She took in the whole scenery.

From where the female was positioned, you could make up a few visible
houses a bit farther from the land. Opposite to that, in the middle of aged oaks with rumbling foliage,
was a lake sparkling under the moon’s glimmer. With millions of coruscating stars above, the sky almost
appeared alive.

The girl jumped down and tied her horse to one of the trees. Giving it one last pat, Carla proceeded to
the water and let her feet dangle as she relished the cold whisper of wind on her skin. She also noticed
how the frequent small waves distorted the reflection of the moon and shadows of some trees. Her
lingering gaze morphed the image shown before her. The distorted reality. A distant past.

Life, as Clara knows it, exists for the irony. The world was a beautiful place; it was the people living in it
that were not. The sight in front of her is a proof. This time though, she was not alone. There has to be
around 50 people parading in the woods and taking a dip in the lake, but not one of them seemed to
respect the view. She could spot some made-up tents carelessly tied around trees, plastic bottles
discarded, garbage everywhere, and when she took her wandering gaze deep in the woods, Clara
noticed how unhealthy they looked. A few even seemed cut and burned out. To say the least, the place
was horrid.

Some of the conversations Clara overheard while processing the whole situation were nothing but
insults for each other; her frown deepened. How can they spit words that could possibly wound a
person’s feelings? Those weren’t just insults; those were weapons meant to seep into someone’s
deepest hurt. Words that could hunt you for the rest of your life. Clara couldn’t even begin to
understand why these humans choose to ignore that fact just to feel less miserable about themselves.
Confusing, awful, and wrong. In Clara’s reality, people’s rights were one and the same. Respect is
automatically given to anyone. There were fights, sure, but only when you did someone wrong. Not for
appearances or differences.

“Man do you look so lost! Where are you from, Planet Iceland?” a quiet, honeyed voice teased her from
behind.

“Oh, hello to you too! Actually, I’m also from around here,” using a soft, breathy tone, she answered
back. She’s still a little distracted from the loud noises around and not to mention, bewildered about the
unfamiliar setting. “And Iceland is an actual country.” She added for good measure.

“And do they all look like creepy mermaids like you?” the girl once again fired back, with a sing-song
voice and raised eyebrows.

“It depends on their style, actually. Anyway, I do hope you’ll learn one day,” was all she managed to
answer. This is not her world and clashing against the people here shouldn’t be the priority either.

“You’re not from here, are you?” the girl looking at her suspiciously before leaving her still confused.

“This is a trance, I know. I may be on a trance, still”

Clara recalls this scene from one of the documentations she watched set between the early 2000s and
almost a century ago. Most of the pictures were familiar, she always thought. Only everything looks so
much better now in her reality. Much greener, definitely more picturesque, and from what she gathered
a while ago, far more peaceful than here. Of course, how the changes came to be weren’t always a
secret or was talked about in hushed tones. They have a subject just for this back in school maybe so the
youth don’t make the same mistakes these former residents did and everyone can appreciate the world
for what it is- not for what it could have been. Clara used to think it was amusing how everyone before
thought the future Earth was going to be all modern and technology-centered. Old-Earth’s so polluted,
withered, poor, and sad that the residents actually thought the only way to continue is through a total
discard-and-decorate makeover. She couldn’t blame them, though. Old-earth did look hopeless to her.
But she’s aware that these people still haven’t really realized that the planet Earth has been here ever
since time immemorial- long before anyone of us even existed. If they did, they never paid close
attention or think about it on a different level. It lived before, and will continue to live without anyone’s
guidance and supervision. The only intervention they have to make is to themselves. It took a long time,
but when humans finally got to understand the concept, they were more than willing to change their
ways and let Earth do its own thing without actually getting interfered by man-made pollutants. Each
person had at least one environmental-advocacy they chose to support and participate in, the
government reduced activities that may cause disturbance to the planet’s healing, factories and
businesses were forced to find other ways just to continue their projects and activities without causing
pollution or anything that may harm nature, and animals, with the exception to those who are in the
verge of extinction, were left alone in the wild in hope that they can aid the natural process of Earth’s
restoration. People have been evil and destructive; we’ve come to terms to that already. Still, in the end,
people came around. They failed, they endured, they tried, and after all, they succeeded.

‘Here, you can have my floater. I’m not using it anyway,’ Carla saw a little kid giving out his floater to
another boy with a disability.

‘Yes,’ she thought with a small smile. ‘They have their moments.’

A loud, neighing sound of a horse managed to wake Carla out of her trance. When she looked up at the
sky, she saw the sun slowly peeking out from the clouds. The sound of birds chirping made the early
morning even more vivacious. A tranquil smile graced her face as she recalled her trail of thoughts
earlier. It’s absolutely wonderful how a simple act of kindness and unity defined the reality they have
now. Carla can only hope that their planet will continue to thrive even after a million year. Progress and
growth don’t always have to be all-gray-and-automatic. Humans were only but a tiny speck of dust in
this universe. We’re only the occupants of Earth and have no right to change or predict what it will
evolve into. Those were Carla’s thoughts while travelling back to her father’s cottage. The ‘house’ was
surrounded by pastures where sheep grazed and where she used to run across as a kid while enjoying
the way the sunlight gleamed through trees every day. Carla was excited to show her new hair color to
her grandfather. Everyone she met told her that it brings out the color of her eyes: palest blue. Yes, she
suffers from albinism, and Carla always took pride of being one of the unique individuals living in such an
accepting community.

Earth is as unique as its people. There is no planet B. Or any other way to escape our reality.

With that in mind, she can say that she’s proud to see the fruit of her ancestor’s hard-work and lucky to
have lived today in this place. Truth be told, she has no idea where else.