Heirs of Planet Life 2 - The Origin Of Life

III - Homesick

"I liked the idea. I'd love to see them again."

"I'm going to speak to Merko. I think he's going to want to see his friends, too."

***

The next day, Merko picked Helen up at school and as they were passing in front of the planetarium, she kept jumping in the car seat, excited, screaming that she wanted to know that place.

"Grandpa, I want to go to the planetarium!"

"Why, my granddaughter?" Merko asked in surprise.

"I feel like meeting the stars you admire so much at night."

The grandfather felt proud to realize that his granddaughter was very close to him.

"My little one, the most beautiful things of this world are there in the sky, after you and your grandmother, of course!"

"So, can you take me to the planetarium any day? I wanted to know a little more about galaxies besides what I learn at school. I feel that something up there attracts me."

"I'll take you, my dear. Leave it to me."

So, the next weekend, Merko kept his promise and took her to the planetarium. It was a circular building with a large sphere at its top mimicking a planet that could be seen throughout most of the neighborhood.

At night, the building was illuminated by several colored lights that projected various forms and luminous designs imitating the sidereal space.

Tourists circled the ground floor, where panels showed the various exhibitions and lectures that took place there. Merko and Helen entered a room where a pro at the planetarium gave a demonstrative lesson on the origin of the universe.

There were images on screens on the four walls around them and mockups of planets and stars hanging from the ceiling. He spoke and showed the stars in close-up images, projected on all sides.

After seeing the galaxies, he began to talk about the evolution of the planet and the images of the dinosaurs appeared on the screen, causing Helen to jump, frightened:

"Grandpa Merko, what horrible animals! Did they really exist? How could people live here with these animals dominating the planet?"

"My granddaughter, humans have appeared here thousands of years after these animals were destroyed."

"How did the dinosaurs disappear?"

"It's a long story. Maybe one day I'll tell you. But today we need to take our time to learn about the universe."

"It's ok. I'll remember you to tell me later... I'm enjoying this place so much I don't know where else to look. The universe is wonderful!" She said with a look of admiration.

Merko sat down with her on a bench and they both savored an ice cream. He began to tell a story about his adventures, when he had to divert a meteor from his planet, and Silion, his great friend, had saved him from certain death.

Since he could not tell that he had lived the adventure himself, Merko used the figure of a traveling hero of the galaxies, like those of the old comic books. It was not yet time for the girl to know who her grandfather really was. But he knew the hour was coming, faster than he thought.

"Grandpa, your stories seem to have really happened. I love hearing you tell the adventures..."

Suddenly, she looked at the main gate and said, pointing her finger at the souvenir shop:

"Look, grandpa, so many cool toys!" She ran to the store, then took a box in her hands, and stood there admiring, her eyes opened. "Could you buy one for me? It looks like our galaxy..."

The box consisted of eight planets, accompanied by a sun, made of a material like acrylic, simulating our solar system. They had the colors, shapes and sizes characteristic of the planets and were very similar to the real ones.

"We'll take it when we're leaving here, I promise," Merko said.

The girl nodded and let him lead her to another room, where there were pictures explaining the formation of the planet. A model was placed in the middle of the room with the representation of the earth's crust; inside, the outer and inner mantle, and at its center, the solid core wrapped by the outer liquid core.

They walked around the planetarium and the girl seemed to vibrate with every new thing. Then they left and she talked to her grandfather about everything that had enchanted her there. He felt that, sooner or later, the evolved human condition would hatch into Helen and nothing could stop that from happening.

At night, Lorena had gone to the hair salon with Sophia. Merko was in Nicholas' house waiting for the time to go get them. Father and son talked in the living room with Zara when suddenly they heard a noise that seemed to come from Helen's room.

They ran up the stairs and into her room, when they were astonished to see the girl's toys that mimicked the planets and the sun of Orion's arm rotating and translating as in the solar system, while the little girl slept her deepest sleep. She seemed to smile with her eyes closed.

"Nick, this is incredible!" The mother said in surprise.

"It's simply magnificent! Helen is, in a way, using telekinetic powers without realizing it, as she sleeps," Merko said, impressed by what he saw.

"Will she be able to develop this ability if she's awake?" Commented Nicholas, who was also delighted.

"We need to teach her how to control these powers. Imagine if she does something like this near other children in school?" Commented Zara. "That would expose us to the world and endanger her!"

"And the flow of energy released could catch the attention of the capture teams. They have state-of-the-art equipment to monitor these manifestations."

They looked at each other worriedly.

Had peace ended? What could you expect from now on?

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