I am Rome (Complete)

Chapter Six

After breakfast, Joe took Rome on a tour of the farm. As he performed his daily chores, they continued to talk.

'Rome, I'm so thankful to have met you and I'm glad your people are so kind toward us. If roles were reversed... you know, if we discovered your planet, we would first kill anything that looks remotely threatening and then we would pillage all your resources for the sake of profit. If we really liked your planet, we would eventually colonize it and open up a chain of fast food restaurants and hotels. I assure you, it wouldn't be good for the people or your planet.'

'From what I've seen, only a small percentage of people are evil and in most cases it's not entirely their fault, they are a victim of their circumstances.'

'You must not have been observing very closely then. If you were to remove the evil people who control everything, a new set of people would resume control and they too would be corrupted, it's just in our nature, it's who we are. We're a flawed species. We even have a saying here on Earth – absolute power corrupts absolutely. I've seen it from the manager of the restaurant I work at to the president – a person who has power over others is corruptible.'

'Perhaps you are right, but there are many endearing qualities of Earth people that give us hope. Take you for instance, how do you think you'd fair in that situation?'

'Oh I don't know, I wouldn't want to be in charge.'

'You're in charge of these animals — you make decisions on their behalf — what they eat, where they sleep, what tasks they must perform for you. They rely on you to feed and shelter them every day. Despite being completely exhausted, you rose at sunrise to feed them because it was your duty.'

Joe slung a large bag of feed over his shoulder and then split one end open with a small blade. As the tiny grains spilled out of the bag, Joe slowly walked the length of the trough, filling it up. Nearly a dozen pigs charged toward the food, snorting and grunting as they happily devoured their morning meal.

'Do you have animals like these on your planet?' Joe asked.

'Many of the animals on Earth are remarkably similar to the ones on my planet. In some cases, only the color, size, or some other small detail is different.'

'Can you communicate with them?'

'Yes, with many of them, but they don't always communicate back. We can feel their pain, desires, and intentions and use that to co-exist in harmony with them.'

'That sounds wonderful.'

When Joe took Rome to see the horses, it was the most enthused Rome had been since eating the fruits.

'This one's name is Calibre,' Joe said. 'He belongs to me. Go on, you can touch him.'

Rome cautiously extended his slender arm and put it to the horse's face. When he did, he began to glow again.

'I've observed horses for many centuries,' Rome said. 'They are a great friend to humans. I have seen them stand nobly by as they travel great distances, fought in battles, and endured harsh climates. It is truly an honour to meet a horse up close.'

'Do you want to ride him?' Joe smiled.

Joe unhooked the saddle from a nearby wall and mounted the mighty steed.

'How do you get such a powerful beast to be so docile and do what you say if you cannot communicate with them?' Rome asked.

'Well, they don't always listen to everything. In fact, we have a form of therapy called equestrian therapy, which dates back to the ancient Greeks. They say horses are really good at reading a person's emotions and intentions so if you feel insecure or are doubtful or you have malicious intent, the horse will not let you lead them. We even have a saying here on Earth — you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.'

'What does it mean?' Rome asked.

'It's used as a metaphor to describe human nature. I didn't understand it either until I looked it up. It's actually the oldest known proverb in English culture dating back to 1175 — nearly one thousand years ago. You see, humans, like horses, can be lead to do certain things, but we still have a mind of our own.'

'That's interesting.'

'There's another animal similar to the horse called a zebra, you may have seen it during your time here. It's the one with black and white stripes.'

'Yes, I'm familiar with it.'

'That one cannot be domesticated. Their behaviour is unpredictable and often aggressive toward humans... so they are unsuitable for domestication.'

Once Calibre was saddled up, Joe helped Rome up then mounted the horse himself, sitting behind Rome. Together, they trotted out of the stable and galloped around the farm.

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