My Favourite Little Planet

She held it in her delicate fingertips; a tiny sphere with ocean blues and pasture greens freckled along its surface. Half of it was encased in darkness; only small pin pricks of light could be seen spattered across the beautiful green blotches. She hung the sphere back in place.

Universe was her name. She lived in a stunning black room, the walls were pillars of pure obscurity that stretched upwards for eternity and the floors were encased in murky dust that swirled around into holes of darkness as Universe elegantly tiptoed across the room. From the abyss above, came strings, each holding a beautifully crafted sphere; each of a unique colour, shape, and size.

Universe was breath-taking. Her jet black skin was as rich as the darkest chocolate, smooth as the silkiest cacao butter and shiny as the metallic glow of the full moon. A waterfall of hair flowed down her back in a tidal wave of milky white that curved around in a little spirals. Barefoot, she glided across the floor in a long, classy, raven dress that merged into the emptiness that surrounded her.

Leaning against the edge of the wall, Universe took a cigar out of her pocket, lighting it from a small glowing orb, she began to smoke. The inhaled substance was puffed out through her pursed lips, gorgeous colours of peony pink, plum purple, baby blue and ochre orange poured into the emptiness, creating cosmic patterns as they merged together. Puffing once more, she blew another design towards the little blue and green orb she had carefully hung back in place just moments before. Approaching the little planet, Universe took her gentle fingers and pressed them against its surface, giving it a little push until it started to spin with her fingertip as its axis.

Imagine living in such a colourful place she thought to herself. Imagine living in such a busy place she wondered. Imagine not being lonely she pondered. Moving quickly onward, Universe decided to do her favourite thing of all. Draw.

She took a small pen out of her other pocket and pressed a little button on its tip causing the nib to glow a spectacular golden light. With this pen, Universe prodded the wall of the room; upon the removal of the pen in place of the darkness was a small glowing spot. Repeating this action, Universe created a series of glowing dots etched upon her wall in the shape of an archer. Her pen had the ability to remove the darkness and replace it with pure light.

Standing back to admire her work, Universe accidently knocked into one of the spheres dangling near the border; swinging violently the plant collided with the wall of darkness and was swallowed whole. Tears began to stream down her eyes in waves of cosmic dust, flooding the vacuum around her with passion and sadness. Another planet lost. Universe was so careless.

Distracted. Universe was always distracted. Her eyes darted towards the small emerald and sapphire sphere once more. Something was different. From the surface of the planet a small metal bullet accelerated into the space around it. What was this? Edging closer she stared at the little machine, looking longingly at the little people inside. Maybe if Universe could just touch it. Maybe if she could just pick it up and have a chat. Maybe she wouldn’t be lonely anymore.

With her delicate fingers, she closed her hands around the little ship and brought it close to her face but when her palm opened it was gone; absorbed into her dark skin and lost in the oblivion that she is. Alone once more.

Distracted. What would happen if she collected the dust around her? As soon as the idea appeared in her mind, Universe was grabbing little dust particles that floated about her. Clumping them together, she formed little cosmic snowballs. Snowball fight? She chuckled to herself. In quick succession she hurled the little balls through the space, watching them glide close to the orbs but never quite touch. One last ball was flung towards her favourite little planet and barely missed. I wonder what the people of my little planet thought of that Universe thought.

She stood there staring at the little planet. How she longed to be there. Spinning around and around, time passed on the planet in a matter of seconds for Universe. Spinning, turning, twisting, the orb moved on in its years, but as the years whittled away the blues faded into ebony and the greens were replaced by concrete greys. What was happening? In hysterical motion, Universe kept on turning, spinning her world, and watching it be destroyed before her very eyes. No. she would not let this happen. What were they doing to her favourite little orb?

Taking out her pen once more, she clicked the button and ignited the glow. Universe was careless. Her pen could eradicate the darkness and leave light in its place. Could she purge the world of the darkness and take away their evil doings? Could Universe fix what humans had done wrong? With the nib of her pen hovering above the earth she blotted it right in the centre. A great flash of light burnt her eyes as she witnessed the whole orb go up in flames, crackling fire sizzled away at the modernised planet. Dying away as soon as they formed, the blazes turned to sparks and the sparks turned to embers until a tarred black globe remained.

From this death, new pasture greens began to grow. From this murder, new ocean blues began to seep across the ground. A new beginning had been made. The total demolition of her world was the only thing that could save it. Spinning the orb once more, Universe whispered to it in a threatening voice “this time I know you will get it right. Don’t hurt my favourite little planet because Time lives in the room next door and he owes me a favour.”