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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Science Fiction
- Subject: Creatures & Monsters
- Published: 12/30/2020
Author’s Note: Imagine a world. A world so harsh, so forbidding, so unforgiving, that even at the Molecular or Single Cell Level, you had to fight the Planet itself for survival. Cooperation, not Competition, drove your Evolution. What would those Beings be like? What kind of culture would they have. What would a world without the concept of “predator/prey” be like? What if instead of the Survival of the Fittest, it took everyone to survive. Not just adapted individuals, but every individual. Here is one scenario. Mine.
*****
Earth stood still. Okay, not the Earth itself, but almost everyone on it was rooted in place. The Aliens were coming today. Their ship had been up in the sky, almost as big as the Moon, for over four months. There had been a constant stream of chatter beaming up…and down, along with pictures, stories, and basic information about each other…and the Planets they were raised on.
Earth, of course, we know all about. Their planet…well, it shot our ideas of what was Habitable and Inhabitable out of the water. We grew up on Earth, a Planet that had fresh water, food, moderate temperatures, and loads of different paths for Life to follow. Earth was a veritable Garden of Eden with all its plenty. The Alien's planet? Not so much.
Sure there were things on Earth that could kill you if you weren’t careful: tidal waves, hurricanes, volcanoes, fires. Heck you could fall off a cliff, or eat poisoned mushrooms. There were dangerous things on Earth. Mostly though, it was the People.
From what we learned from the Materials the Aliens sent us, their planet has been actively trying to kill them for eons. Unlike Earth, there weren’t any places on their Planet where one could be called: Safe. The air can kill you. The water can kill you. The land can kill you. And all three are constantly trying to do just that. We aren’t sure if their Planet is alive, but at some level it is aware. And it doesn’t want people on it.
And today, we meet those Aliens face to face.
*****
The first surprise was that they looked like us. Except in bigger and smaller sizes. Most of the Aliens could have played believable roles on Television. The only difference you would notice is when they smiled. No cutting teeth. No canines, eye teeth, or incisors. No teeth that tear, or rip food. Even white teeth, just like ours, but only for grinding, or sheering. Plant eaters. Period.
Some were way smaller…some as tiny as a few inches, but still as Human Looking as the vast Majority of the Aliens were. Same blonde, brown, black, or white hair. Same smiles. Same two hands, two legs, and fingers and toes. Ten…just like us. Some were way bigger. Bigger, by far, than any NBA Center and heavier than an NFL Offensive Lineman. Huge. But still with the same basic build as us, just enlarged or engorged to epic proportions. Some of the Giant Aliens had the weight and girth of a hippopotamus, yet still had the blonde, brown, black, or white hair…and the same gentle smile as their smaller and medium sized brethren.
The second thing was how they stood. Not alone and proud, but moving slowly …together. It only took moments for Humans to spot the pattern in how they moved: herd animals on Earth move that same way. No individual was ever too far from any of the other individual. The Giant Aliens loosely making a perimeter, the medium sized one on the inside, and the tiny ones darting in and out and around everyone.
The second thing Humans Noticed was their smell. It was sweet. Somewhere between Raspberry Ice cream, and a fresh sprig of Jasmine. It made you want to either pet the Aliens…or Hug them. And many did just that. Some of the Giant Aliens had a smell much closer to chocolate mixed with clover. Humans mistakenly thought the Giant Aliens were the Warriors. That their size and the shifting perimeters were a sign that the Giant Aliens were protecting the smaller ones.
Human were both right, and wrong. They were protecting the others, but not from predators, but from the Hazards the Planet threw at them all the time. Their size let them anchor to rocks so the roaring winds and blowing sand, snow, and even rocks, couldn’t pulverize the entire colony. Not warriors at all, but protectors.
The third thing that Humans caught onto, almost as fast as they noticed the patterns and teeth- was the absence of fear. None. Not a single bit of trepidation or hesitation. When a Human walked up to the Hulking Giant Aliens to rub them, or hug them, they welcomed the touch with literally open arms. When Humans, especially children, would put out their hands for the Tiny Aliens to walk up onto…the tiny Aliens didn’t hesitate. By the end of that first meeting, children were running with three or four of the tiny Aliens hanging onto their hair. Shrieks of joy and laughter peeling out from both Human and Alien mouths.
More than a few adult Humans were perched nine feet or more off the ground on the wide shoulders of the Giant Aliens. Shoulders wide enough (and strong enough) to support three or more adult humans on each side! The majority of the Aliens were almost exactly average in size…most of them between five foot six and six foot two. Those mingled with Humans with ease. From a distance, you couldn’t tell who was who…unless you were close enough to see teeth.
It was a great first meeting. Until…
*****
Sports.
Yes. Sports. Track and Field were first. The best runners in the world broke World Records trying to show off in front of the Aliens. Running, jumping, and throwing for a prize both confused and dismayed the Aliens. It only took a few races, or competitions before it dawned on us Humans…the Aliens were distraught. None of them were smiling. Several of them had changed their smell from a sweet flowery or welcoming fresh cut grass scent to one more like rotting hay, or manure.
Track and Field displays were cancelled on the spot. Only later would we understand why.
And so it was that a game of Soccer (Football everywhere but in the USA) was played. Again, the Aliens were upset. Their body language and body odor combing to express their distress, confusion, and inability to continue to watch the Match. The Match was cancelled. The real trouble was yet to come. Another Sport…Football. American Football.
One kickoff, that is all that there was time for. Once the two teams met in savage tackles and blocks, the entire Alien side of the Field ran from the stadium. Some were openly crying, others were carrying dozens of the tiny tear streaked Aliens. The Giant Aliens were carrying handfuls of medium sized Aliens who seemed to be Catatonic, or hysterical.
We didn’t have a clue.
The Aliens ran back to their ship, sealed it up. Thankfully they didn’t fly up to the Mothership. What they did do, was try and heal, figure out what we were doing, and try to explain to us Humans what had happened.
Here is what they told us:
“We are so sorry. On our planet, we have to fight to survive. Not each other. We don’t have a word for “fight”, not in the way you mean it. Our entire History is of fighting for survival, not for domination, or resources. We share all resources. We have to. The Planet itself is fighting us in the way you fight among yourselves. We only have genes for altruism, cooperation, and social connection.
We do not have any words or concepts that approach your idea of an Individual. Any individual on our planet would be dead in minutes. No one. Not one of us, could survive without everyone else. We don’t have Loners, or Hermits. Sometimes, the little ones get lost, or the Planet catches them unaware…and all of us go and help…and sometimes the Planet gets a few of us. Not often. We never drop our guard against the Planet, and we never raise it against one of our own.
Your ideas of private property, mine, selfishness, and war…we didn’t understand until we saw your “Sports.” You want to beat each other! Your “Games” are just gentler images of War. We don’t have those. Then the Planet would succeed…what you would call: Win. Unless we all “win” there are no Winners. Your Football injured the minds of many of us who were there. Your American Football caused psychic breaks.
We are glad this happened when it did. Because it gave our Scientists time to talk with your Learned Peoples. Because we were able to get back to our ship and save our Sanity, we asked better questions.
It is then we found out something about you that would have driven us insane.
*****
We all wondered what could drive an entire species insane. What event they avoided that allowed them to still talk to us. It turned out to be simple:
Dinner.
Yes, dinner. After the Games, Humanity was going to throw a Feast. Every Chef from every country was putting at least one local dish up for tasting. Meat, fish, Fowl. Animals.
The Aliens would have had seizures. They were all Plant Eaters…exclusively. There were no Predatory animals. There were no Prey Animals. Every living thing on their planet cooperated to survive. In a twist not available to Human Botany, plant life on their planet cooperated with each other too. We had no idea how that would even work.
The Aliens tried to explain how “food” worked on their planet. How could you eat plants, when the plants themselves were cooperating with other plants to survive. We didn’t have the conceptual background to grasp the concept, and the Aliens didn’t have the words to explain it to us. In practical terms, the planet and Aliens worked together to survive…and feeding a plant, then the plant feeding you…was almost a Spiritual thing on their planet. It was a thing of joy, beauty and respect.
We were lost. We couldn’t even understand how they were wired…just as they couldn’t understand us. There was never a dinner that first day. There still hasn’t been one. The Aliens cannot stomach the idea of what we eat, let alone see us eat it. Even our Vegetarians disgust them, because we chew the plants so differently. They think our Vegetarians have the same disregard for Plant life, that our Meat Eaters have for the animals they eat. There is no two way street like on their planet where plants and people work together to survive.
When we said to the Aliens that your Planet sounds like the Enemy, or Foe…and the Aliens learned the context of those words, well, they disagreed. In their language, the closest they can come to what they call their planet loosely translates to:
The source of all growth.
It is no wonder they left on their Mother ship. They told us they would check in again every hundred years or so. They left us one gift, their music. It didn’t surprise our Musicians at all, that their music was all Harmonic. No dissonance at all, no pounding of drums, or strings calling for attention. They have no color artists, and hence, no Super Stars or Maestros- simply ones who make music.
We are struggling with the legacy of a mindset and world view open to few of us. Just as the Aliens are struggling with idea of Evolution being based on competition, not cooperation.
Maybe we will learn. Maybe they will. Maybe we both will.
Maybe they took the Road less travelled.
The Road Less Travelled.(Kevin Hughes)
Author’s Note: Imagine a world. A world so harsh, so forbidding, so unforgiving, that even at the Molecular or Single Cell Level, you had to fight the Planet itself for survival. Cooperation, not Competition, drove your Evolution. What would those Beings be like? What kind of culture would they have. What would a world without the concept of “predator/prey” be like? What if instead of the Survival of the Fittest, it took everyone to survive. Not just adapted individuals, but every individual. Here is one scenario. Mine.
*****
Earth stood still. Okay, not the Earth itself, but almost everyone on it was rooted in place. The Aliens were coming today. Their ship had been up in the sky, almost as big as the Moon, for over four months. There had been a constant stream of chatter beaming up…and down, along with pictures, stories, and basic information about each other…and the Planets they were raised on.
Earth, of course, we know all about. Their planet…well, it shot our ideas of what was Habitable and Inhabitable out of the water. We grew up on Earth, a Planet that had fresh water, food, moderate temperatures, and loads of different paths for Life to follow. Earth was a veritable Garden of Eden with all its plenty. The Alien's planet? Not so much.
Sure there were things on Earth that could kill you if you weren’t careful: tidal waves, hurricanes, volcanoes, fires. Heck you could fall off a cliff, or eat poisoned mushrooms. There were dangerous things on Earth. Mostly though, it was the People.
From what we learned from the Materials the Aliens sent us, their planet has been actively trying to kill them for eons. Unlike Earth, there weren’t any places on their Planet where one could be called: Safe. The air can kill you. The water can kill you. The land can kill you. And all three are constantly trying to do just that. We aren’t sure if their Planet is alive, but at some level it is aware. And it doesn’t want people on it.
And today, we meet those Aliens face to face.
*****
The first surprise was that they looked like us. Except in bigger and smaller sizes. Most of the Aliens could have played believable roles on Television. The only difference you would notice is when they smiled. No cutting teeth. No canines, eye teeth, or incisors. No teeth that tear, or rip food. Even white teeth, just like ours, but only for grinding, or sheering. Plant eaters. Period.
Some were way smaller…some as tiny as a few inches, but still as Human Looking as the vast Majority of the Aliens were. Same blonde, brown, black, or white hair. Same smiles. Same two hands, two legs, and fingers and toes. Ten…just like us. Some were way bigger. Bigger, by far, than any NBA Center and heavier than an NFL Offensive Lineman. Huge. But still with the same basic build as us, just enlarged or engorged to epic proportions. Some of the Giant Aliens had the weight and girth of a hippopotamus, yet still had the blonde, brown, black, or white hair…and the same gentle smile as their smaller and medium sized brethren.
The second thing was how they stood. Not alone and proud, but moving slowly …together. It only took moments for Humans to spot the pattern in how they moved: herd animals on Earth move that same way. No individual was ever too far from any of the other individual. The Giant Aliens loosely making a perimeter, the medium sized one on the inside, and the tiny ones darting in and out and around everyone.
The second thing Humans Noticed was their smell. It was sweet. Somewhere between Raspberry Ice cream, and a fresh sprig of Jasmine. It made you want to either pet the Aliens…or Hug them. And many did just that. Some of the Giant Aliens had a smell much closer to chocolate mixed with clover. Humans mistakenly thought the Giant Aliens were the Warriors. That their size and the shifting perimeters were a sign that the Giant Aliens were protecting the smaller ones.
Human were both right, and wrong. They were protecting the others, but not from predators, but from the Hazards the Planet threw at them all the time. Their size let them anchor to rocks so the roaring winds and blowing sand, snow, and even rocks, couldn’t pulverize the entire colony. Not warriors at all, but protectors.
The third thing that Humans caught onto, almost as fast as they noticed the patterns and teeth- was the absence of fear. None. Not a single bit of trepidation or hesitation. When a Human walked up to the Hulking Giant Aliens to rub them, or hug them, they welcomed the touch with literally open arms. When Humans, especially children, would put out their hands for the Tiny Aliens to walk up onto…the tiny Aliens didn’t hesitate. By the end of that first meeting, children were running with three or four of the tiny Aliens hanging onto their hair. Shrieks of joy and laughter peeling out from both Human and Alien mouths.
More than a few adult Humans were perched nine feet or more off the ground on the wide shoulders of the Giant Aliens. Shoulders wide enough (and strong enough) to support three or more adult humans on each side! The majority of the Aliens were almost exactly average in size…most of them between five foot six and six foot two. Those mingled with Humans with ease. From a distance, you couldn’t tell who was who…unless you were close enough to see teeth.
It was a great first meeting. Until…
*****
Sports.
Yes. Sports. Track and Field were first. The best runners in the world broke World Records trying to show off in front of the Aliens. Running, jumping, and throwing for a prize both confused and dismayed the Aliens. It only took a few races, or competitions before it dawned on us Humans…the Aliens were distraught. None of them were smiling. Several of them had changed their smell from a sweet flowery or welcoming fresh cut grass scent to one more like rotting hay, or manure.
Track and Field displays were cancelled on the spot. Only later would we understand why.
And so it was that a game of Soccer (Football everywhere but in the USA) was played. Again, the Aliens were upset. Their body language and body odor combing to express their distress, confusion, and inability to continue to watch the Match. The Match was cancelled. The real trouble was yet to come. Another Sport…Football. American Football.
One kickoff, that is all that there was time for. Once the two teams met in savage tackles and blocks, the entire Alien side of the Field ran from the stadium. Some were openly crying, others were carrying dozens of the tiny tear streaked Aliens. The Giant Aliens were carrying handfuls of medium sized Aliens who seemed to be Catatonic, or hysterical.
We didn’t have a clue.
The Aliens ran back to their ship, sealed it up. Thankfully they didn’t fly up to the Mothership. What they did do, was try and heal, figure out what we were doing, and try to explain to us Humans what had happened.
Here is what they told us:
“We are so sorry. On our planet, we have to fight to survive. Not each other. We don’t have a word for “fight”, not in the way you mean it. Our entire History is of fighting for survival, not for domination, or resources. We share all resources. We have to. The Planet itself is fighting us in the way you fight among yourselves. We only have genes for altruism, cooperation, and social connection.
We do not have any words or concepts that approach your idea of an Individual. Any individual on our planet would be dead in minutes. No one. Not one of us, could survive without everyone else. We don’t have Loners, or Hermits. Sometimes, the little ones get lost, or the Planet catches them unaware…and all of us go and help…and sometimes the Planet gets a few of us. Not often. We never drop our guard against the Planet, and we never raise it against one of our own.
Your ideas of private property, mine, selfishness, and war…we didn’t understand until we saw your “Sports.” You want to beat each other! Your “Games” are just gentler images of War. We don’t have those. Then the Planet would succeed…what you would call: Win. Unless we all “win” there are no Winners. Your Football injured the minds of many of us who were there. Your American Football caused psychic breaks.
We are glad this happened when it did. Because it gave our Scientists time to talk with your Learned Peoples. Because we were able to get back to our ship and save our Sanity, we asked better questions.
It is then we found out something about you that would have driven us insane.
*****
We all wondered what could drive an entire species insane. What event they avoided that allowed them to still talk to us. It turned out to be simple:
Dinner.
Yes, dinner. After the Games, Humanity was going to throw a Feast. Every Chef from every country was putting at least one local dish up for tasting. Meat, fish, Fowl. Animals.
The Aliens would have had seizures. They were all Plant Eaters…exclusively. There were no Predatory animals. There were no Prey Animals. Every living thing on their planet cooperated to survive. In a twist not available to Human Botany, plant life on their planet cooperated with each other too. We had no idea how that would even work.
The Aliens tried to explain how “food” worked on their planet. How could you eat plants, when the plants themselves were cooperating with other plants to survive. We didn’t have the conceptual background to grasp the concept, and the Aliens didn’t have the words to explain it to us. In practical terms, the planet and Aliens worked together to survive…and feeding a plant, then the plant feeding you…was almost a Spiritual thing on their planet. It was a thing of joy, beauty and respect.
We were lost. We couldn’t even understand how they were wired…just as they couldn’t understand us. There was never a dinner that first day. There still hasn’t been one. The Aliens cannot stomach the idea of what we eat, let alone see us eat it. Even our Vegetarians disgust them, because we chew the plants so differently. They think our Vegetarians have the same disregard for Plant life, that our Meat Eaters have for the animals they eat. There is no two way street like on their planet where plants and people work together to survive.
When we said to the Aliens that your Planet sounds like the Enemy, or Foe…and the Aliens learned the context of those words, well, they disagreed. In their language, the closest they can come to what they call their planet loosely translates to:
The source of all growth.
It is no wonder they left on their Mother ship. They told us they would check in again every hundred years or so. They left us one gift, their music. It didn’t surprise our Musicians at all, that their music was all Harmonic. No dissonance at all, no pounding of drums, or strings calling for attention. They have no color artists, and hence, no Super Stars or Maestros- simply ones who make music.
We are struggling with the legacy of a mindset and world view open to few of us. Just as the Aliens are struggling with idea of Evolution being based on competition, not cooperation.
Maybe we will learn. Maybe they will. Maybe we both will.
Maybe they took the Road less travelled.
JD
12/31/2020That was a beautiful vision of a different way of being, Kevin. I wish that it could happen without living on a planet that was trying to kill you at every moment. I wish we could all find a way to live in cooperation, rather than competition with one another. Thanks for sharing your vision of a better way, Kevin. Happy and Healthy New Year to you and yours.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
12/31/2020Happy New Year to you too! 2021 is going to start out worse than 2020...but I think by Spring, new life, new ways of looking at things, and new ways of doing everything from School to Travel, might just come about. Or...well, the NEWS is right. LOL
Happy New Year...and lets see what the Future holds for us all. Smiles, Kevin
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Gordon England
12/31/2020The end of a bad year has you down, drifting through daytime darkness. I predict more of your happy stories next year. I watch my cat watch me and she might think the same things as your aliens
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
12/31/2020Aloha Gordon, and Happy New Year!
Hmm? Not really...I don't think, but isn't that part of the deal when you are down, to not realize it? I wrote this story wondering about two things: Does evolution always follow the same path? And is it possible that one of those paths would be based on cooperation, not competition?
I am not sure we can get past our "predatory" adversarial default. LOL But it is a good year for me, I got my new hip. I am going to be a Grandpa (again) Kathy and I celebrated 40 years together and we still like each other, and we are getting a house sometime in July. All is well down here. Smiles, Kevin
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