THE STORY
It started in a dream with the rescue of six friendly monkeys from the perils of an alien frond that was plotting to kill them in their home under the stairs.
It looked like a friendly enough frond, winding its way around harmlessly, as inquisitive vines. Its rope-like presence didn’t seem to bother the monkeys at all and they showed no signs of discomfort, carrying about their daily business as usual; preening followed by more reciprocal preenage, munching and chewing on ripened fruit and generally doing nothing much at all.
But in the silence, our instincts spoke to us differently.
We sat down and began to tell the monkeys stories of our plans and vision for a fresh, hopeful and exciting future and invited them to be a part of our adventures into pastural galaxies anew. The monkeys seemed to like the idea of a change of scenery having been stuck under the stairs for quite some time as they were, afterall, curious characters by nature. Gradually, poco a poco, little by little and one by one, they made the decision to leave their home full of shadows of the past.
Just as the last monkey was walking through the door, the alien frond unexpectedly made a sudden jolt and within a flash appeared swaying in the doorway with a cockiness of invincibility, It opened its dribbling mouth in an attempt to smile, revealing a menacing promise of metal teeth, glinting like sparks of fire in the darkness.
We turned our backs and left.
Under cover of the night, we made our way to a safe place and took shelter on board Starlite.One which was docked in a nearby port.
On arrival at security, we checked in with our STARLITE.One boarding cards and, once free to proceed, leapt up the metal steps into the holding bay, closed the external doors, switched on the security forcefield and stood momentarily for a group photo next to the Fortune slot machine.
We were home... our home for now.
After showing our new friends their quarters, we headed to our favourite place onboard, the vinyl listening lounge, where all our monkey friends who were joining us on this trip loved to hang out.
We took turns playing our favourite vinyl, Acadie, American Head, Hey What, A Light For Attracting Attention and of course Scott 2... whilst the youngsters had great fun teasing us and joking around. The adults reminisced and we listened to stories of our lives and the difference that 2% in our DNA really makes... and how much we have in common.
Together we discussed the manipulation of our spirituality and the blood that has been shed in the name of organised religion; the importance of voting and how we measure consensus, the utter futility of war, emotional manipulation, a romantic dalliance with an AI companion, the surreal and deep sadness experienced at the loss of a parent to dementia and how some parents truly fuck up their children.
We all agreed that a part of us is broken and before we departed the planet for a new world, we reminded ourselves of the importance of authenticity and being ourselves, of honesty, intimacy, laughter and joy; memories can be lost and youth is a fleeting moment.
We looked through the window of Starlite.One, way up high into the distant beyond of the night sky and marvelled at the stars burning and shimmering without a care.
Soon we would be joining them but for now, we were grateful for this moment, this time that we live.