Meteor Crater

In the year 3589, the human species joined the galactic federation to maintain peace with other planets and obtain advance technology to continue its evolution. Regular humans are not allowed to visit earth according to the galactic federation since it means destruction for living beans within it. The earth suffered from climate change over the past centuries, and without the help from several planets, humans would have died along all the animals and ecosystems they killed. Humans now live in Mars, and Earth is only used as based for governments, galactic meetings, farming and research and study. Only specific organizations/businesses can be on earth with the purpose of sending meat to mars for the current population, but they cannot take advantage of animals for their own benefit. If a human kills a tiger, elephant, or any other animal that is not within its farm, the galactic federation will kill the human. 

It was seven in the morning when the president of Terra was heading to his spaceship. Traveling to Earth takes 15 hours, so the president’s crew was making sure everything within the cabin was good. The president, Steven Marshall, who was sitting in the couch, remembered how his daughter begged him to take her. After hesitating for 10 minutes, he called Katie and told her to pack her clothes. When Katie arrived at the spaceport, she went directly to her father’s ship to not delay him. Katie did not believe she was about to be on Earth, she has been dreaming about this moment for more than nine years. It was all she ever wanted, and she was about to discover a great place. 

The journey was not long for Katie, she admired the stars and everything around. Meteors around, coronal cloud from far away, and the planets near hers. It was 11:00 pm when the spaceship arrived in its destiny. Steven carried Katie in his arms and took her to the car that was waiting for them. As soon as Katie lays in the car, she wakes up. “Are we here? Where is the ocean? Where are the craters?”. Steven laughed and said “Don’t worry my girl, sleep. Tomorrow I will send someone to take you to all these places you’re telling me”. Katie didn’t want to sleep but she was tired, so she did. The next morning, she heard someone knocking at her door. It was a human robot named Morty. “Good day Ms. Marshall” the robot said. “Can you give me an hour to get ready please?”, “Of course Ms. Marshall, I will be back at 10 am”. Katie went to the window and could only contemplate what she was looking. A forest as green as she has never seen before, red, yellow and blue birds flying high in the sky, and mountains at the back of the scenery. “Everything is just perfect” she said. 

Katie loved to draw and paint, so every time the robot took her to some place, she stopped to appreciate the landscape’s beauty and draw. It was getting dark, but Katie did not want to stop. The last stop was the ocean, so the robot drove the car while explaining to her some things about Earth nowadays. “What do you want to be when you grow up Ms. Marshall?”, “I don’t know Morty, all I want to be is happy. My dad is important in Mars, that is the only reason why I am here, however I don’t know if I want to follow his steps. I love drawing and painting, but that is not consider a profession in Mars. Everybody wants me to be a leader.”  Morty did not say anything for few minutes. “How old are you Ms. Marshall?”, “Fourteen” she said. “It is not late for you to decide what inspires you to become better. Sometimes we don’t understand people’s wishes, but we must support them if we love them. I think your dad will support you no matter your choice, so don’t get frustrated by it right now. Enjoy the view”. 

When they arrive to the beach, Katie start crying. “It is so beautiful” she said, “I cannot believe this place exists, and my kind destroyed it”. “You should take your shoes off Ms. Marshall, they told me the feeling is unique”. Katie did what Morty said, and as soon as her feet touched the sand, she laughed. She screamed and started to run towards the ocean. “Be careful Ms. Marshall, please do not go further because you can drown”, “It is okay Morty, I’m not dumb”. After minutes of running and jumping, Katie decided to sit down to contemplate the ocean and stars in the sky.  She contemplated the beauty within the darkness, and recognized shapes and patterns all over the place. Katie took her notebook out, but did not drew anything, instead she wrote down “To have come this far is not to have made it without a few craters on the surface of the heart. When shit hits the fan, when a meteor strikes the desert, when we find ourselves in the vast and unknown spaces that will come to shape our lives, all we can do is keep going. The dirt is part of life, and for me, painting is just about as good as laughing and crying”.