she wanted to be happy forever.

so the genie granted her wish.

happy, hanging out with her friends

happy, hiking through the woods

happy, playing the violin

but

happy, at her brother's funeral

happy, that others were crying

happy, when called heartless

and happy that she didn't care about anyone else

anymore

In the beginning, there was the Earth.

Just as it is now, except for one tiny thing in a hidden corner of the world.

And that one thing grew, and grew, and grew, until people noticed it.

And when they noticed it, they saw what it was doing:

birds fell fell out of the sky, dead mid-flight.

trees collapsed it spread up them, the dust-turned trunk unable to hold the still-green leaves.

lakes evaporated, leaving behind flopping fish that quickly perished too.

boulders fractured and split apart, leaving behind only a dusting of the finest sand.

air stood still without the joyous buzzing of bugs to fill it and give it life.

turning their beloved land to dust and ashes, gone and inhospitable.

They tried to stop it, built walls and shelters to hide from it, but as it grew it moved faster and faster, killing all they knew.

But the world did not want to die.

It wanted its birds and trees and water and fish and rocks and bugs and everything to survive.

It did not want its creations, all its work, to die.

It would not let this disease kill everything it had made.

But it could not stop its corruption.

So it cut off part of itself,

severed off a section of world before the plague infected it,

and this small fraction of the great world survived,

on its own,

forcibly abandoned by its creator,

in isolation,

alone,

but alive.

That is the world we know today,

The sole surviving piece of a world once much greater, bigger,

Incomplete but existing,

a miracle, from a sacrifice.

There was once a dying planet, in dire need of a new place to continue on.

The inhabitants, humans, believed such a feat to be impossible, but like many impossible things, like electricity and life, it happened anyway.

Many people moved to this artificial galaxy, evolving into their own life forms and creating their own homes, their own lives, their own art. These worlds became whole other planets, separate from their Mother Earth.

However, many humans refused to leave Earth, and stayed on their dying planet in ferocious obstinacy. As humans on other worlds developed key traits to survive in these new places, the Earthbound humans refused to evolve.

And one day, a nuclear bomb tested at just the right spot caused the Earth to finally reach its limit. Buildings across the globe, collapsed. Radiation spread faster than wildfires in a desert. The earth had died. And still, humans, through resiliency or fear, refused to leave. They built underground bunkers, lined with lead to keep out the air. They developed a cure for radiation poisoning. They survived.

But those living on other worlds didn't know this. They told legends of Earth's end. They cautioned their children; "beware of your pride and your stubbornness, for this is what will follow."

Until one day, the end came for their galaxy as well. Earthquakes ruptured their artificial planets down to their core, and the population was forced to evacuate.

Everyone was loaded onto ships, destined for another planet. Anywhere but here; only prolonging the inevitable end. For one by one, each planet would die, unless something was done about it.

Little did they know, that answer would be found on a planet that everyone thought was barren and dead.

Mother Earth, the key to their destruction, also holds the key to their survival.

For stubbornness and resiliency come with strength and determination. With refusal to change comes the ability to fight.

And with willingness to leave, comes willingness to adapt to whatever may come next.

Only through fusing these two separate ideologies can their Worlds be saved.

When times like these get hard,

And we have to stand six feet apart,

I reach out my hands and open my heart,

Because friends are never too far.

As long as you keep them wrapped in your love,

Peace will wash over you like a swift, gentle dove,

So although you are covered in your mask and gloves,

Your friends will watch over you, like the stars high above.