New World - late night inspiration.

I get too many of these cute little plots late at night. When I'm not writing anymore, too. hrrng...




They were a simple-minded civilization, living among the beautiful wilderness, taking only what they needed from the land and giving back twice that. The wilderness was gorgeous; some trees reached up to a thousand feet tall, so high that when you looked up you could not see the tops, and the feeling of being so small in comparison would almost make you fall down on your bottom. Rivers ran wide and deep, snaking through these gigantic forests, supplying fresh water for the people that lived on their banks. And it was also home to exotic wildlife: multicolored birds the size of airplanes, wild tigers… these creatures did not go for humans, but the winged beasts would swoop down and carry off a deer or a goose as a snack.

The cities were placed on the sides of rivers and the coasts of oceans, and the people there lived simple lives. There was no fear of war as there were was only one global government on the planet that was two times the size of earth and being home to just a few millions of people. The planet was rich with natural resources, but the people were careful to use them sparingly. There were no big cities, but there were towns with neighborhoods and stores. People were happy. Of course, it wasn’t like everyone would join hands and sing, but no one had any reason to dislike someone else.

Cities were small. No skyscrapers, no exhaust-congested air, no streets packed with six lanes of cars. They were just clusters of small buildings, businesses and shops, powered by wind and solar and water power. They used small cars to get around, and in their homes they had nothing more than they needed. Everything was simple. Everyone was happy. Happy enough. They’d moved here hundreds and hundreds of years ago, when this new planet had been discovered. And there were others, too, farther off.

For Joe, the voyage to the colony planet of Zarous was long. Two years aboard a ship with two hundred other people, causing him to be twenty-one when he stepped foot onto the Zarous Interplanetary Launch Site. They poured off of the rocket and into the spaceport to meet the hosts that would be their caretakers, protecting them and guiding them for the next year in this radically different world. The moment Joe climbed out, he was taken a back with his surroundings. They spaceport was in a bowl, with big sweeping mountains on either side of them, covered in the tallest of trees, maybe a thousand feet tall, reaching so high that he couldn’t even see the tops. And in the distance, a shimmering body of water, the air currents creating a gentle breeze. Everything was like Earth, but many times bigger, and so much more vibrant, and beautiful. The spaceport itself was very simple, very small; a three story building with one side completely made of glass and downward slanting walls. The others seemed to have the same reaction, walking about clumsily like children in a swimming pool for the first time. Even the sky, instead of blue, was a light purple even in the daytime. Its sun was rather far away, causing it to be twilight even in the middle of the day, and never too hot. Against the twilight sky, it burned a dark red.

“Come on, inside, everyone. There will be time to sight see when you find your host,” the staff were urging them, ushering them into the building. It wasn’t like any airport Joe had ever seen on Earth. Much smaller on the inside, Joe figured there was a part of the building used to store the small ships. Their luggage was being carried in on carts, but Joe held a small bag of his more personal belongings that he wanted to keep closer to him, and a sign. In the language that he’d studied for years, the sign said the name [i]Nicholas Jonas[/i]. He draped his bag over his shoulder and held the sign up as he walked around, biting his lip from nervousness. All of the hosts were standing in a line, holding signs with names, but it soon became just a jumble as the passengers found theirs, greeting eachother with laughter and hugs.

Finally, a sign that said [i]Dailey[/i] caught his eye, and Joe grinned, nervously, as he scampered over to a curly haired man. Nicholas looked down at the sign he held, smiling. They’d seen enough pictures of eachother to recognize the other even without the sign. “Joseph?”

“Hey…” He smiled shyly, reaching out to grasp Nick’s hand when he outstretched it, but found himself clueless and feeling awkward when his host gently gripped his forearm just before the elbow, shaking it gently. Noting his, he pulled back. “Oh, ah, sorry… you, um… you do handshakes, don’t you?”

Embarrassed, Joe nodded, biting down gently on his knuckle – an old habit of his. This place really was different. “Um, yes.”  

“Uh, well, that’s how we do it here,” Nick chortled. “You wanna come with me? Don’t got anyone else to go with… here, let me take one of your bags.”

Splitting Joe’s several bags of luggage, they trooped down one of the large hallways and outside to a small car that’s waiting in the parking lot. Barely big enough for two people, they spent quite a bit of time shoving and stuffing the luggage into the tiny trunk.

The car ride home was short. They drove through a little village full of tiny houses, with garments hung on clotheslines to dry in the warm breeze, children playing in the dirt and flying kites and riding tricycles. They drove through a small town lined with itty-bitty shops that looked like cabins, the streets dotted with citizens traipsing along on their merry way. Everybody seemed so happy, so content, even with the almost primitive nature of the whole place. Everything was so simple. This would surely be a nice break from the harshness and complications of life on Earth.