Futurism logo

The Faraway Place

Adventurers we are born, adventurers we shall die.

By Corrie MoonePublished 3 years ago 7 min read
Like

“We all start out brave and wild and free. No one starts out ‘fraid.

When we arrive, we arrive as specs of dust and light – carrying with us the potential to be anything we dream of. But after floating down all that way, to the Faraway Place, some of us get lost and by the time we get there, we forget; forget that we were once kings and queens, mighty wizards with magical powers, and great adventurers and pioneers. Forget that we’d won great battles in order just to be there.

And then we become ‘fraid. When you’re ‘fraid, sometimes it’s hard to become un’fraid because sometimes, the hardest part about learning is the un-learning. That’s what my Daddy taught me. Even Daddy - he forgot. It’s easy to forget. He said he didn’t ‘member the Before Home when I talked about it, he didn’t ‘member how to be un’fraid anymore. I tried to help him ‘member as best I could. Sometimes I think he almost did, he almost ‘membered, like it was right there on the tip-top of his brain-box. Almost like he could if he wanted to, but he was too ‘fraid. Like it was too hard to ‘member or like he was sad he ever forgot.

Before you go, to the Faraway Place, they warn you that when you get there, you’ll forget everything. Most of us do, anyway. That’s the whole part of the deal, they said. Sometimes you ‘member only for a while - until you become big. And the longer you stay, the bigger you get and the more likely it is you’ll forget. You experience so many new things at the Faraway Place that your brain-box has to make room for it all and you just…forget. You forget all about The Before Home, about knowin’ each other. You forget all about the great adventure it was just to get there, to the Faraway Place. ‘Cept sometimes, when you’re there for too long, somethin’ funny happens - you start to ‘member again. You forget other things, little things – like the name they gave you, but you start to ‘member the Before Home and you start to miss it. You start to be like you were when you first got there, when you first arrived to the Faraway Place. Over there, they like to call it Earth.

The Gate-Keepers said it’s up to each one of us to decide if we want to go there, and for the ones who do ‘member to remind the ones who’d done the forgetting.”

Kosima paused for a moment, her eyes scanning between the other children. The shadows from the fire seemed to dance around in shapes on their faces.

“Tell us more about the Faraway place! Pleaaaase.” The children begged. They sat in a half-circle around the fire, listening intently; their eyes wide and full of wonder.

“Well, it can be a wonderful place sometimes, full of adventure and magic, and things like rainbows and chocolate. They have mountains covered in something called snow and you can jump in it, or throw it or eat it! Time only goes one way there and it rules everything that everyone does. There aren’t rules, not really, but people like to think there are and they forget how to be happy and how to be nice. And the monsters aren’t like anything you’ve ever seen before - they don’t have tentacles or five-heads. Most of the time you can’t see them at all, and they live inside your head.”

“Woah! Invisible monsters!” the children gasped.

“And sometimes, the monsters look just like other people, just like us. And they are just like us, ‘cept they lost their way but somewhere deep down inside they ‘member how it used to be, on the Before Home, and they miss it. And so they get angry. That’s why it’s up to us to help them ‘member how to get back. Sometimes, you get assigned two Earth guardians, and sometimes just one and sometimes none at all. I had a Daddy and a Mommy for a little while, before she went back to the Before Home. Then it was just me and Daddy. We lived in a house near the ocean. It was so close I could smell it and even feel it when the wind was strong. We lived on a great big rock, called an Island, and behind our house was a bench and every evening me and Daddy would sit on the bench and watch the ships disappear into the horizon—”

“Ships! Like pirate ships?!” the children asked.

Probably!” Kosima smiled. “But whats a horizon??” “The horizon is the spot where the Earth and the Sky seem to swallow each other whole!”

“Wowww!” The children gasped. “Could the horizon swallow us whole too?”

Anything is possible. Every day, around the same time the horizon even swallows the sun, and me and Daddy liked to watch the ships, before they got swallowed up too – they would get smaller and smaller, like you could almost reach out and pluck one up with your fingers—”

Kosima closed one eye and held a hand out in front of the other. Then she pinched her forefinger and thumb together, looking between them intently - almost as if she could see a ship in front of her, as if it were within reach.

“—until!” she continued. “They got so small you couldn’t see them at all. And other times, the opposite would happen - the horizon would spit the ships out and they would get bigger, and it would spit the sun back out too! But on the other side.”

Cool! I wanna see!” “Yea I wanna go to Urth!” the children chimed with excitement. “But, Kosima…how come you ‘membered? How come you ‘membered and your Daddy didn’t ‘member?”

“Daddy was a brave adventurer – the bravest, you have to be in order just to get there. He got lost in a big storm on the way, and then his brain-box got filled up with all the stuff they told him he needed to ‘member instead, when he got there. Then he got a job and got too busy to ‘member. But sometimes, when we sat outside on that bench, I know he ‘membered. I know ‘cos told me all sorts of stories, of pirate ships and men who sailed across the whole galaxy and about buried treasures, and underwater cities, mermaids and space ghosts - said he even had a ‘tenna in his ear that he could talk to space ghosts with. Said they sent him messages sometimes. They were messages from the Before Home, only he didn’t know it.”

“What if I don’t wanna forget? If you forget, then how will you ‘member ‘gain?” asked one child.

“Sometimes you ‘member by closing your eyes, and listening real hard to your heart. And if that doesn’t work, if you can’t hear it, sometimes you ‘member by going on an adventure or by listening to music that you love and laughing wildly. Sometimes you ‘member by dancing crazy in the rain or picking daffodils and making wishes on them or by taking piggy back rides through a field full of flowers that smell like honey. Other times, by laying on the warm sidewalk out in the sun and by never, ever taking yourself too seriously. You do it by not letting your brain-box get so full of all the other stuff that it squeezes out all the imagination-juice. And sometimes, you ‘member by sitting on a bench and watching ships disappear into the horizon, and by pretending you can pluck them right out of the sky.”

Kosima jumped up, turning her face to the sky. She threw her arms behind her, as though flying, and ran to the cliff’s edge. The other children followed behind. The golden glimmer of the setting sun brushed their faces in magnificence as they watched the burning ball disappear behind the Earth.

Wow – look at Faraway Place! It’s swallowing the sun whole, just like you said!” the children ooh’d and awe’d. “She said it was called Urth!” “Well Urth is ‘buteful….it’s my fav’rit.”

Kosima closed one eye and stretched her hand out in front of her, pinching together her forefinger and thumb. The children did the same.

“Adventurers we are born-" began Kosima. "-and adventurers we shall die!” They shouted together into the night.

literature
Like

About the Creator

Corrie Moone

Freelance writer traveling the globe. Based out of Los Angeles, California.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.