Pretending to sleep was not going to keep Edward from hugging her close to him. Weeping, Evelyn spoke out loud.
“I’ve gotten over you. I’ve moved on. You can go about your way. I don’t need you here.”
It was all lies, but she wouldn’t let him know it. She needed him to let go of her and move on. Even though she desperately wanted him to never let her go; she couldn’t live now, knowing he hadn’t. Knowing he still clung to her, even in death.
The arms that held her loosened. The cool breath against her cheek withdrew. His cologne she smelled, slowly drifted away to nothing. Evelyn reached out with her hand to his side of the bed. It was empty again. It was empty as it had been for almost a year.
Her bed and her life were bare of love, as it was since Edward transcended this earthly life, almost a year ago.
That Green Tree
They Slid Sideways Into the Light
Chapter 1- In The Beginning
THEIR SHIP CRASHED at such a speed that when it hit the earth, a perfectly formed cavern ten miles wide, and more than a hundred miles deep was created.
It had been a struggle for their pilot and leader; Evers, of the Bright people, to keep the speed at less than an Earther's equivalent of thirty thousand miles per second. As such it passed through the atmosphere unnoticed and unharmed.
All that was observed, if you call the wild creatures of the forest observing, was a stiff wind that blew through the leaves of the mighty green trees. These simple green trees for the Bright beings were to be the basis of their new homes.
We would call these trees, giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron Gigateum). The Bright's pilot had set his coordinates to find the least populated area of what we now call the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
Evers, being so cautious; as was not the habit of his people, sought the remotest area with the largest green trees to be found on Earth. He turned his instruments to select the easiest entry point that would enable them to crash-land without destroying them in the process.
There was much to avoid as the earth was riddled with iron ore that traveled in river-like paths beneath the rocky soil. Evers knew he must be gentle with his payload as it was non-replaceable.
Theirs had been a long journey that spanned more than a thousand human years. These one hundred Bright beings were the last of their physical line. Their less than noble elders in an attempt to have at least a few Brights spread beyond their galaxy; had sent these one hundred individuals, their best example of Bright-kind that could be found, to populate a new section of that universe.
By any known standard they all were geniuses beyond the imagination of the humans best geniuses. They possessed natural abilities that surpassed even the most imaginative fantasy writer’s mind.
Some Brights could manipulate matter into wondrous creations. These marvels enabled the creation of the very ship they rode on the galactic winds to their new home.
Others had abilities that enabled them to perform what the early humans called miracles and to draw upon the very environment to mold and model these creations.
They all appeared to be around twenty human years old, and they collectively possessed knowledge more ancient than the very earth they had crashed into.
Why leave such a wondrous and advanced society to travel to a planet that had only developed to the equivalent of a newborn's mental and physical state? As Evers pointed out to his fellow Brights, "We are the last of a very foolish and destructive society that has poisoned the very essence of itself. I only pray to the Gods, as we make a home on this new world, we use it better than our esteemed elders did Brightdome, our last home."
As their gargantuan space shuttle settled in the cavern, Evers ‘thought’ a message to all his family. They were not related by blood lines but to Evers mind they had been so long on their journey that such a bond as that, had formed.
"Brights, we are landed. I have done a preliminary check and the ship is intact with all functionality stable. This new home we have been sent to meets the criteria set forth by the elders. Presently we are buried in its core, but soon a team will be selected to meet above ground."
MELA OF THE BRIGHT people sat huddled in her pod. She brushed her tightly curled hair out of her shining green eyes. As usual her hair formed a dark halo surrounding her elfish face. She had felt the vibrations thrumming through the shuttle as it struck this new planet. This new planet that she and the other ninety-nine Brights were to inhabit and reproduce in.
She had no illusions of her purpose on this voyage as it had been specifically and forcefully related to her by her guardian Baser.
"Mela, keep your essence to yourself," said her stern caretaker, Baser. “Your purpose, as has been decreed by our noble elders, is to be a vessel. For the Bright to repopulate outward into the galaxy, we must have vessels pure in their essence."
Baser strode purposefully away from Mela as if her very proximity would render Mela’s essence null and void. The ancient memory still brought a sour taste to Mela's mouth. She was sure Baser had expired long ago and far away, back on the now dead planet of Brightdome. And good riddance to her and her over-bearing ways.
Still, she felt anger every time she thought of the old female who had treated her and the rest of her charges so harshly. It was bad enough the only use for them was their essence, but it was even worse that she had been constantly reminded of it by someone who possessed no essence whatsoever. It never crossed her mind that Baser was envious
