Aquarius

Aquarius
He was the first to come; Blue Man the media dubbed him.  He just walked calmly onto the warm tourist-filled sand of a popular Gold Coast beach… ocean water ran off his sleek blue body, finely trimmed torso glistening in the morning sun.

And he was merely the forerunner… more and more Aqua people arrived on beaches the world over, but he was the first.

Turq, his true name was, a diplomat sent on a mission  of mercy… the  Land Dwellers must stop polluting the water ways or Turq’s people… the whole race of Aquaria in fact, would face a death sentence.

Lengthy world-wide negotiations were set into play; The Aquaria’s did not have time for lengthy long-winded discussions, already their people died of toxic poisoning.

At the detriment of his health, Turq attended every meeting pleading his case with president after president, ministry upon ministry.

The Land Dwellers begged their leaders to reach a swift resolution… to no avail. So the citizens began to march and strike…  Internet campaigns were started and famous singers gave free concerts to raise funds for the Save the Aquarius crusades.

The people of Earth worked tirelessly… they worked together regardless of age and race and personal beliefs.

In Europe hospital staff stopped work in protest; each staff sat down by a patient and refused to move until their superiors agreed to openly support the cause.

In the United Kingdom 60,000 people camped outside the Queens residence; construction crews for 200 miles around stopped work to put up make shift amenities and local shops set up free food venders.

In the USA both MacDonald’s and Starbucks closed their doors and universities collaborated on how best to solve the issues at hand. Many factories, knowing how their waste was disposed, closed down voluntarily.

Australian school teachers refused to teach in classrooms and renounced the current teaching system… and knowing a billion children can’t miss school, they took the students to parks and beaches, focusing education on peace and acceptance and sharing and global responsibility.

MacDonald’s followed Americas lead, closing down as well; a supermarket conglomerate began to overhaul their nationwide enterprise to one of minimal impact on the environment and marine biologist worked tirelessly on alternative strategies.

 

The world over Land Dwellers stood up and made a stand… we will not go unheard was their mantra.

Five years passed while Turq pleaded the cause of his people; he grew weaker and weary and many 100’s of his people died.

But the people of Earth did not back down, support for Turq and his people was too strong… too widespread. And in the end World governments agreed to a complete restructure of the manufacturing industry. All Companies breaking the new guidelines for disposal were closed down; a new zero-tolerance policy was implemented across the board.

Impact studies showed vast improvements in the quality of all water ways, fresh and ocean. Turq and the Land Dwellers had won.

But for the people of Earth, their job was far from complete. A precedent had been set… and they would be heard.

*

Sharonlee©18-Oct-12

How Adam Met Eve-A New World is Born

 

 How Adam Met Eve (A New World is Born)

 

 

How Adam Met Eve (A New World is Born)                                                                                                                                     940 words

 

Adam met Eve amidst the rubble of the world… echoes sat heavy where the ruins lay thickest, or silenced altogether and yet he heard singing… clear and dulcet, trembling a little with fear or weariness or age… he could not tell. Perhaps he was finally going mad.

He followed the sound of the voice down a wreckage-blocked road, buildings crushed and crumbling, shattered glass, all manner of debris hindered his progress. At every cluttered corner the beautiful singing led him around and onwards, until he realized he had trudged around an entire block and almost back to his starting point.

I am going mad, Adam thought wearily, sitting down heavily on a wide slab of cracked concrete.  It had to happen. No man can live without company all these years… no man is island… the strain of being the last of my kind is just too much to bear…. Little did he realize he not only thought these thoughts, but spoke them aloud.

As he sat there the singing grew louder, closer, and Adam thought he heard a hint of crazy creep into the voice. Standing on the concrete block Adam called out into the empty world, who goes there! Show yourself!

Silence, even the singing stopped and Adam immediately regretted breaking whatever spell or trick of wind that had created the lovely sound… any human sound would have been a wondrous sound at this point.

I’m sorry, Adam yelled, a hint of crazy now creeping into his own voice, don’t stop singing… please don’t stop!

 

Well make up your mind old man, a voice amidst the rubble startled Adam, so much so he almost lost his footing and fell.

Come down from there, before you break your foolish neck.

 

This time Adam pinpointed the sound of the voice, a broken and soiled shop mannequin in the ruins of a ransacked Myers window.  He sighed heavily, so I am going mad, he told the mannequin, it was only a matter of time.

 

Well if you’re going mad you can just steer clear of me you old fool. Just my luck, only person I meet in 5 years and mad as a hatter. And conceited enough to believe he’s the only human alive. Pah! Not wasting my time on the likes of you!

 

Wait! Adam searched the shadows until he found the true source of the voice – a middle aged woman with long grey plaits, dungarees and Bob Marley T-shirt.

I thought I was going made, he told her lamely.

 

You probably are… we both are… what choice do we have, said the woman smiling crookedly… now come down from there and join me in  a cup of tea.

 

That is how Adam met Eve

 

*

The two spent several hours talking… broke out rations and shared a meal… talked some more. They discussed the likelihood of the fabled Shangri-la actually existing … both claimed to know where it was located, soon realizing that they did indeed talk of the same area.

They decided then to find this place of idyllic waterfalls, lush plant life and unspoiled beauty; it would be their very own Eden, their home, their last resting place.

 

Four years the two traveled; they wandered silent highways, now graveyards to cancerous vehicles … they trekked inland past abandoned suburbs and isolated farms… faded echoes haunted them… windblown streets and hollowed buildings…. they slowly, laboriously, climbed mountains, descending into verdant valleys.

 

Finally they reached the place that both believed to be the legendary Shangri-la … and truly the valley was one of unmatched enchantment and magic.

 

Adam fashioned a serviceable hut to live in… Eve planted the seeds she had been collecting and carrying for nigh on 10 years; years passed and Adam & Eve not only survived but seemed to flourish.

 

One night as the pair sat beneath a crescent moon Eve noticed Adam staring at her in an odd manner.

How long have we been here? He asked suddenly.

 

I have no idea, Eve replied, time ceased to have meaning many moons ago, before I even met you.

 

Adam looked at Eve closely… he scrutinized her face and hands and the straightness of her posture.

Do you remember when we first arrived here? He enquired, and how I couldn’t climb that peak where the nut tree grows?

 

Eve nodded

 

Well, I can climb it now…. I feel fitter and stronger and younger… and you, my dear, look younger too. You look positively radiant.

 

Oh pishposh, Eve laughed, that’s not possible.

 

So you’re saying you don’t feel younger, that I’m imaging that spring in your step… imaging your flawless skin? Adamraised his eyebrows questioningly… you haven’t noticed more bounce in me?

Well, to be honest, yes, agreed Eve, I have and it’s been troubling me.

I shouldn’t be troubled if I were you, Adam laughed, it’s a marvelous thing… we are getting younger!

But what if we continue to get younger? What happens if we end up as babes? Eve demanded.

We were going to die anyway, Adam reminded her, this way we live another lifetime… getting stronger and more vibrant as each year passes.

I’m frightened, admitted Eve… more frightened then I was when the world ended.

I’ll be at your side, Adam assured her… besides, the world didn’t end… the world is still here… civilization ended… war and disease and hunger ended.

We found this verdant Eden… WE are the new Adam and Eve. We planted vegetables and fruit trees, we created a food source… and we can create a new civilization.

 

 The End – Or was it?

 

Story & Art By Sharonlee

 

Name(required)

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ