Wooden Men

The Wooden Men On Another planet, many light years away, lived a race of people made of wood or straw. The hardwood people made up the upper class, the softwood people made up the middle class and the straw people made up the lower class. There were no men or women here. Everyone was of the same sex. But for clarity we will refer to them as men. The reproduced themselves by taking a splinter, or straw, from their body and planting it in the ground. On this planet, "Chip off the old block" had a literal meaning. One day the planet was invaded by evil aliens. These creatures had never seen a planet like this before. All intelligent lifeforms they had encountered were human, like them. The evil aliens cared nothing about other life forms that they discovered on other worlds. All they thought about was themselves and how they could use new intelligent lifeforms. But not as slaves; they had robots to do most of the work for them. No, they would use 'other people' for 'other things'. For example; on the 'Pig World' lived the 'Pig People'. The evil aliens used them for: food, clothing and footballs. On the 'Cow World' lived the 'Cow People'. They were used for food, clothing and leather furniture. The wood and straw people knew nothing about the evil aliens and foolishly trusted them. It wasn't long before they found out the real intentions of their new 'friends'. The Hardwood people were killed and used to make hardwood floors, baseball bats, police billy clubs and so forth. The Softwood people were killed to make picture frames, plywood, wooden boxes and so forth. The Straw people were used to feed animals like horses and donkeys. Before the arrival of the evil aliens the wood and straw people started up their own space program. Hardwood men were too heavy for space travel. Even in weightlessness, he could 'bang' into objects in the space craft and damage them. The Strawmen were the opposite, they were too light. He could be damaged if he 'banged' into something. The Softwood men were just right for space travel and it was decided that, at first, all astronauts would be softwood men. But this time, this last trip would be different. The remaining wood and straw men thought of their species' survival. The three astronauts would be: a hardwood man, a softwood man and a strawman. They would just have to take their chances. They made their escape and headed to the closest star. They would make it in a few months. They made sure to bring enough water and extra batteries for their sun lamps. Unknown to them, the planet they were headed for was inhabited by Fire People; and Fire People feed on wood and straw

The Musica Plant

The Musica plant is an exo-plant from the planet Muse. It looks like a large aleo plant but it has tiny holes in it. When the wind blows on it, it hits the high notes. Sometimes if the wind is strong enough, it can break glass. The plant was named after a group of women warriors, the Musica. Legend has it that a big country wanted to take over a small country. As for weapons, the invading army had guns and glass bullets. The leaders of the small country didn't know what to do. They knew that the invasion was going to happen and they knew that they couldn't win. In this country only men were soldiers. But that didn't stop them from coming up with the idea of creating several platoons of female fighters. The women soldiers were trained to sing in the high notes, high enough to break glass (something men couldn't do). When the invading army came, the men hid while the women warriors greeted the enemy. The invading troops, all carrying their weapons, may have been confused, but they weren't afraid or suspicious. Suddenly, the ladies gave out a collective "Aaahhh......" Glass guns and glass bullets exploded everywhere. Enemy combatants screamed as sharp glass cut into their hands and faces. Some fell but all were bloodied as the Musica woman, and their men, rushed, not to aid them but to subdue them. A few of the females were slightly injured by the flying schrapnel. But they didn't seem to mind; it was a small price to pay for their freedom.

Comets

One alien planet sees comets as a sort of scapegoat. In ancient times these aliens would write down all their problems, worries and so forth on animal skin or tree bark and burn them in a communal fire. It is believed that all these bad things would rise up into the sky, with the smoke, to be taken away by the comet. On another world they see one visiting comet as a sign from God. When God created their planet, the aliens didn't hear from him for a long time and thought that they were forgotten. This idea was reinforced when they experienced bad weather, crop failure and famine. Satan appeared and promised them a better life. The aliens almost fell for his lies until God showed up and sent the devil packing. To prove to them that they were not forgotten, God promised to send a sign; and that sign was a comet. On another planet the ancient aliens believed that comets came from Heaven. When a comet appeared in the sky, it was there to pick up the souls of the departed ones. These aliens believed that the souls of their loved ones never left their world until a comet appeared in the sky to take them away. People would wave good bye to the comet when it was seen leaving their solar system.

A Rare Genetic Defect.

"His eyes don't darken anymore," said the boy's mother to the eye doctor. On this planet, that traveled around two stars, everyone had eyes that darken over when the two suns appeared in the sky at the same time. The darkness that clouded the eyes protected them from too much sunlight. When the second star left the sky, the eyes would lighten again and go back to their normal eye color. This was true, not only for all humans on the planet, but for all other animals as well: mammals, birds, reptiles and so forth. "He'l have to wear these dark glasses when the two suns are in the sky," said the eye-doctor as he handed the pair to the boy's mother. "Isn't there something else that can be done," asked the boy's mother. "An operation perhaps." "No, your son has a rare genetic defect. The only thing you can do is to move to another solar system in the galaxy. Live on a planet where there is one sun. A planet like Earth."