Children of the Universe



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  Children of the Universe

  By Mahin Khan

  Copyright 2014 by Mahin Khan

  I. The Sun and its Child

  “For what purpose?” the Sun pondered. Billions of stars had been born from nothing. “What can come close to the extraordinary creation of our world?” Huge, violent bodies, filled with unimaginable amounts of gas and dust had come together. The Sun didn't know how it would happen; only that it had to.

  “It will only be the first step,” the Sun realized. The other stars didn't see that far ahead. Most only thought about themselves, some only thinking of things that roamed nearby. None of them thought about their future. None of them grasped that they were the building blocks, that there was more to be achieved. “It doesn't end here,” the Sun knew. “It only starts.”

  The future was delicate and needed to be carefully planned. The Sun knew light was essential. Some stars were dim, with little heat; their boundaries freezing all that lurked close by. “You need warmth.” But some stars had light that burned through everything. The Sun knew nothing could survive there. A few of them were poised to be the largest stars, accumulating all things that were within reach, but the Sun was sure they wouldn't last. Their pull became stronger with every piece of dust they sucked in. One day, even light wouldn't escape.

  The Sun grew into what was needed. It collected the dust and gas it required, leaving the rest like many others hadn’t. "It will be essential," the Sun understood. It ballooned in size, fires burning at its core, giving out its own light, but not so much as to harm its purpose. The Sun wondered if it was the only one, if the entire fate of existence depended on it. “Will it work?” the Sun thought, wishing for more time, hoping it didn't fail. But the Sun realized it would be too late. It was time to start.

  A blast of energy hit everything. The unstable forms that neighbored the Sun flung out into space, scattering into disarrayed pieces. But with time, the Sun managed to pull them in. Scorching bodies of all sizes whirled around it at great speeds, crashing into each other with immense force. “There may be nothing left,” the Sun feared. But with time, they began to join together, growing in size as they attracted mass of their own.

  Looking out carefully, the Sun could see it. It was a tiny speck in space. A hot, rocky sphere, glowing multiple shades of red and yellow. Molten lava flowed on its surface, burning through it. It looked like any of the other bodies now, but soon, the Sun knew, it would be perfect. The Sun named it “Earth”.

  The Sun never took its gaze off Earth, watching it go around endlessly, shielding it from other burning rocks, always keeping it close by. Not a moment passed without the Sun caring for Earth, but it was all needed, for the Sun knew Earth would take the next step.

  The Sun's dreams perplexed Earth. It saw other planets roaming around in their hot states, never bothering to change. Not one of them was told to do so. The nature of the task seemed impossible. “Am I special, unique perhaps?” Earth reflected, never feeling so, thinking it was like all others. “What will be left of me if I change?” For Earth, it was foolish to lose everything it had, to give up the prime of its existence. “And for what purpose?”

  The Sun was afraid, for no other star had followed it, but it trusted Earth. “How special it will be,” the Sun dreamed, as it began to cool down, timing it precisely, for the Sun knew it couldn't try again. It gazed towards Earth, looking for a sign that it had followed. But none came. Earth was still its fiery, almost molten self. The Sun waited, sure that Earth could see it had cooled by now. But Earth didn't change. It didn't follow. “Does it know what lies ahead? Does it know what great heights can be reached?”

  By cooling, the Sun started its journey into the declining years. It saw what happened to other stars once they cooled; their fires started to die out, their color darkened. Nothing that the Sun knew of could heat them up again. Nothing could bring back their past, bright glory. The Sun wished Earth could know of its sacrifice, but it would do no good. It was getting too late. The Sun could only do one thing now. The consequences didn't matter, not when their purpose was at stake.

  Earth wobbled as an unseen force hit it. “It must be the Sun,” it dreaded, beginning to fear the Sun had given up on it. Then, Earth saw something approaching, and its fear was realized. A huge rock, almost half the size of Earth, soared towards it. "How could I do what billions of others could not?" The rock rushed closer, growing larger with every moment. Earth tried to find solace in its imminently swift yet violent destruction, in being free from the shame and regret it carried within. At the last moment, it could see nothing but the rock.

  The Sun began to rumble uncontrollably. “The only hope may vanish.” It knew there was no other choice, but the Sun couldn’t bear it. “My own child, the one I loved the most.” Unable to watch, the Sun cooled into a long slumber.

  II. Earth and its Child

  Earth looked at it with great wonder. It was a small, rocky sphere, glowing white from the dim light of the Sun, who hadn't moved since the collision. It remained asleep; leaving Earth wondering what would wake it. Earth had survived the impact, but it kept wondering why. The rock had glanced off it, vaporizing what it hit, sending huge chunks of Earth into space. For a while, Earth was hotter than ever.

  But Earth recovered and its own rocks started to take shape around it. They cooled and joined hurriedly, coalescing into one body. Earth studied its movements with fascination; it kept circling Earth, never stopping, never changing its path. Earth had never seen loyalty like this, and called it the “Moon”.

  Occasionally, Earth reeled, still groggy from the impact. The Moon, small as it was, helped Earth regain its balance, bringing it closer when it went too far, urging it to stay put. The Moon knew it could never be as bright as the Sun, but used all its power to shine light on Earth in its dark times. The Moon knew how it had been born, how it was part of Earth, and so it loved Earth.

  Earth felt things for the Moon it had never felt before. It kept the Moon close, spending every moment looking after it, making sure it was safe. Rocks flew towards the Moon, but Earth pulled as many towards itself as possible, for the Moon was fragile and tiny. Whenever anything struck the Moon, Earth winced, hoping no harm came to it. Nurturing the Moon was Earth's purpose now, and Earth followed it diligently, until the day the Moon decided to leave.

  “There must be a larger purpose to my existence,” the Moon wondered, thinking of where it must go next, knowing that it had to. The Moon decided to begin its own journey, moving away from Earth, slowly venturing farther out into space. “I need to go find what I am truly made for,” it explained, telling Earth of its love. The Moon turned to face away; it couldn't look at Earth. It couldn't face Earth's sadness.

  As the moon started to leave, Earth went a million years into the past, to its childhood. It remembered being born out of the Sun, like the Moon had been born out of Earth. It felt the Sun’s pain, as it saw the moment it refused to follow the Sun, disappointing it beyond repair. It saw how the Sun had loved Earth, like Earth loved the Moon. It saw the selfless sacrifice the Sun had made; giving up everything it was for Earth.

  As Earth lay alone in remorse and empathy, a distant thought approached. It remembered the Sun's purpose. The Universe's purpose. “I am part of that purpose,” Earth realized, appreciating how it had survived this far, how it had given birth to its own child. Earth knew there was something l
arger than itself out there, something more important than them all. “Could I still be the one to do it?” Loss and love of the Sun and Moon drove it forward. Earth couldn't remember its old dreams. They didn't matter anymore. It was time for new ones.

  With all that Earth had learned, it cooled.

  III. Children of the Universe

  The Sun awoke. A part of it was in pain. It looked out, hoping to see its children intact, wishing they hadn't perished. The Sun saw Earth, glowing white like the Moon. “It worked.” The Sun could barely believe it. “But it has cooled for too long,” the Sun worried. A mass of ice was wrapped tight around Earth, covering its entire surface, turning it into nothing more than a barren ball of snow. But it was so much more, the Sun knew, as it struggled in Earth's frozen helplessness. “My child needs my help.”

  A burst of energy hit Earth, reminding it of a previous force that had almost destroyed it. Earth looked at the Sun and knew. A wave of heat arrived soon after. Land that had long disappeared beneath sheets of white was uncovered as the ice melted, the help of the Sun making tears flow across Earth. Oceans sprang up, water sprawling in between the ice, rushing to the surface. Earth warmed as the clutches of frost withdrew.

  Earth called out to the Sun, regret pouring out of it, guilty of the past. But the Sun told it that everything was essential. “How could you find your purpose, when you had none?” the Sun remarked. “How could you learn to love, to sacrifice, when you had no child?” Earth looked over to the Moon. “It will be there for you when I am not,” the Sun said, as the Moon shone on in the distance. "You did well. And there is still time for the final step." Earth steadied itself, knowing what to do.

  And life thrived.

  “It has done a lot for us,” she uttered, looking out the glass, able to see the vastness of Earth below her. It had given them all it had created, all it had worked for across billions of years.

  “It has. But look at it now,” came the reply. The land was barren. The air was acrid. The oceans were desperate for water. As hard as Earth tried, it couldn’t replenish them. "It's time to leave," he continued, as they turned away.

  Earth felt like they had only been there for a moment. It struggled, filled with a pain it had suffered before, as it realized they were all gone. “When will they know?” Earth pondered, as they drifted away from its sheltering arms.

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