Today's HyperShort goes way back. Or maybe... way forward. Depends.
“A&E” by Ethan Lawrence
The galaxy was remote in both time and place. It existed as it had existed a million years ago. The planets of the woman’s galaxy were borne at the dawn of time, a time so removed from our concepts of time as to be incomprehensible. Nations, politics, war and disease were no part of the structure of their society, and evil almost totally eradicated. Her planet, entirely female, was an exquisitely perfect world of rich forests and seas, of elegant cities, and perfect human society, where the magical laws of harmony with the world were completely achieved. This was not merely a bland, dream-like state of contentment, but a highly practical way of life. Her women were brilliant in all fields, in architecture, the arts, scientific knowledge, as well as being completely unified in their religious and magical life. And this perfection had endured for ages.
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She was born in the great forest of Rykan, an immense wilderness on the edge of the largest city of her planet’s continent. Her heritage was both cultural and metaphysical, the wisdom of natural magic bringing her in harmonious accord with her environment and the living beings around them. From infancy, the woman lived with animals, learning their traits such as biological defenses and more efficient sensory uses.
The women of her world had long known that the processes of creation and construction were all dependent upon the power of compassion. To them, compassion was a sacred science and benevolence was the building blocks of all physical manifestation. To her world, the future development of the human race had been toward a gentle harmony of the galaxies, and the kindness born out of their mastery of humanity had become a tremendous factor in lifting the consciousness of humans into a true perception of the need for that universal accord.
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But it was also the corruption of this science of compassion, which led to a galactic war with a race of violent and compassionless men. Similar to the women, the men reproduced asexually and had never been in contact with the opposite sex before. One man, their leader, was creating discordant emotion and destructive passions that had been eliminated from the woman’s society long ago. He was introducing hatred, lust and fear through discord into the physical bodies of the women who disagreed with him. This being a capital offense, the male leader was brought to trial, but since there was no death penalty, he was sentenced by the woman to roam an eternity in an astral plane of existence. But the man was far more ingenious than she realized and found a way back into the physical world, into his physical body. Seeking revenge, he attacked the woman and they crash-landed together on a tiny lush planet uninhabited by intelligent life. They barely survived, but there was no escaping the remote planet at the edge of the universe.
“Are you going to kill me?” she asked.
His face darkened as his soulless eyes stared at her. “Yes.”
Strangely, she seemed unafraid now. “My people have a saying. ‘If we have no compassion, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other’.”
“I belong to my world, not yours. Yours tried to banish me.”
“Only because you brought discord to us. We had no choice.”
“Well,” he said after a moment, anger growing in his voice. “I give you the choice of how you will die on this desolate planet.”
She suddenly looked content. “I choose to die as friends. What is your name?”
The man paused, amused by her odd request. “Adam. What is your name?”
The woman smiled warmly. “My name is Eve.”
©2014EthanLawrence
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Born in Hollywood, California, Ethan Lawrence has served on the writing staffs of the TV series The Pretender, Murder in Small Town X, Fearing Mind, So Weird and SyFy’s acclaimed series Eureka. He has developed web series for Generate Management/Alloy Entertainment such as Full Metal Alchemist and has sold TV pilots to NBC, ABC and The Gold Company. He wrote the screenplay Hellraiser 5 for Dimension Films, Nevermore for Propaganda Films, Downloader for Stuart Gordon/Red Hen Productions, Mortal Velocity for Warner Bros. Studios, Creepers for Papa Joe Films (based on the David Morrell New York Times bestseller Creepers) and wrote the feature film Asylum for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios/Hyde Park Entertainment.