks since the atmosphere is favorable to our people.
I lift Air’s protective bubble out of its cradle and slide it into place on the connectors to Momma’s back harness as I had been taught when Air was born. The fume wisps within circulate slightly and the lavender smell intensifies. With the click of the bubble on the harness, Air stirs, opens their eyes and smiles at me from within. One thing we do know about Air is that Air loves excursions.
“Opening hatch!” Dad yells from the front without looking to see if Momma has finished getting us and herself geared up. But he never does. It’s like they know each other’s rhythm of operation after years of traveling with each other. They know each other.
The hiss from the opening hatch always is deafening, drowning out all interior noise while the door mechanics hiss and shift within the walls of our space capsule. As the door opens, bright sunshine starts to seep into our enclosure, green moss covers the ground.
When the hatch opens fully, I see why Momma and Dad wanted to bring us here. The many waterfalls that descend over so many cliffs, spraying light mist on us even from where we stand within our space capsule. The crash of all the water is overcoming, but soon subsided into a low rumble in my head. Small insect-like creatures fly and buzz around, their rainbowed translucent wing spans the size of medallions. The two suns in the sky make the wings blink with sparkles continuously.
As we step out onto the moss green, Mom going first with Air on her back, me and Dad bringing up the rear and closing the hatch back with the same hiss, but not as loud since we are fully outside now.
The feel of the moss under my Forces is soft and fluffy as my shoes adhere to the planet's surface. I push into the velvet greenery with the tip of my toe and feel the spring it yields back. The two suns reflect off the dew of the moss making it twinkle and sparkle like the gem mountain ranges in the Geode Planets belt system in the Gamede district. We only flew through this system a few times. Designer planets are too expensive for us to stop to even refuel let alone dock, but it doesn’t stop us from traveling through just to take in the wonder of the crystalized mountain valleys. But here is that same sparkle right under my feet.
As my eyes begin to adjust to the brightness of the planet, I realize I can breathe. Not shallow breathing that I was taught to do by Dad so as to detect atmosphere changes and have time to react. But deep breaths. Breaths that make me a bit dizzy. Breaths that relax my ever consuming anxiety. Breaths that make me feel excited and anxious at the same time.
**********************
The waterfalls are larger than what I previously thought. They are so huge that I mistook the lush, canopied vegetation as more moss along the waterfalls sides.
Dad goes to the back of the space capsule, pops the back hatch and pulls out our two folded Humvees. Lugging one and then the other out, he places the square form on the ground 5 feet apart, and steps on the center of each. They begin to fold out as if awakening from sleep as Dad watches on with a bit of amusement in his eyes. Dad always sees the magic in everything. He told me one time that the Humvees folding out like they do reminds him of his grandfather talking about his favorite childhood show, Transformers. Dad was never interested in the show, but the excitement in his grandfather’s eye was what he looked forward to.
After a minute, the Humvees are folded out and Dad and I take the first one so that he can lead with Momma and Air following behind. Dad plugs a memory stick with the planet's geography loaded into the center console. “You want to get to the top of one of those waterfalls, Number 1?” It’s a nickname that I chose for myself. Dad didn’t understand my identity. He told me once that growing up on Old Earth with his grandparents, while great in some ways, had shielded him from many truths in the universe. Things he was trying to understand now. But he had some relearning to do when he met Momma and when I was born. So, when I became old enough to understand who I was, Dad asked me what kind of nickname I wanted. “Number 1 because I will always be the first born!” I told him. I get the feeling that he wishes he came up with that name. He likes it so much.
“Yeah let’s get to the very top Pops!” I say! Pops is my nickname for Dad. A nickname I would be ridiculed for if my school mates heard me say it.
Dad reves up the engine to our Humvee and he checks behind him to make sure Momma is all settled in hers. She’s let the back part of the seat all the way down so that there is space for Air attached to her back. “I wonder if we can get some hard gravity on this planet?” Dad wonders out loud, and presses more buttons on the dashboard. The Humvee sunk further into the ground as the Humvee’s gravity inducers increased a bit to allow the bulky transport more surface traction on the planet’s surface. I hear the lift of Momma’s Humvee as she reduces the gravity inducers to do zero g travel.
“Alright, off to the races!” Dad yells over the engines and he eases our transport into the lush vegetation on our quest to reach the top of one of those waterfalls.
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We take a break at the halfway mark of our journey to the top. We stop at one of the tributaries of the waterfall we are travelling to have lunch. The moss is even bouncier in the heavy vegetation. The water makes odd trickling sounds as it rolls over the multicolored stones below the surface. I put my hand into the water and pull back as the stones start to shift and move away from my hand. They resume their stagnant modes when my hand fully retreats.
Dad’s using the heat from the Humvee engine to cook the protein patties while Momma does the sandwich toppings. Air sits in her bubble by her feet. The insects from the clearing that we left our space capsule are not as prevalent here, but some seem to have followed Air all the way into the vegetation. They do swirls and swoops in front of her clear, fumeless enclosure and Air looks on, forever entertained.
That’s when I hear a swift shift in the vegetation on the opposite side of the river. The movement is sharp and quick and then a bounding gallop in our direction. As the begin approaches, it tears up greenery and the soft moss surroundings with its deep taloned claws. The skin of the creature is wrinkled, grey and translucent with one eye bulging from between its shoulders, swiveling within it’s socket madly. Other than it’s destructive movements, it was silent.
I realize I am closest to the creature being by the river and began to retreat from the sides. It must have noticed because it comes galloping towards me, claws and talons beating and ripping the earth. I try to get up and run, but stumble so many times before I get moving.
I feel the monster jump from one side of the river over to the side that I and my family are on. I try to get to Momma and Air, but Momma is already by my side, a protective screen ray held out in front of us. The holographic screen opens and extends straight up from her hand to create a camouflage barrier between me and the beast. Air is still by the sandwich condiments being amused by their newly found insect friends, unaware of the immediate danger.
Then the opening guitar riff from “I’m Black and I’m Proud” started to play from the Humvee that Dad was grilling from. The speaker’s from the Humvee were meant for relaying radio messages, so the music came out tinny with very little bass. The creature’s head seemed to search around, now in alarm. And when James Brown hit his iconic ululation before the horn section played, that was when the creature panicked.
Everyone is frozen, Dad, Momma, me as the creature begins to search frantically for our bodies. It searches for just a moment and leaves immediately.
“Big but very blind, see?” she says to me as the protective screen retracts.
“At least he didn’t start screaming, hollering and goin’ on!” Dad bellowed.
Momma goes back to getting the sandwich stuff ready as Dad pulls the patties off the grill.
********************************
We make it to the top one of the waterfall mountain peaks by dusk. The two suns have criss-crossed each other in the sky above and have set opposite of one another along the horizon. I used to hate long rides, but I see how happy it makes my Dad. Dad never drives the space capsule. Always the Humvees. He says that driving the Humvee reminds him of when GrandDad taught him to drive an old Earth car that ran on part gasoline and gasoline had been outlawed for years. He said something about having the traction on the surface that was just not comparable to the anti-gravity transports we have now. You could really feel the earth move, he said.
As the suns set, tiny, multicolored luminescent matter begins to fall from the sky. It looks like many little stars making slow descents down to the surface. When the mini lights touch my skin, they melt, warm like tears dropping on dry skin. Air is squealing away as the light drops make taps against their bubble making glowing streaks down the circumference.
The first shreek diminishes the luminescent matter around us, casting us in near darkness. Makes everyone jump and my heart is nearly beaten out of my chest.
“Oh hell” Momma says as she goes to her and Air’s Humvee.
“Ooooo, yo Momma maaaaddd,” Dad jokes nudging me. My Dad’s nudge centers me and I start to breathe again. And realizing that I was holding my breath I take in deeper breaths. The air has a floral sweetness. I take in more breath as another shreak breaks the silence.
This shreak sends me into a panic. I feel like a trapped baby animal searching for escape from immediate danger. Why are they causing so much noise? Why are they doing this to us? What do they want?
Momma’s grabbed all of our holographic screen rays. Even Air has one for when they get old enough to use it. Momma turns them all on sets up the rays on the ground so that they form a semicircle around the crest of the waterfall where the stars show the brightest. The actual stars, not the luminescent matter that has started to come back to life and become vibrant once more within the makeshift barrier. Another shreak rings through the air.
I’m in full on panic. I am inconsolable in my Dad’s arms. He does not seem to be concerned with the screaming the creatures are making. “You’ve got to relax, it’s all in your head”.
Momma comes back over from a second trip to the Humvee, and she has my headphones. “Here put these on” she says. It’s such a stark contrast of calm to my fear that I listen immediately and slide the phones over ears.
The music is already playing. “This is my message to yoo-ooo-ouuuuu. Sayin’ don’t worry..” This is one of my favorite songs my folks have introduced to us. Momma lets me control the music while she also hands Dad his pair of headphones, already linked to the music device I possess. I was the DJ tonight. And I let Bob and the Wailers calm me down as my family sat in our bubble of paradise while monsters roamed uncontrolled and unchecked around us.
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