Chasing the Cure and Other Stories

The Other World

On a clear summer's day, the other world seemed a little more real. It appears a little after the sun, following far enough behind so it wouldn't hurt to look at it. The best time to see it is at sunset, when the red glow from the horizon complements the pellucid green and blue, giving you that transcendental feeling of being very alive. Through the wraith-like clouds and the wispy husk of an atmosphere, you get that warm sense of familiarity. The color's a little different and the continents aren't quite in the right places, but that's continental drift for you.

No one knows why this ethereal planet appeared, but many are sure that it is our Earth hundreds of millions of years in the future. It covers twice the sun's angle in the sky, yet is unaffected by any gravitational pull nor exerts its own. Satellites appear not to notice it, and cameras capture empty space. We can only see it with our eyes or with primitive telescopes, a rare privilege given to our natural senses in this day and age.

I remember the fuss when it first showed up, some three hundred years ago. There was a lot of consternation and panic, but there were also some, like me, who just looked. It cast no shadow, but its massive presence in the sky did cast a spell. I did think the end was here, but my thoughts were not on the wasted treatment, nor the callous erasure of my infinite life ahead. It was as if deep down, I knew what it was before anyone could catch enough of their breath to think.

I was among the first to get the treatment, meaning I'm one of the few who remember that day. I like to remind my descendants of this whenever we point our telescopes to the sky. I'm sure they have heard enough, but with more people getting the treatment and tighter control on birth rates, I doubt I'll have new people to prattle to any time soon.

"Where are the humans?"

I looked up from the telescope to see my fifth-generation descendant staring at the specter, fingers on his chin in contemplation. Excited shouts from the sixth and seventh drew him over to watch an oddly-shaped ghost cloud, and he quickly forgot about it. Unfortunately, I didn't.

I guess I had not thought about it because I'm a very old fool, and also because hundreds of millions of years seemed like a very long time. But people have thought about it; long before the fifth did. From telescopes and spacecraft, we have seen nature; trees, rocks, rivers, and some bizarre animals. We have not seen anything resembling civilization, nor anything resembling humans. Scholarly circles have put forth ideas, but when you can only look and not touch, ideas are what you're stuck with.

As distant futures move from fantasies to the realm of palpable reality, more people are saying that we will leave for the stars. I find it hard to believe that nobody will want to stay behind, especially with how pristine everything looks. No. An old fool like me was there when it all began. Deep down, I knew what it was before anyone could catch enough of their breath to think. This prophetic phantasm is hiding something, or maybe it is trying to tell us something we don't want to hear.

No one knows why this ethereal planet appeared, whether it is natural or divine. I find it does not matter because it both entices and scares me. I know what we all must do, but I know no one would do it. Hundreds of millions of years is a very long time, so we will play the waiting game, holding on to our illusions and delusions as we point our telescopes to the sky.