Heaven

1. I think I might be in heaven.

I. The first thing I noticed was the smell. How to describe it? It consisted of three

things.

a. Water, the fresh kind you can only get straight from the purifier. I had some for

my birthday last year, I couldn’t believe my parents would splurge like that.

b. Fresh plants, rarer still. This smell particularly reminded me of the carrot that I

was allowed to try once, many years ago. But carrots need too much water, so we

never grew them again.

c. Life. It smelled exactly like the forest I once found around a stream. There were

armed guards around the stream so I didn’t get too close, but from where I was

hiding I could smell the pine trees and it was the best thing I ever experienced.

(Except maybe the carrot)

II. The second thing I noticed was when I opened my eyes. Green. I had never seen

that much green before.

a. Fluffy little cushiony things covered the ground, interspersed with square bits of

dark brown, moist dirt

(I have never seen dirt like this before)

b. The square bits of dirt had other green things in them which looked like they

used more water than even carrots had.

c. A couple green leafy things had other colored items hanging from them,

impossibly large and impossibly bright.

(There is a round red one lying in the dirt, broken open. Inside is so much water

I could die).

III. The third thing I noticed was something that had been in the background the

entire time, and that I only then became aware of.

a. A buzzing, humming sound which appeared to emanate from several dozen small

flying insects.

b. As I watched, one landed on a leafy green thing and stopped buzzing.

(I’m starting to thing the green things must be plants, although I didn’t know

they could be that color)

2. The fourth thing I noticed was the enclosure. This told me that I was not in heaven.

I. It surrounded us and the greenery, about thirty meters in diameter.

a. Gray walls arced high over our heads and back down to the ground behind us.

b. It seemed to be made of metal, although how someone got that much metal is

beyond me. And why use it on a building?

(Strange that a material so necessary on the Dead Planet should be in so much

abundance here)

II. I hadn’t noticed it at first because many strange glowing things were attached to it

and they created the illusion of sky.

Dialogue: “What- what’s up there? On the round metal thing?”

“Hm? Oh, the lights. They just create light on the inside of this dome.

Without them the crops don’t grow. They use electricity - too

complicated to explain right now. I promise we’ll discuss it some other

time.”

a. The ‘lights’ were large and round, and looked a bit like the moon but instead of a

large thing a long way off, they were small things close up.

b. I asked whether they reflected the light of the sun, but no one said anything.

III. I turned around slowly to look at the interior of the dome. As I did so I noticed

several things.

a. There was an opening where I had entered. It was made of the same smooth metal

as the dome but folded outwards. As I watched, it slowly folded inwards once again.

(The smooth, unhurried movements of inanimate objects here remind me of the

sinuous darting of what few fish are left back on the Dead Planet)

b. There were two other patches on the wall which appeared similar to the entrance.

I surmised that these must be other doors, although to what I had not the slightest

clue.

c. Based on when I was able to see through the door I entered by, the walls were at

least a metre thick. No natural light shone in from anywhere.

3. As we walked towards it, the door in the other side of the dome opened. We entered.

I. I was standing in a small, cramped space with several things in it.

a. Near the wall a tiny bed was set up. It had no covers and a single, black sheet.

Dialogue: “Don’t we need covers? I hear it can get freezing here.”

“You don’t think we’ve managed to survive without learning to regulate

temparatures inside the domes, do you? Don’t worry, the nights are hot

to help the plants grow.”

b. Besides the bed there was a small chest of drawers, which was the only other piece

of furniture.

(Between them the bed and the chest cover about seventy percent of the space

in the room)

Dialogue: “This is your room. Sorry it’s cramped - you won’t have to spend much

time in it. Tending the plants is the main requirement of your job, but there is

plenty of other work that we would be more than happy to give you.”

II. Cramped?

Dialogue: “Oh.”

“You don’t like it?”

“No, it’s so beautiful. I think I might cry.”

4. Three months later, I went to the infirmary.

I. My head hurt and I’d been feeling weak for days, but I couldn’t just stop working.

a. If I stopped, they might send me back to the Dead Planet.

b. If I stopped, I wouldn’t be able to smell the plants.

II. I started vomiting after two months of work, but it wasn’t until I

began to see blood that I signed myself up for a check-in.

a. There was a slow turnaround - it was a month before they could see me.

III. By the time I arrived I could barely breathe, I was choking on blood and my vision

was blurring. My hair had been coming out by the fistfuls for days.

IV. The nurse took one look and got a syringe. I felt it enter my arm.

a. I didn’t feel anything else.

b. I think I was wrong.

c. I think this is heaven.