The Martins | A Short Story

I went to bed late one night,

Only to be awakened by a faint light,

I looked out through my window,

And saw a spaceship land low,

I was gently lifted in the air,

I know not where,

Until I landed on a world all new,

Believe me, it was all so true.

‘Greetings, earthling!’ I heard them loud and clear. I stood bewildered, trembling as they stared at me. I gazed in disbelief at the marvelous size of the spaceship, not to mention the bizarre appearance of the extraterrestrials. Was this all for real?

‘Fear not, dear,’ they said. ‘We’re friends, not foes. Don’t worry, my boy…’

‘Hey, who the hell are you?’ I asked, baffled.

‘Martins… We are Martins.’

‘Martins?’ I wondered. ‘Does this, by any chance, mean that they’re from Mars…?’

However, their words interrupted my train of thought.

‘Come along, I’ll show you around,’ said one of them. He took two steps forward and held out his hand. My eyes twinkled with joy, for he wore a broad smile on his round face.

They were all dressed alike. They even looked alike. Well, more or less alike, I should say. They wore coats – long ones – and had a funny-looking extension on top of their heads. It resembled a snout – a longish snout. They looked quite different from what we humans imagine Martians to be – green, slimy, ugly creatures. In fact, they were anything but.

Feeling a lot braver, I asked, ‘Why have you brought me up here? What is it that you want to know? What are you going to do to me?’ Questions blurted out of my mouth one after another.

‘Rest assured, we won’t harm you,’ said another Martin, who looked different from the others. She was perhaps the Queen. Like the queen in an ant family. She was smaller in size than the rest of the lot, but she looked far more majestic than anyone else out there.

‘We want to tell you earthlings something,’ she continued. ‘Something really important. Something that will set you thinking. You seem like a clever little boy. We’ve been observing you for a while now. We thought we could use you…’

‘What?! Use me?! Use me for what?’ I scowled. However, deep within, I realized how fortunate I was to be the first earthling to talk to a Martin!

She looked around. I was simply awestruck. Everything was spick and span. Floors and ceilings glittered with lights. Funny noises could be heard from the several huge gadgets above our heads. ‘Is it a Star Wars movie?’ I wondered.

‘What’s your name?’ I asked, mustering every ounce of my courage.

‘XM0081,’ was the prompt reply.

‘Don’t you have regular names?’

XM0081 giggled. Her laughter sounded much like the gurgling waters back home.

‘We all have names like this, Ajay. And our home is called Telecon.’

How on earth did XM0081 know my name…?! I decided not to dwell much on that, for there were much more pressing questions on my mind.

‘Telecon? What on earth is that?’

‘It’s nothing on earth. On the contrary, we are far away from it.’

‘Aren’t you from Mars then? Aren’t you Martians?’

‘Hahaha!’ XM0081 guffawed. ‘We did belong to Mars. We were called Martians then. But now we live on Telecon and call ourselves Martins. We were forced to shift homes,’ the guffaw had slowly turned into anger.

‘What do you mean?’ I intervened with mixed emotions.

By now, a couple of other Martins had joined us. XoR spoke angrily, ‘It was all because of you earthlings!’

I lost my cool, too. ‘Why blame us?!’ I retorted. No way I was going to give in that easily. I was determined to defend my fellow earthlings. Even so, I was cautious enough to realize that they could hurt me. I let them speak.

It ws XMoX’s turn to speak. ‘Don’t you worry. XoR is deeply hurt. He feels nostalgic about the peaceful, happy life we lived on Mars. Such a beautiful paradise it was. It gave us everything we needed, in the purest form… water, food, air.’

I sat up. ‘Air? Is there even any oxygen on Mars? I’ve only heard of debates on the presence of water.’

‘Well, we mined it out of Mars’ ground and rocks.’

‘Go on!’ I cut him short, impatient.

‘We led peaceful lives until an unknown force encroached upon our privacy. We began to feel a change, a change in our atmosphere. It was an unsettling change. You folks just kept sending lots of things to our home…’

‘Things?’ I wondered. Did he mean the spacecrafts we send for studies?

XoR took over from XMoX. ‘You’ve even made a large hole in the ozone layer around your own planet. You earthlings have released so many harmful chemical compounds containing gaseous bromine and chlorine from your industries and everyday activities. So much of that leakage disturbed us. Our planet no longer had a protective shield. It became unlivable. Your increased space exploration activities have aggravated this issue. It’s not only you earthlings who have to bear the brunt of this. We have suffered, too, as a result of your advancements in technology and industrialization. We had to eventually settle on Telecon, where the atmosphere happened to be secure and healthy for our existence.’

It all made sense now. I felt ashamed.

‘We brought you here to show you our new home, and also to explain our plight. You must help us now. Be our messenger. When we take you back home, you must talk to your people and advise them not to destroy the environment. You must educate them about the ill effects of pollution. It is time for you to head back home.’

Home! That’s where I wanted to be. I wanted to see my mom, my dad, my friends.

♦♦♦

I landed on the floor with a thud. The Martins had dropped me back, it seemed. When I opened my eyes, I realized I was back on earth. Apparently, I had rolled off my bed.

I ran to my parents, who were fast asleep in the room next door. I needed to tell them about what I had just been through. After all, I had to spread the word about global warming and climate change! I now aspired to become a climate change activist so I could drive home the evils of pollution from an entirely different angle.