Week 2 Story: The Man on Jupiter
There once lived an astronomer in ancient times who spent every night gazing up at the sky, wondering what it must be like up there. Since there are so many stars that shine bright, he thought, there must be many bright places to easily explore. The stars are constantly moving around the earth, he thought, so it must be a lively place where things are on the move. The ancient astronomer had no idea of the empty void which made up a vast majority of the night sky.
He continued to dream of living amongst the heavens, until one day, he was visited by a wise and powerful alien who claimed to come from the sky. Barely able to contain his excitement, the astronomer explained to the alien how he was willing to do anything for a chance to live amongst the stars so he could leave all of his earthly problems behind. The alien hesitated, and warned the astronomer: "I fear you do not know what truly lies above, for my journey here was cold, dark, long, and treacherous." The astronomer replied, "Nonsense, I look up to the stars every night and cannot help but think it must be more magnificent than here on earth." "Very well then," said the alien, "I shall give you a front row seat in the heavens."
Then, with the snap of an alien finger, the largest and second brightest planet in our night sky, Jupiter, was born. At 473 million miles away from the sun, the astronomer-turned-planet was experiencing some of the coldest temperatures space had to offer. He looked around, and saw nothing but darkness; the rest of the stars appeared no closer or warmer than they did from earth. Displeased with the result of his wish being granted, the astronomer called out for the alien, but heard nothing - not even his own echo - in response. It was there he would remain lonely for ages to come, never receiving visitors. Only occasionally do we get a glimpse of "The Man on Jupiter" through a telescope.
Image Source. NASA Image of Jupiter with
surface storms appearing to make a face
Author's note: The Man on Jupiter was inspired by The Man on the Moon, a tale of an unhappy blacksmith who wishes for another life, and another, and another, until he is stuck being the moon.
Bibliography: "The Man on the Moon" from Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899)),
Hey Chris
ReplyDeleteI like that you changed the character from a blacksmith to an astronomer. It is a kind of modern take with some sort of realism with fantasy mixed in. I like that you incorporate empty void, coldest temperature, and no sounds in space. This brought realism to the story as we know space is mostly empty, Jupiter is farther from the Sun, and there is no medium in space for sound waves to travel.
Overall, I like your retelling and I don't see any details that need to be added on.
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun variant on the man on the moon story. I still do not see these "faces" that are supposed to be on the moon and Jupiter, but the stories people tell to explain them are fun nonetheless. I like that the entity granting his wish is an alien. That adds a fun modern variation to the story. It feels like those shows on the History channel that speculate on tales of deity and wonder if they could have been aliens. I look forward to reading more from you in the future.