Nova

By John R. Mabry, 10th grade

He walked on the beach. The sun did not shine nor the stars or the wind to stir. he watched the green plants turn brown and die, he watched the city crumble and bodies decay, se saw that the earth did tremble, mountains roared as lions once did and the earth had started anew. He lay down to rest and found his body did not move. He watched it, too, decay, and turn to earth, until he left.

He went seeking wisdom, and yet he knew he was the last of men, he must find them. He must pursue until they are found. And he must join them.

He thought about his life and what he had done, it was not pleasant, it was not dwelt upon, for what now could be done?

He wondered to and from planets searching. There was one on which he had talked to someone, a ghost of the planet; it quite surprised the ghost to have visitors.

"Pardon," said Man, "Have others as myself passed?"

"Yes, long ago, you are a late-comer! How about some nourishment? Hm?"

"That woudl sound nice, thank you!" though Man new not what was meant by "nourishment."

The planet ghost whistled as if summoning.

"Drat! I forgot my servant lfeft in the migration...I've got them." By "them" he meant huge volumes of philosophy.

"We're supposted to--to--eat these?"

"I did not say 'eat,' I said nourishment. Ain't you never herad of 'thought is food'?"

He thought it sounded familiar, but somehow not right. "Food is thought," "thought for food?" No. Perhaps, "food for thinking--"

"Eating is entirely different, lad."

He read but was not refreshed, a night of rest did that.

He decided to leave. He walked slowly around the planet once, and began to walk into space.

An arm reached out and grabbed him. "You can't leave!"

"Why not?"

"'Cause I'm lonely."

"So visit another planet!"

"I can't. Thisson is in a fixed position. I can't leave it, it'll deteriorate!"

"There's nothing there to keep you--"

The man looked down and saw a single red rose on the planet's landscape.

A tear fell from the ghost's eyes, it dropped to feed the flower.

"The plant's life will not last for another season."

"There will be more, for I, too, am to start again."

As if a cosmic awareness caught them both they turned to see a super-nova. Scores of planet-ghosts were hurled, their planets destroyed. They clung to the planet that Man was on. He turned and faced the ghost. "You now have company," he said, and searched endlessly the heavens for his own kind.