Readings returned slightly less than optimal levels, but their shuttle-mind assured them of safety.
The first creature stumbled out, overwhelmed by colours. The browns and blues and golden yellows were not where they should be.
And it hadn’t ever seen so much green.
Their journey from the dying world began generations ago, long before their own time.
What was left of them.
This world was here, now. All around. Spreading, reaching further into the distance than the ship-born ever thought possible.
The creature crouched, removing protection from an appendage, and touched the Earth.
All at once, it felt home.
© 2021 Rebecca Glaessner
April 22, 2021, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about earthing. Put a character’s hands, feet or body and soul into the earth. Who needs recharging? What happens between the interaction? Go where the prompt leads!
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Rebecca Glaessner Author 
An earthing earthling returned to earth! That’s a cool hopeful homecoming story.
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Thanks D. Avery! I love that you’re always playing with words. Grateful you stopped by.
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Nothing feels quite as good as finding one’s true home…at long last. <3
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Our true home is a wonderful place, safe and regenerative. However small a home we make.
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Home is where the heart is? 🌹
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I agree this small story felt huge… the ending was perfect. <3
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Thanks Colleen, glad you found it so.
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The impact of seeing the natural world for the first time is clearly imagined. The wonder of a generation lost to space to get to come home to Earth. It reminds me of how we saw during global lockdowns, the quick return of nature. I can believe if we ever abandoned Earth she would rebound.
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Mother Earth is a powerful force, she would still grow without us, even more so, and I like to think that the damage we’ve done, and will continue to do is not powerful enough to subdue her.
I also think now, how the ship-born experienced life like us during the lockdowns and isolations, I hadn’t made that connection before. 2020 seems to permeate a lot of our subconscious creation without notice.
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You did a fantastic job of writing a small story that echoes of a much larger story. Must’ve been mind-blowing to be born on a ship, and that’s their world until landing on a planet and seeing all of that.
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Thanks Dave, I agree. As much as I love space and sci-fi stories, I wouldn’t ever sign up to be confined to a ship for a lifetime. Our world is too precious a connection for us fragile beings.
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