The Little Green Planet
and the Creator
It was August. The Little Green Planet was humming down the left had
side of her orbit when she heard a sigh. It was the deep, heavy sigh,
of one who is over-burdened with worry and does not know which way to
turn. “Who’s there” she called, as there was no one visible. “The
Creator” came the reply. “Oh” exclaimed the Little Green Planet
excitedly, I can’t see you, where are you?” “Everywhere” - the
word spoken heavily.
The Little Green Planet asked the Creator why he sounded so down, and
he explained that the Brainies kept on bothering him with requests that
he could do nothing about. “That’s not the way it works” he boomed.
“Why can’t they get it into their silly heads that I am a (and here he
became very emphatic) Cre-a-tor! I am not a fixer, not angry, not
jealous, not wanting sacrifice or praise - I just want a bit of
peace!” The poor Little Green Planet was all of a tizzy. The
Creator! Talking to her!! She hoped all her coastlines were neat and
tidy and said: “Oh Sir, I am really sorry my Brainies are causing you
such trouble, but they are quite out of hand, and not doing me a lot of
good either."
“It would not be so bad” went on the voice, ignoring the Little Green
Planet’s words, “If they stuck to one theme, one chant, one song - in
fact one religion. But they have hundreds of them, and when they all
start their worshipping at once, the noise in my head is just awful.” I
know what you mean,” said Little Green Planet, there are a few odd
groups worshipping me. They do a lot of chanting and are quite keen on
drums and bells. But I don’t really mind.” “You are not here for
eternity,” snorted the Creator. “By the time your span is run, some
other planet full of mixed-up, thinking animals will be calling on me
to mend the roof or put meaning in their lives. It’s never ending.”
“Well” said the Little Green Planet, “Its not really my place to
advise, but couldn’t you thin them out, so to speak? You know, send a
few plagues or an ice age or something? Not that I am not fond of my
ice caps the way they are, but anything to give you some peace .
. .” and she tailed off. “Not you too!” almost shouted the Creator.
“How many times must I say Cre-a-tor before you realise, that is it!
That is all I do. I set it going, fix a few things like the speed of
light and the strength of Gravity, and that, as I say, IS IT! That, is
Creation. The lot. Lock stock and barrel. Sun, planets, galaxies,
infinity. Done, finished.” Then with pomp: “I do not tinker.”
(But that was to prove, not quite true!)
“Oh dear” said the Little Green Planet, “Is there no one you can call
on to give you a hand? No one they fear who might tell them to stop the
noise? Then tentatively: “The Devil perhaps?” With that, the cosmos
rang to the laughter of the Creator, and try as he might, it was some
time before he composed himself. “That’s all nonsense” he cried. “The
Brainies made it up. They just love opposites, and having decided that
I am “good” they invented a bad chap called the Devil or Satan . I have
to admit, your Brainies are a pretty creative lot themselves. Some days
I could almost believe they were sort of made in my image, but it isn’t
so. They are brainy just because they are, and their Devil, being
imaginary, is as incapable of sorting them out as I am.
“Well now” said the Little Green Planet, “this won’t do at all. We
shall just have to put our thinking caps on.” The Creator fell silent
and the Little Green Planet went back to humming. After a few turns
round the Sun, she was getting really worried. Nothing but nothing was
coming to her. Poor Creator, for as long as she had Brainies among her
greenery, He would never have any peace. She knew them of old. They
could come up with ten new religions before breakfast and half a dozen
break-away groups by tea time.
It was insoluble. Then she heard it. A chuckle. One of those treacly,
rumbling chuckles which only come from a deeply satisfied soul. The
Creator had an idea.
Down on the surface of the Little Green Planet, the Brainies were hard
at work turning all the raw materials they could find into rubbish.
Politicians were striving for power instead of looking after the
peoples needs. They gave clever speeches which tied the ordinary
Brainies in knots with their own cleverness, and made them argue and
fight. The Church leaders also spent their time making sure that
reality did not spoil their wonderfully complicated belief systems. And
the scientists were not left out. They split atoms smaller and smaller
and came up with ever more strange explanations for what they found.
Then they argued, and were rude to each other, writing long clever
articles in scientific magazines, trying to be top dog.
One Brainy astronomer, Fred Hush, who was so brainy that he was allowed
to look through a very, very large and shiny telescope, saw something.
He was sure it had not been their the last time he looked. A smudge of
light. As is the way with astronomy, he told all the others that it was
his, and they had to agree that as he saw it first, it would be named
after him; Comet Hush. A new comet! Such excitement among the Brainy
astronomers. They stopped squabbling and took many measurements to find
out what course it was on, and how close to their home planet it might
come. In between times, they would meet in the pub and wonder why they
had not seen it till now!
The Little Green Planet was also aware of the newcomer. Round the
golden Sun she spun and circled, circled and spun, and slowly Comet
Hush got nearer and nearer. The Creator was silent. Down on the
planet’s surface, the Brainy astronomers were a mixture of excitement
and panic. Together they had calculated the path of the comet and
discovered that it would come very close to - or even hit - their
planet. They informed their government who told them to say
nothing publicly. Then their government told the Brainy folk, in a very
off-hand way, that there was nothing to be alarmed about.
Comet Hush was now warming in the light of the Sun. He was waking from
a long sleep, in deep space. It was something of a rude
awakening, as he had not expected to encounter a solar system for
another couple of eons. His solids began to vaporise and stream out in
in two long flares, one towards the Sun and the other away. In these
“tails” were all sorts of strange compounds from poisons, to primitive
life, which is why the Brainies’ folk-law, told of comets bringing
sickness and death. But modern Brainies despised even their own
knowledge, once it had collected a bit of dust, and they saw Comet Hush
simply in terms of hit or miss. And thereby hangs this tale.
Much to the satisfaction of almost all religions on the Little Green
Planet, Comet Hush made a very close pass, visible in the day and
brighter than the moon at night. Everything that could be declared, was
declared, from “punishment from God” to “The Dawn of a New Age”.
Churches were re-filled and the priest’s smile became genuine. After
the comet had passed, spectacular sunsets were seen in all parts of the
planet, as his tails became mixed with the atmosphere. And then it
started. Doctors began to report the discovery of a new virus. Not just
new to them, but new in its structure. It seemed at first to do nothing
and yet it was found in more and more Brainies as time went by, and was
clearly at home in their bodies.
It was around a year later that the silent babies began to be born.
They smiled, blew raspberries, burped and suckled loudly, but other
sound made they none. They were mute. Mothers, used to the sleepless
nights and anxious days of “crying baby”, found a new calm. They found
it necessary to keep their babies close so that their silent
needs could be understood and met. The babies liked this and were more
content. The medical experts discovered that the new virus in the tail
of Comet Hush, had the ability to modify the genetic code of the
Brainies, such that their brains lost all idea of language and no vocal
chords developed. Slowly the Little Green Planet became a planet
without crafty political speeches, cunning TV advertisements warlike
posturing of dictators and conflicting hymns and sermons. She became a
planet of contented babies, fulfilled mothers and friendly grown-ups
right across her surface. So it was that, in the fullness of time, the
Creator heard no more praise or cries for help - and found peace. And
the Little Green Planet hummed on her sunlit way with a knowing smile.
8.01.05
Posted 3.5.06
email
©
2006 Barrie Singleton. All
rights reserved.
|
