Grateful To Be Here

Under a bright, clear night sky, two elderly beings sat gazing at the stars. They had talked, discussed, reminisced, and now, long into the night, they sat in tender silence. The being on the right looked over at the other’s face, illuminated by the three moons and asked, “I am glad to be here with you.”

“Hmm. Oh yeah, why is that?”

“Well, looking at all of the different star systems and galaxies I figure a lot of them have got to be a lot worse than the lives we have here. We are lucky to be located close to the center of the galaxy, where we are closer to civilization and advancement. What if we lived out on the outskirts of the galaxy? Out in the middle of nowhere, with no advanced life on any nearby planet. We have multiple neighbors in our star system, out there they don’t have any advanced life anywhere close by.”

“Is there even any advanced life out that far? Wouldn’t they have relocated closer to the rest of us if they could?”

“There is intelligent life out there. We have been monitoring signals from out in the boondocks for quite a while now.”

“What type of signals?” The being on the left asked.

“Mostly radio, but also radar. And maybe others.”

“Hmm, how advanced are they?”

“Not very, they only recently started sending radio messages. And it is very unclear, from what I have heard about them, that they will even live for much longer. The amount of nuclear and electromagnetic pulses we have received indicates they are on the warpath to destroy themselves with simple nuclear and perhaps atomic technology.”

“So have we tried to contact them?”

“Some have suggested that we try.” The being on the right leaned back onto its second pair of arms, leaving their first pair free to articulate. “But with their apparent aggression and limited technology, many argue that it would only cause problems for their planet even if they could receive and understand our message. In another few thousand years I suspect we will check in on them and decide what to do with the new information.”

“See if they are still alive and if they have made any advancements, huh? I hear that the warmongering and the burn fast and hot before implosion is more common on the outskirts of the galaxy.”

“That is what some say. I don’t really know all the details. But one thing I do know is that I am sure grateful we live where we do.”

They settled back onto the long, flat, squishy ground plants and went back to watching the night sky.

The being on the right pushed themself back onto their second pair of arms, “hey, tune in to the signals from the planetary consciousness. Something happened.”

Breaking news. It finally happened, Star Alicant has burned itself out. We knew it would happen any time but still the inhabitants of nearby planets refused to leave. We check in now with a refugee who left years ago after finding out about the impending end of the star. 

“Hello, I am sorry to hear that you still have family back on your home planet. How are you feeling and do you have any words of comfort for others who have recently been displaced?”

“Thank you for having me. Yes, they loved their planet and were not willing to leave the land their families have lived on for millions of years. I am full of sadness but also full of happiness for them to be able to live their life in the way that made them happy. To all of those who have recently been displaced, just know that moving to a new planet is difficult. I have been in your shoes. It was only a few thousand years ago that I left my home planet and moved to my new planet. It was a tough transition but I feel confident that I made the right decision and you can build a happy life after the transition period. I am very grateful I live where I do.”

“Wow.” The being on the left raised onto their second pair of arms with their other pair raised towards the sky. “I agree with your previous sentiment. I hope we never have to go through something like that. And I hope the refugees from all of those planets find suitable relocation planets.”

“Agreed. What a difficult change that would be. That reminds me, the incognizant planet we were discussing earlier is expected to be in a similar situation. Some new research suggests their star doesn’t have much longer to live. Evidently it could go at any time.”

“Poor beasts. I wonder how they are preparing for it?”

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On a far-away planet, in the outskirts of a galaxy, two creatures sat on a grassy hill staring at the night sky. They had spent the day together walking around and enjoying the beauty around them. The elder creature wanted to be sure to instill a love and respect for other life and their environment that remained intact. It had been a pleasant day and they now were relaxing before the end of their time together.

The first, the younger of the two asks “Do you think there is life on any of those planets out there?” They raise their little hands up towards the night sky.

The elder creature looked from the young one towards the sky. “There could be. It is unclear if there is any advanced life nearby. If there was life out there close by, it is probable we would have received signals from them by now. Perhaps they are just not advanced to the point we are yet.”

“I bet there is. Just look at all of that!” The young one opened their arm toward the sky and gesticulated wildly. “I’m sure there is. But I bet there is nowhere as crazy cool as our planet! We saw so many cool places and things today. There is nowhere else I would rather live than here. I am glad we live where we do.”