It was just a bracelet. A shiny glittering bauble that I thought was fantastic so I bought it. An impulse buy from a downtown shop. How was a supposed to know that it was also an interstellar transport device.
One minute I'm putting the finishing touches on my fantastic club outfit by fastening my new bracelet on my wrist, the next I am sitting in the middle of a strange room, surrounded by short purple creatures. Oddly human-like, but not. They have the same structure: torso, arms, legs, head. That's where the comparison ends though. I don't have much time to observe the creatures though, they are all pointing at my bracelet, speaking some foreign language and surreptitiously glancing at me. I can't help but be a little alarmed. This is not what I planned for my evening. While logically I know I should be more worried, I'm not. All those paranormal and alien books I've devoured all my life have been doing something positive. I take another look around the room. It's sparsely furnished with mostly dark colored furnishings. Strangely similar to what we have back at home.
"Any chance I can go back home?" I ask the closest alien. He (she?) asks me. Its hard to distinguish the male from the females of these creatures. The creature just stares at me and I wonder if it even understands me when suddenly get an answer IN MY MY HEAD!
"We will return you when we give you our instructions."
"Um. Okay." I stammer back. "Not sure what kind of instructions you are talking about."
"Instructions on how you can save your planet," the voice practically screams into my head.
All I can do is stand there. Save our planet? What the actual heck does that mean? How can I possibly be expected to handle this? The good thing is that the purple things don't seem that dangerous. I tower over them in my heels and though they outnumber me, I could easily outrun them if I kicked the shoes off.
"We need you to deliver a message to your leaders. Your world is coming to an end. If you don't change your way of thinking, your way of living, your planet is going to die in 6 years. Our people have done all we can to save it, but we can help no longer."
I'm still staring, until I realize the voice stopped. My thoughts are racing. Six years until what, until they blow up the planet?
"No." the voice is softer now, "until you destroy yourselves." comes the soft reply.
"How can we stop it?"
"Clean your waters. Recycle. Do all the things that you have been taught all your lives. Small actions by each person on your planet will add up to bigger ripples and then waves and eventually a tidal wave of change. We will help you as long as you all work with us. If you don't, we will leave you to destroy this planet alone."
I nod in agreement. Thinking of all the times I have committed sins against our planet. All the recyclables I have tossed in the trash because it was inconvenient to recycle it. Too many plastic straws used because it was inconvenient to carry the stainless one. Now our planet was facing a death sentence because of my actions.
"Okay, I can pass on the message, but I'm just one person, how can I spread it to the rest of the world?" I ask quietly, the worry in my voice.
"You may be one person, but we have determined your voice will change the world, you just have to use it."
"but how" I begin but I'm already back in my room, staring at my reflection in the mirror. Use my voice. I'm sure they didn't mean that literally because I am no public speaker. I am really good at social media though.... I sit down at my desk and pull out my laptop, I begin to type
It was just a bracelet. How was a supposed to know that it was also an interstellar transport device....
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