Snow Globe

In the study of Dr. Gajan there was an unsettling silence. Save for the ticking of a clock on the desk and perhaps the falling of sand on the hourglass, you could only hear the scribbling of Dr. Gajan's pen. He used the hourglass to time his work as it let the sand fall in thirty minute intervals. On slow days he would look at it often and hope for the sand to fall faster. He peaked at it quickly and continued writing his recommendation for his latest patient. Another case of depression, as there were many cases when colonists first arrived here. It was far from home and sometimes it would take a long time to get messages, if anyone got messages. Some people ran away from their home planets to get to the frontier as quickly as possible, only to realize how very far it truly was. This latest patient Cam Yong had just arrived from Europa in the Sol system. After her four year journey to this planet she realized how badly she wanted to go back. But it was impossible, at least for now. It would take another four years until a ship going to Europa would come and there weren't enough people coming by to take her. This was a mining planet after all.

A knock came on the door and Dr. Gajan ignored it. The knock repeated and the person on the other side said his name, but after ignoring it a second time the person left. He sighed a sigh of relief and finished up his work. He noticed he still had some time left before his next appointment, Hadley Andrewson, a local farmer who has thoughts of cannibalism. Dr. Gajan pushed the thought of further work aside for now and got up from his chair. He pondered all the books that he had in his library, as well as knickknacks from his travels.

A model of the first colony ship, the SS Astra. It had carried the first colony to Ganymede at the time and his great-great-great-grandmother had been aboard. She ended up founding one of the first departments of psychology on Ganymede. He gently stroked the backs of some books of his. 'Gales of Ganymede', 'The Old Floors', and one of his very own 'The Effects of Zero-Gravity Travel on the Mind (and Body)'. He stopped in front of the snow globe that he had kept on the shelf in it's own little nook.

He picked up the snow globe gently. It was a perfectly round snowglobe embedded on a pedestal. The pedestal had a scene depicted underneath it. There was a young woman in a pink dress with a blue blouse with spots on it. She appears to be dancing and to her right are three musicians, playing instruments Dr. Gajan had never seen before, nor heard. At least not actually seen them in person, or heard them playing live. The left side of the dancer had a group of four girls, sitting on chairs. Underneath the scene was an inscription in black on gold: "ESPANA"

Dr. Gajan spun the snow globe around and on the opposite side was a group of four women in green, blue, red and yelow dressed with black tops, and a man with his hands on his hips in between the four women. Pillars of green were around the snow globe, four in total. Above the pedestal was a couple dressed in red with white polka dots. A woman and a man. The man wore a black hat and blue pants, whilst the woman had the red dress and a pink flower in her hair. They both stood on a green clump of grass. When you'd shake it instead of snow, little bits of glitter would fly around the snow globe and around the pair.

Dr. Gajan shook it gently and watched as the glitter spun around the couple that was locked in there forever. He had received this snow globe from her mother, who had received it from her mother, and her from her mother. It was the first time in a long time that there had not been a daughter. His mother never thought ill of him for it of course. It was only natural that he would receive the same amount of love as any other child of the Gajan dynasty. He had read about Spain, a country on the old world. People would dance and sing and wear colourful clothes and they ate delicious dishes and had naps during they day because it would get too hot. He wondered now if he could afford a nap. Still clutching the snow globe he walked over to his desk and checked his schedule. Unfortunately he had another meeting in a few minutes with Mr. Andrewson. He had almost forgot.

Just then his virtual secretary chimed in "Dr. Gajan, patient 'Andrewson' has cancelled their appointment. The weather is twenty-two degrees celsius with a dust storm estimated to arrive in three hours. Please stay safe." The virtual voice cut off abruptly. He smiled and clutching the snow globe headed to his couch. He set a timer for fifty minutes from that moment, a small nap would not hurt and then he would be refreshed in time for his next meeting. This time it was his accountant and they were meeting virtually, so it would not be a problem for him to relax until then.

He kicked off his sandals as he laid down on the couch and stretched his shoulders a bit, holding onto the snow globe with both hands. He shifted around on the couch a few more times before rolling over to a side. Holding the snow globe closer to his chest he curls up slightly and smiles to himself, remembering the times he would have naps with his mother. She enjoyed naps a lot, and said it was part of their culture. So for a moment he felt like she was still around and he was still at home. Warm and safe in her arms.