Planet XEE

The blue marble stone shone upon Ziddan’s eyes. It was the blue dot he was flying towards. The closer he came to Earth, the clearer the view of the atmosphere appeared. His wings became smaller, diminishing as he approached the planet.

‘So here is the cure for my young boy,’ he whispered to himself as he arrived on Planet Earth. He settled on a tree like a bird, and his wings vanished from his shoulders as he landed. He climbed down and started walking through a vast jungle. The sun was about to shine on Earth. The darkness vanished soon after the sun appeared on the horizon. He listened to the birds singing love songs. He observed the red roses blooming, the animals running and walking through the jungle. He saw the branches of the trees dancing in the breeze. In the very next moment, as the birds, animals, trees and plants noticed his presence in the jungle, he heard them shouting.

‘Be aware, all! A Gullu just entered our territory. He is alone but he could be followed by as many as thousands.’

A warning was issued to the entire life of the jungle as he was noticed by its inhabitants. Because of his truly human appearance, they considered him a man. To them, man was a killer, a destroyer, a selfish being who only ever cared for himself. On the basis of their previous experiences, they were scared of humans, because of their habit of destroying things. The plants, trees and animals all called humans ‘destroyer’ and ‘Gullu.’ For them, human beings were just the creatures who destroyed their atmosphere, their young ones and themselves for their own greedy gains… to establish new cities or industrial estates; destroying jungle after jungle; killing animals for food and fun; hunting the beautiful birds who flew and breathed in the free and fresh air – not only taking their lives for their own needs but also keeping them behind bars for pleasure.

The sparrows, pigeons, crows and other birds left their nests, keeping an eye on him, noticing his every movement in the jungle, trying to guess why he was there, and then flying back to their nests and circling their vulnerable young ones who were lying there, considering their lives to be at risk.

‘Just stop there!’ a dog warned him from a safe distance.

‘Please don’t cut me down! I provide shade, fruit, fresh air and shelter to you and your young ones.’ A tree waved its branches and made a humble request for life to him.

Another tree implored him, ‘Don’t knock me down, please! Don’t cut my branches into pieces as I hold little homes and shelters for my birds and their young ones.’

‘If you do decide that nothing can stop you from destroying us, could you just wait until my young birds learn to fly and move away from me to live their own lives?’ another tree begged.

Ziddan was shocked and surprised. He looked around and saw animals running away from him and scared birds circling him at a safe distance. He remained silent and continued his walk through the jungle. Moving forward, he gazed upon the branches of a red rose bush laden with beautiful, blooming flowers, delivering their fragrance into the atmosphere.

‘Look at my soft, beautiful petals, my stunning flowers,’ she urged. ‘It is I who enrich your homes and senses with heavenly and everlasting fragrance. I decorate your offices; I make you feel good… please don’t cut us apart; please don’t let us die…’

At last he stopped walking and looked all around again. ‘What happened to you all?’ he asked. ‘Don’t be afraid, for I’m not going to harm you! Don’t be scared and don’t walk away from me; I am not your enemy, I am rather your well-wisher!’

There was a heavy silence for a while. Birds kept their wings open in mid-air, flowers and trees forgot to wave, the dog stopped barking and left his jaw wide open and a little monkey fell down from the branch of a tree near Ziddan’s feet. After a while the little monkey came closer to him and with courage, opened his mouth in surprise and said, ‘How did you understand us? Where did you learn our language, and how did you speak to us? Was that really you… idiot?’

‘Yes, it was me.’

Ziddan patted the little monkey’s head gently. But the little monkey, along with all the other animals, birds, trees and plants, was still unsure and shrank from his touch.

A small goat came forward. She seemed more surprised than afraid and asked, ‘How is that even possible? None of the members of your society have ever understood us in this way.’

Ziddan smiled at them, bowed down to the goat and said, ‘I am Ziddan. I come from the Planet Xee for a purpose. I can understand and speak the language of every single object on Earth and I won’t harm you in any way.’

A wave of joy, amusement, happiness and satisfaction went through the jungle.

‘He’s Ziddan!’

A pigeon took his words and flew around the jungle to spread the news and before he had even finished his sentence, a crow sang, ‘And he came from Planet Xee.’

‘He’s our guest,’ the dog barked loudly and proudly.

The little monkey stood upright, locked his eyes onto Ziddan’s and said suspiciously, ‘But how can we trust you? You look exactly like them – our enemies, walking on two long legs with those two small, thin legs in the air as weapons of destruction.’

The tall tree added, ‘Yes, with those two thin legs they cut us down, and kill the birds and animals. Look at us… we were massively present and could be found everywhere around the planet, breathing the fresh air, enjoying the everlasting sweet melodies of the birds singing love songs for us, providing them with shelters and homes. But he, the Gullu, with his companions, cut us down to the ground. Gullu has wreaked destruction over and over again for years and years.’

A sparrow flew around Ziddan, and cried as it circled his head, ‘They destroyed our shelters; our homes.’

‘I wish to cut their two small, nasty, killer legs and force them to walk on four legs again, as they used to. They were less harmful like that,’ said the dog.

Ziddan remained silent and paid attention to what they said. After a while he appeared to make a decision that would benefit all who belonged to the jungle. A ray of green light shone from his forehead.

‘From this day forward, no one will harm you again,’ he said. ‘I create Zarnast, the horse, your guard and my representative for your protection.’

Between his two normal eyes, a third, red eye appeared, from which rays of coloured lights flashed and then, suddenly, a galloping white horse pulled up next to them. The birds, animals and trees were so shocked to see the newly created horse, their protector, that they were unable to utter a single word.

The small goat just started crying. Ziddan again bowed down to her and asked the reason for her sorrow.

With tears glistening in her eyes, she said, ‘I wish my mother were alive to see the miracle today. I am so alone.’

‘What happened to your mother?’ he asked.

The small goat sobbed louder as she remembered how her mother was killed by a group of hunters in the jungle, just days before. She said that they were enjoying a meal of fresh, green grass in the jungle; they went to the pool to drink and that was when the people suddenly appeared next to them. The goat’s mother was caught and knocked down by those Gullu but she, the little goat, somehow managed to escape and hid in the bushes from where she witnessed the horrible scene.

‘They killed my mother with no mercy – divided her into pieces, lit a fire and put her on it. When her body parts had cooked in the fire, they ate her up, making noises all the time. They appeared to be enjoying their feast; they were dancing in the rain. Later in the evening, when they had left, I went to the spot and collected the remains of my mother’s body and buried them here. I always sit here now and spend my time missing my kind and loving mother, remembering the golden time we spent together.’

The little goat then rushed to the place, stopped at a certain point and began digging the ground, faster and faster. A few moments later, she slowed down again so as not to harm her mother’s remains. Finally she found them. Holding some bones in her mouth and with tears in her eyes, she said sorrowfully, ‘That’s all that is left behind,’ and she started crying again.

Ziddan smiled at her, another burst of colourful rays appeared and moments later, a grown goat was standing there, waving her tail. The mother was alive. The small goat now cried with joy and nuzzled at her mother.

Once again, the birds, animals, and trees were astonished and speechless.

‘Will you welcome your new guest?’ Ziddan asked them.

‘We warmly welcome you and our guard, Zarnast,’ all the animals, birds, trees and flowers joyfully shouted at once.

‘We would like to present you with the best of our fruit,’ said the big tree.

The bush of red roses waved in the air and added, ‘Here is my best fragrance for our honourable guest and protector.’

‘What a wonderful fragrance!’ Ziddan thanked all of them, moved forward and said, ‘Goodbye now.’

‘We thank you very much and wish you all the best,’ they all said at once.

The birds sang for him, the trees cheered and the little monkey followed him and stopped at a distance, saying, ‘Goodbye.’

Continuing through the jungle, Ziddan reached a river. He walked slowly along the bank and then stopped and looked into the deep water. But it didn’t look like water; it was a deep, grey liquid that flowed slowly and ponderously carrying its burden of litter; plastic bags, dead animals and birds. Ziddan could not think what type of liquid it could be.

‘Is it water?’ he whispered to himself. ‘So dirty, spoiled and dark? No, it’s not water.’

He was about to bend down to the water to touch it with his fingers when he heard a warning from within the river.

‘Stay away. Don’t drink me; I am poisoned.’

It was the water itself.

‘And you are responsible for that misery; you killed more than half of my inhabitants. You spoiled me – fouled me, despite my services to your species.’

Ziddan smiled at the surface of the water; a wave came forward, so close to him that it touched his feet. Another wave followed and rose up with an angry roar.

‘And when I take my revenge,’ the water continued, ‘in some places I become a tsunami and you find no place to escape; no one to help. In other places I forget to flow and I let you die of thirst in droughts.’

After a pause, the angry sound came again…‘Go back and tell your fellows: stop spoiling me, stop killing my creatures, otherwise…’

A wave of water again rose up, this time as high as Ziddan’s forehead.

But Ziddan smiled at the river, waved his hand and said, ‘I am new to this planet. I only arrived here today, but I promise to advise humans to act responsibly towards you and your loved ones.’

The river remained silent. A fish rose up to the surface of the water and said, ‘Forget us, as you won’t be able to save us. Think about yourself: go back to your homeland, wherever it is you came from.’

‘Yes,’ another fish agreed. ‘Save your own life.’

The water spoke again. ‘Look at my colour – so dark and ugly. I used to be so clear that I was as reflective as a mirror. You had better save your life and go back. Otherwise, be ready for the consequences. I have witnessed horrible bloodshed so many times during my lifespan; I have been turned crimson, filled with the blood of their own fellow men.’

‘I am beyond their reach,’ Ziddan replied calmly. ‘I will advise them to be kind to you, too.’

‘If so, you are indeed a great fellow,’ said the river. ‘Let me present you with the best of my drink. It was poured into my heart from the heavens and I have saved it drop by drop, year upon year.’

A group of golden fish appeared on the surface of the river, holding a jar made of diamonds in their shiny fins, which they presented to Ziddan Zai.

‘Please have it.’

He accepted the water and drank it. ‘It is somewhat similar to the drink of my homeland.’ He thanked them and then left.