The Mysterious Disappearance of Colby Blue

Welcome All to The 10th Annual Colby Blue Day - 2030

A boy points up, marveling at the topaz-blue sky on a bright spring day. His mother holds his hand and looks up as well, both smiling at the sight.

Families waiting to enter the park form a meandering line that runs through a vast green field dotted with wildflowers. Cheerful chatter and children's laughter fill the air.

A rainbow-colored banner flapping above the entrance announces: "Welcome All to The 10th Annual Colby Blue Day –

The one day a year we cure our Nature-Deficit-Disorder"

A smaller banner flies above the Phone-Check table –a red circle with a diagonal line crossing out an image of a smartphone. People happily drop their phones into wicker baskets and given numbered wooden tokens painted gold to look like coins.

A boy looks at the other side of the coin, noticing Colby Blue's likeness carved on its face.

"Look ma', It's Colby Blue!"

His mother looks at the coin lovingly, "Oh wow, that is him, son! Isn't that cute. He's even got on his little explorer goggles."

She looks up at the sky, "Whenever you look up, think of Colby exploring that big ol' Universe. They say that one day he'll return. I'm sure when he does, he's going to change our world for the better with all the discoveries he's made meeting people from other worlds."

At the center of the field, looms the ruins of a dark crooked structure, made entirely of books of all sizes and colors, reaching up, up and up – almost to the clouds. Children clambering around the base. Ivy and moss winding up the cemented layers of weathered books. The doorway was completely boarded up with a faded sign – "DO NOT ENTER" in bold letters.

Sculpted bronze books form a grand archway spanning over the main entrance to the park. Across the archway it reads:

"Take a Book, Give a Book The Bookman Foundation"

A caravan of book trucks sits parked in a circle on a grassy knoll, each chock-full with a wide variety of books.

2

A banner flaps in the wind – Imagination library in rainbow-colored letters. People excitedly pick their favorite read for the day, jockeying around each other inside the mobile libraries.

A freckled, red-haired teenage girl in a blue gingham dress hums a happy tune while swinging a small handbell, selling glass bottles of juices and fruit smoothies fresh from her family's farm.

Frolicking children chase butterflies and tease ladybugs. Lovers are scattered about, lying in the meadow reading to each other.

A young woman asks for her lover's hand in marriage and the crowd erupts in raucous applause as he kisses her, shouting "yes-yes-yes!" towards the sky.

Near the base of Colby's ruined tower of books, two young women are lying on a blanket decorated with an image of the planet Mars.

"I can't believe you knitted the whole planet of Mars onto this blanket for me. I love the little craters. Oh, and of course you included the face on Mars! It's brilliant, Gaiel!"

"Yeah, I'm kind of a knitting boss, so glad you like it, Kaya", her friend replying with a grin, playing with a newborn praying mantis scurrying along the tips of her fingers. She marvels as the tiny mantis opens its lime-green wings, trying to fly for the first time.

Kaya reaches over to pluck a lone dandelion seed head swaying in the breeze.

"Here. Blow on it and make three wishes...but...you have to catch one for each wish or they won't come true", Kaya said, her blue-grey eyes sparkling.

Dandelion seeds fluttered about the air, like tiny, delicate spinning ballerinas. Gaiel released the praying mantis to scurry off into the grass. Moving back and forth until she could coax four florets into her hands.

"Hey, I got four of these feathery critters! Is that good...or bad?", giggled Gaiel.

"Oh, four?!...Four's mega-lucky...Now you have a bonus wish to save for later!"
Kaya suddenly serious, looked at Gaiel, "I know you just moved to town and all and we've only been friends for a minute, but...it would be totally mind-blowing if you could consider joining me on the Mars Colonization Project. You know, I've already been accepted...but...our cool, Madam President just held a press conference last week and she called for new recruits to lead the mission. They're looking for healthy women with high levels of compassion, strong minds, and a ridiculous amount of courage. I immediately thought of you, of course," Kaya said grinning, nudging her with her elbow.

3

Gaiel shrugged, sighing in reply. The sun lighting her curly brown hair. Her green eyes seemed to reflect the fields surrounding them. She looked away, up towards the ruined tower of books.

"Some people in town say there's no mystery about this Colby Blue kid. They say that he just fell from that tower and died..." said Gaiel.

"I refuse to believe that! – I think they're just too scared to accept anything but their limited worldview. I think he's out there, traveling space...discovering new life forms, experiencing things that we can't even imagine. Bet he's doing a heck of a lot better than us here on this overcrowded, messed-up planet," replied Kaya.

"Tell me more about this mysterious boy-hero of yours, then may-be I'll decide if I want to join you on this one-way Mars mission thingamajig..."

A bright smile lit Kaya's face, "Hmm. Where do I begin? Colby Blue was a super sensitive kid. He was friendly but he generally kept to himself, kind of always living inside his head, you know. Not many people really knew him on a deeper level, but just the same he left a mark. After he disappeared, we all united. Our divisions disappeared overnight. We all got together to try to find what happened to him. He's a big part of why I got interested in the Mars Mission in the first place...and he inspired us all to be here today. To have a relationship with the cosmos in a different way than we ever did before..."