A not so Typical Day on the Scorched Planet

Monday, July 20th, 4032 

A soft flake, dancing in the breeze, lands on the scorched planet, only to be disintegrated by the warm touch of Venus’s surface. Suddenly, more begin to fall, filling the burning atmosphere with cool droplets of something unfamiliar. A massacre of this peculiar precipitation melts into the ground, sizzling as they, in seconds, evaporate. 

Ever since you were young you wanted to be a weather reporter. Everything about the job was appealing, to the appearances on VENUS-TV to the fascination of studying weather patterns. Since then, you have been inscribing details into your notebook about all types of weather, how they occur and when they occur. 

The vivid flashback, still fresh in your mind, gives you an idea for how to solve this unknown weather dilemma. Suddenly, you are reaching for your VENUS-IOS and are scanning the weather report with a burning curiosity to define what the shimmering rain is called. You pull up the weather channel and without success find that the weather forecast has once again, been extremely off. The usual, heat shower, with a foggy red dust settling in the lower atmosphere is the only report that graces the platform known as the weather channel. Last week, you recall that the weather predicament had been wrong as well, and an uneasy but gut feeling tells you that a shift in the atmosphere could very well have occurred.

You immediately throw open the door, a curious urge leading you out of your home and into the unknown of the white, gliding....things? No, you are overcome with a sense of dejavu when you extend your finger, and feel the cool sensation that envelopes your body. You remember the likes, of this odd occurrence, but from where, you can’t seem to pinpoint. Perhaps a similar miracle when you were younger, or a possible lesson in school. Unable to decide where you have encountered or heard of this precipitation before, you scale the neighborhood searching for a man, who is sure to have the answers. 

Anthony, an elderly man, whose skin is frail and wrinkled, like a disposed bag of chips, sits on his front porch with a cooling device accompanied by his side. You, in desperation, only were able to retrieve chilled coat at home, but pushed the overwhelming heat out of your mind, only allowing the cold drops of...whatever was falling from the sky, to enter your passageway of thoughts. 

Anthony was alive during The Transfer, the period of time where all inhabitants of Earth were transferred, hence the name, to Venus. Back then, scientists believed that the Sun would one day swallow the Earth during its rapid expansion, so some didn’t fancy moving closer to the Sun. However, the resources on Earth were scarce and after much deliberation, scientists found that with new technology, life on Venus was sustainable. 

You quietly step onto the man’s porch, but the worn out wood creaks beneath your toes anyway, startling the man awake. 

“Sorry to wake you sir, I-” 

“By golly it’s snowing!” 

Snow. Sow. You try the word out, repeating it and all at once memories seem to flood back in. 

You have never witnessed snow before, but you had seen it in old photographs taken by the century old model, the Iphone. You also recall hearing stories that have been passed on from generations when your kind used to live on Earth. 

Your notebook, you think to yourself. You left it at home. Chastising yourself for forgetting your documenting utensil, you leave Anthony, who has already dozed back to sleep, and head back to your house in a quick paced trot. The boots that are protecting your toes have one purpose and one purpose only, to prevent your feet from burning off. Therefore, they are not the most ideal shoes to be utilizing in this hour of urgency. 

You see the front of your house, surrounded by a cooling unit to provide appropriate temperature. Most children, like yourself, who grew up on this blazing planet have adapted to the heat for the most part, but still, the temperatures are at a deadly height that unfortunately, no human can survive without their devices. Most devices are made by VENUS-Tech which is run by the scientists that made The Transfer possible. 

When you are back inside you scan your living area for your notebook, quickly grab it, and then you are back on the hunt for the cause of this odd situation. 

However, when the heat engulfs you once more as you step back outside, the snowy flakes are gone, retreating into the magical spiral of the ground. Anger rushes through you, but with deep breaths you remind yourself that Anthony can provide details and the memory of the snow is still fresh in your mind. 

Grasping the memory within you, you race back towards that Old Man’s house, as fast as the bulky boots will take you. As you “run” your legs begin to weaken, reminding you the dangers of physical activity in such a sweltering environment. Anticipation and adrenaline, keep your legs moving though.  

You are there and you take a few moments to catch your breath before you walk to the man in pursuit. After a few seconds, you regain your strength and once again, wake the man by stepping on the faulty wooden step. 

“Who’s there!” A booming voice shouts, triggered by the alarming creak. 

“It's just me, Andres,” you reply and quickly reside by the man’s side. 

Before Anthony can drift back to sleep, you gently shake his chair and start asking your questions. 

“Tell me about snow,” you ask. 

The man begins to speak in a raspy but clear enough tone. “Snow, for one, is cold. But, in some cases, it was magical. It was aggravating when you had to shovel the old driveway, only for it to be covered again and when you were forced to stay home because of the dangers of the chilliness, but it wasn’t all so bad. When I was a boy, I could sleigh down the mountains or even miss a day of school!” 

Joy weaved around and in Anthony’s voice, prompting your mind to visualize the wonders of the chilly snow. 

Anthony continued to talk and you continued to jot down every detail in your notebook, capturing each word like it was a memory. 

By day’s end, you were still standing on the old man’s porch, your back stiff, but your heart happy. When it was finally time to leave you gathered your things and began the walk home, thanking Anthony for his words before you left. 

Snow seemed happy but harsh and many other describing details. As you near the road that you live on you promise yourself that one day the snow will come back, even if only for a minute, but one day, snow will come again, especially if you have something to do about it.