Great Being Five had been twiddling her thumbs for too long at the Academy for Wisdom¹. Over the decades she’d re-educated many recalcitrant Great Beings and re-engineered their wrong-doings. She’d set them all back on the straight and narrow, repentant of their misdeeds in the management of their planets. But now she was bored.
True, she still retained responsibility for two planets, but one was still at the ‘rocks and slime stage’ and the other, Orea, the one she used to love so much, with its pretty pastel colours and cute, fluffy life-forms, was… well, just a little bit dull.
Five was missing her beautiful blue planet. Planet Earth, which she’d finally decided to delete² back in Earth Year 2033, before the greedy, selfish little humans destroyed it themselves and took off to infect another planet.
She missed those fallible little creatures. Back in the day, before they had too many technical toys at their disposal, they were such fun. So creative! Five sighed as a wave of nostalgia broke over her desk and splashed off her Universal Viewing Screen.
Back in the day. The thought crossed and re-crossed her mind.
It lingered while a plan formed.
She’d done it before, and she could do it again. As a top official in the Academy, she had both the authority and the autonomy. All she needed to do was turn back Time in that small solar system on the edge of the Milky Way.
Once before she’d re-set Planet Earth, but sadly it hadn’t had much effect; soon the arrogant little inhabitants were back on the road to their inevitable existential fate. This time needed to be different. A planet-wide change of mind-set must be effected.
She knew just the Being to help her.
Five dropped a mind message to her first re-education subject, the one she knew best and her greatest success. She immediately sensed his enthusiasm for the project. He was primed and ready for action. She would take care of the Time-Grid and he would set up the means for a mind-set change.
He warned her it would be radical.
He warned her it would be tough.
He warned her it would take time.
She agreed.
Five aligned the Time-Grid: 01.01.2020.
A nice round number; not long before The Total Tipping Point.
She sat back. Watched and waited.
Planet Earth reappeared in its old position. The little humans had ceased their scurrying. They’d hunkered down and huddled in their homes. Five was saddened at the sickness and the suffering; the deaths of the elderly, the poorly and the poor.
The Earth turned and turned again
day after day
month after month.
Skies cleared. Rivers ran clean. Nature thrived and re-asserted itself.
The planet cooled down a little.
When the scourge passed, the little humans emerged. They had changed and the change came from within; a new understanding of their beautiful blue planet.
Five mind-melded with her colleague: thanks, Nineteen.
She hoped her little humans would get it right now.
¹ For the Greater Good
² And finally she pulled the plug
Photo credit: watercolour painting by Elena Mozhvilo
luna's on line 
Wonderfully put together piece of flash fiction Chris. Alongside the vital message your piece puts across, I thought the voice of Five was spot on.
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Thank you for your very kind feedback, Matthew. I appreciate it.
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The story is fantasy but the message is clear, we need to take care of our planet. The Great Being Five reminds me of a loving mother that lost her temper once and punished everyone for wrongdoings. I think the guilt of punishing the good with the bad caused a change of heart and a last chance to reeducate. I hope we have the right idea when we reemerge.
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You summed up the story and its intent beautifully, Darnell. 🙂
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That’s a perspective I hadn’t thought of before 🤔
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I was inspired by seeing footage of mountain goats on the streets of a town in North Wales and a huge pod of dolphins just off the beach in Hout Bay not far from here. We seem to be giving nature a chance at last and maybe our collective mind-set will be more thoughtful when we emerge from all this.
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Yes I’m sure this will make us much more thoughtful, in many ways. Take care! 😊🐱🐼
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What a wonderful piece of fiction from a completely different perspective. Your work always hits right in the spot Luna!
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Thanks Shruti, that’s a lovely compliment 🙂
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You deserve it.
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Hey Good morning Chris
l don’t know if you saw this yesterday – however here it is officially, ‘your Hug’ 🙂
https://aguycalledbloke.blog/2020/04/03/the-huge-hug-club-11/
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Thank you Rory, loved it 🙂 Have a lovely day and keep well !
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Thank you and always backatcha 🙂
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A lovely little watercolor to match your vision here! Enjoyed the dire turned hopeful, Chris. xxxxxx
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Working in an art gallery and for a local art society taught me to appreciate the medium. I am so hoping for something better to come…
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I think we could all use a little good news xxxx
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one positive thing..
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Hoping so! Thanks for popping by.
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So that’s what’s happening! Good to know!
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We should be fine in Five’s hands so long as we respect her lovely blue planet 🙂
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Then I guess we’re in trouble….:D
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Maybe, maybe we’ll learn the lesson… let’s be hopeful.
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We can but hope. Great installment, Chris!
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“Five sighed as a wave of nostalgia broke over her desk and splashed off her Universal Viewing Screen.” I just love this sentence! Brilliant. Let’s hope Five’s plan works out for us.
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A literary light bulb moment for me?!
Yes, hoping the plan works… stay safe x
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Let’s hope the reset works, Chris. I think it will for the majority of us, but it’s the minority who may still let us down!
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Sadly, I suspect they’re going to be the ones with all the power. We can but hope otherwise!
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[…] been more than a year since we last caught up with Great Being Five in a story I wrote1 shortly after South Africa and many other countries first went into hard lockdown in March 2020. I […]
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I hope Five’s little humans will get it right now, too.
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Yes, let’s hope so. 🙂
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A wonderful story of fantasy threaded with a message we should all heed…A great piece of writing, Chris 🙂
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Excellent, Chris. What struck me in the (first) lockdown here was the absolute quiet; no planes, barely any motor vehicles, wild flowers and animals appearing, the way the side verges and grass embankments stayed uncut. Was so peaceful and pretty for a while.
Have enjoyed catching up with the backstory of this series after first discovering it at the 6SS. Hope you do some more in the future.
Congrats and best,
Ford
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This was written a week into our first (very hard) lockdown. Having got over the initial shock it was a bit magical, and it seemed as if nature was getting a last chance… Ah well.
I’m so pleased you’ve enjoyed the series, Ford. I’m sure there are further adventures for Five and Nineteen out there. These characters are too good to be permanently retired.
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Yes, most enjoyable, and they hit the spot on many levels. You’re right some characters are too good to retire!
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Exactly! Never waste a good character 🙂
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