A short story I wrote when I was sixteen; I still kinda like it, so I'm sharing it with all of you. Enjoy!
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The Moon: a giant sphere in the sky which the world superpowers clambered over during the mid-20th century. Since the times of the ancient civilizations, men have always had a fascination with the Moon. The Romans — pointing to its large swirls of red, believed it to be the home of Mars, the god of war. Other cultures, such as the pagans of the British Isle, or the Aztecs of South America, believed it to be a heaven-like place. When asked why, they would point to the great, colourful, green shapes as evidence.
But, for better or for worse, humanity adopted new religious practices. Christianity and Islam became the dominant religions of the world. The old myths died out, and the ones that stayed — Buddhism and Hinduism — faded into obscurity. The Catholics believed the Moon to be an extension of God’s creation (part of their practice that was carried over from Judaism). To the Catholics, thinking of the Moon as a heavenly place or a place the gods lived was heresy, a thought crime worse than Arianism.
To the Muslims, however, the Moon was not a heavenly place, a place of the gods, or even an extension of God’s creation. It was Jahannam; hell, a terrifying object put in the sky by Allah. Whenever someone would ask why God would do that, your average Muslim would say,
“It’s a warning to all nations as to what will come if they do not believe. Only more proof that God is kind and merciful!”
However, that doctrine quickly changed by the 1960s after the Space Race: a small segment of the Cold War, and the first stepping stone towards the Moon War. Tension between The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America had grown since WW2, with both parties obtaining nuclear weapons.
The Space Race started when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 into space. From that point onward, both the Americans and the Soviets attempted to one up each other in any way they could. However, by 1965, another player had entered the scene: Britain.
The British had been spying on the Americans and had stolen the blueprints for the Saturn V rocket ship. In 1969, Saturn V was launched into space. And with that, the British had successfully won the space race by landing the first Humans on the moon. Alongside myself, the crew was made up of three people: London Baker, Spencer Blake, and Harvey Callum.
At first, the mission was thought to have been a failure after losing contact with the crew for a full seven days. That was until the British Space Agency got an unexpected communication.
“Hello? This is Captain Archie Barron,” I said to mission control. “We will be in earth’s orbit soon.” British people from around the country came to watch the rocket land. Spencer Blake had kept a short journal detailing everything we saw. A few days after the landing, the British Prime Minister made a speech in the heart of London,
“As you all know, three of our astronauts have been to the moon and safely returned to earth…”—the crowds cheered, their faces wide with joy and thrill—“However, it is what they found up there that is important. Humans have been trying to figure out what may be up there since the dawn of time. I’m proud to announce that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the first country to ever find out.” The people cheered, but promptly hushed each other as the Prime Minister pulled out a little, crumpled piece of paper from his coat pocket and unfolded it.
Clearing his throat, he said, “Trees, with trunks the size of small houses, with giant yellow and purple fruit in the shape of pears. Oceans made of a red water-like liquid. Perfectly straight grass that grows as tall as you stand. Waterfalls made of crude oil that gush along a network of streams. Animals with tiny bodies and legs no shorter than 7 feet tall. Insects the size of your thumb with razor sharp stingers. These animals are seemingly friendlier to humans than each other.”
When the Americans and Soviets watched the broadcasts, they were furious. How could they steal our glory? they thought, and are they planning to keep this abundance of resources to themselves? Well, the Catholics celebrated having scientific evidence that they were right, the Soviets tripled their space department’s budget, and the Americans went one step further by merging the military with the space program. Britain, on the other hand, had gone into a huge amount of debt with the first space mission. Because of this, they decided to end their space program, to the dismay of many.
By 1975, both the Americans and the Soviets had landed on the Moon, marking out territory for their respective nations. However, as things heated up (and neither could come to an agreement), the Americans officially declared war on the Soviets, starting the Moon War. At first, it was just some infantry scuffling, but soon it evolved into chemical warfare, then armoured warfare, until finally the Americans, without considering the consequences, dropped a nuclear bomb on the moon, and the Soviets retaliated identically. With each bomb dropped, a new crater was formed, and the grassy land soon disappeared, leaving only large grey stones in its wake. Within a day, all life on the moon had vanished. The only thing that remained was the water-like liquid, but that too soon disappeared into space, as the atmosphere had been destroyed by the conflict.
It is now July 2nd, 2030.
Ireland has taken over Britain, the Soviet Union broke up, and the US has split into two nations. Islam has almost completely disappeared. The Christians are still around, they’re just not very prevalent in today's culture. The Moon is still there, but it is a former shell of what it once was. It’s a lifeless ball of rock. As space travel became more common throughout the early 21st century, travellers surpassed the moon, travelling to far more majestic planets. The Moon became a forgotten relic. Having lived through it all, one truth has remained firmly in place: Humans always want more, even if that means destroying something special. This amazing thing that people used to worship, now just a wasteland destroyed by greed… more specifically, the greed of their governments, whose ignorance succeeded reason. And with that, I have concluded my analysis of Humanity. Consequently, I have completed my purpose. By the time you get this report, I will have already disintegrated my body on top of the Moon as a symbolic goodbye.
Sincerely,
Prototype C18 Discovery Bot, referred to in the Human tongues as Archie Barron.
I dedicate this study to my brothers; I hope they do well living and studying among the various intelligent species. To understand the nature of a people is no easy task.
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