July 2023 Monthly Contest from The Ink Well: Be careful what you wish for

Link

In the year 2070, Planet Earth had too many problems. Its population was lacking food and geological changes had accentuated the shortage. The beautiful planet seemed to be devolving into an inhuman era. That is why some members of the Council of Scientists of Planet Taygetamay23 met to propose some actions. After this, they unanimously decided to help the families who wanted to evacuate the planet. This would lead to drastic changes in habits, in the way of eating, in recreation, in work and even in the way of thinking and feeling. Of the 250 evacuated families, those who already had a grade 5 consciousness would adapt easily; the rest would have to move up the consciousness scale. The Suarez family was among the latter group.

The Suarez family decided to evacuate the planet out of fear, but when they arrived at the Pleya1 ship and saw their natives, the awareness of fear resurfaced. The natives of Taygetamay23 were all the same; they had olive skin, black hair, crystalline and glassy eyes. In addition, in order to communicate with humans their voice resounded like a robot....it which made the outlook unflattering for the Suarez. Even so, they decided to go and live in Taygetamay23.

Upon arrival, they had to adapt. The one who had the hardest time was Carmen. She always grumbled:

-There are no butterflies here. On Earth I was a butterfly collector. That was my passion and my job. I used to classify them and put them in boxes for future generations and now all that is lost. They wouldn't let me bring them in. My job was at the museum teaching everything I knew about butterflies.....

Her husband Eduardo tries to reassure her:

-But you came here for your soul to keep evolving.... is a state of being where you don't need that job. Just watch the butterflies in your mind....feel....they fly free everywhere. You have come here for your being to fly high.

-Yes, you are right but I want to leave that legacy to a future descendant. I can't now because the whole collection is over there. A thousand light years away.

Again Eduardo serenely answers:

-Take it easy. I have a surprise for you.....

At that moment a huge sidereal screen appears in front of Carmen's eyes.

-Here is all your butterfly collection....

Carmen is breathless and hugs him tightly:

-Thank you. I feel that this will be useful to one of our descendants....

Hundreds of earthly years have passed since that episode. Nobody remembered it until, in the ninth generation of the Suarez family, Carmentagelina remembered it. She, with striking intense blue eyes, felt identified with the blue butterfly, known by scientists as Morpho helenor. No one knows how it came to her memory, but she always painted blue butterflies. When she was about to turn 15, what she asked for, as a gift, was to visit Planet Earth. She wanted to feel the fluttering of butterflies. Her mother, Olgatorilana, told her:

-Daughter for that you have the holograms and the simulator of terrestrial realities. You can use it whenever you want.

-No mom, I want to feel .... what you remember as emotions but don't appreciate them .....

Carmentagelina's father, EDGARAltair, understood her. He felt the urge to soar like an eagle....and decided, on the sly, to please his daughter. To do so, he sought help from his friends, FERalnair2 and ELNATolarso 1, both of whom worked respectively in the antique utensils department and as a ship's pilot. They all met secretly in the evenings and plotted a plan....

-We have to build a parachute with pieces from the museum. Afterwards, tests will be carried out in the reality simulator. When everything is ready Carmentagelina will be launched from the LEDApak3 spacecraft, which is the invisible one on Planet Earth. Although everything will be monitored by the screen....We hope that there will be no surprises.... says ELNATolarso 1.

Three earthly months passed. Everything was ready and tested. On the day of the departure to Earth, something happened inside Carmentagelina that she could not explain... The spacecraft descended the prudential distance for Carmentagelina to launch herself with the parachute. The instructions were precise: open the parachute after 5 minutes of falling....This did not happen. Her father, seeing her on the sidereal screen, warns her:

-Carmentagelina pull the second rope. You have to open the parachute.

Carmentagelina was not listening. She was absorbed in contemplation of everything around her and continued to plummet..... Her father feared the worst and decided to accompany her. He grabbed his parachute and jumped without thinking......

Suddenly a giant metallic blue butterfly served as a cushion for Carmentagelina. It saves her from falling into the void. She feels.....her wish is coming true and the beautiful blue glow reassures her. She is instantly surrounded by a chorus of blue butterflies that escort her until they land on an ostrich, a bird unknown to Carmentagelina....She is amazed....she is watching the animal's eyelashes when it starts to run...Carmentagelina feels many butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She doesn't know what it is. She just feels...

At the same time, other ostriches start the race simultaneously. EDGARAltair spots them and tries to catch up with one of them...... He finally succeeds. Instinctively he settles on the animal's back and starts the race in search of his daughter. After a while father and daughter run with the ostriches in a special feeling....I want to feel that he is not on Planet Taygetamay23.They are concentrating on the sensations when they hear a sudden voice

-It's time to go back. Wishes fulfilled. I have to return them immediately. We have been discovered.

It is the pilot, ELNATolarso 1, carrying out the orders of the Guardians of Planet Taygetamay23.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR by María del Carmen Sánchez Copyright © 2023

July 26, 2023

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)