Terria Firma: Geography

A long time ago in a universe where humans were just one of many races, space was restless and violent. Most beings in other solar systems claimed to posses the strongest and most intelligent forms of life in all the universe. All life seemed to be uneasy in its place in time, and each race wanted its species to be the heavyweight champions of the universe.Wars were many, and sometimes huge explosions could be heard from many galaxies away. There was a huge loss of life.


Life grew tired of mass extinction and decided to settle its differences by holding intellectual and athletic Olympics every four years. Each planet had to pick it's own champion. I, Wamfu, was the wisest in Geography, and was by far the most talented basketball player that ever graced this place. Needless to say, I won two gold medals, but that wasn't enough. Competition for the championship of the universe were two awe inspiring groups of lifeforms; the Martians and the Mercs. The points were tied between these two great nations heading into the deciding event; the 1500 meter dash. The Merc's had a great advantage going into this event because, they lived on a planet that was very hot which required the inhabitants to learn to move quickly to escape from getting severely burned. The Martian's didn't have a chance because, their legs were too short and their heads were too big. They were very smart, but their short ant-like legs couldn't move them any faster than a turtle.


Winged Wonder of Mercury defeated the Bug-Eyed Beauty of Mars in the final race and claimed the championship of the Universe. There was a huge celebration following the Olympiad, and most of the lifeforms were satisfied with the legal, and peaceful outcome of the event. The strongest and most intelligent had won, so it seemed that they should lead us all. But all were not happy with the condition of the universe. The sneaky Slugs from Spartron used several Atomic Weasel Blasters to destroy several universal stars. When these stars exploded, the universe lost all its sense of structure, and planets lost their orbit around their central stars. Stars and spheres moved rapidly in space, and sometimes they would collide into each other. This is now known as the Big Bang theory by scientist. There was a dramatic loss of life. Fragments of rock where flying at great speeds all through space until finally all you could see and smell was dust and gas.


Tejas was hit by a huge meteor somewhere in a place called Oregon. A large dust cloud rose into the atmosphere which in time blocked the sun's warm rays. Everything froze, including me. Luckily, I had planned for such a catastrophy and was wearing a pair of thermal underwear.


After I had unthawed, my first goal was to find wood and food. Living in the Davy Crokett National Forest , located in the Piney woods of Tejas, made wood- finding an easy chore to accomplish. Many of the stores around the area were still stocked with canned goods before the cold weather froze everything that was alive. All this wonderful food was there for the taking.


On one of my treks into the woods, I made a great discovery. There, in a meadow, I saw a group of people setting up camp. To my surprise, I wasn't the only one who owned a great pair of wool underwear. As I talked to these Caddo people, I learned that a large population of my people had escaped on a space shuttle prior to the meteor strike. My people had taken several of their great inventions, seeds, and wildlife forms with them. The Caddos told me that the Tejasians tried to take two of each animal , one male and one female along for the ride. I had a great laugh when I imagined my people chasing these beasts all over the place. Noah 1 had escaped about two hours before the explosion. I can only wonder if my people are alive.


As time has passed, the planet of Tejas has prospered and multiplied. But, life isn't a bowl of cherries. Our scientists have noticed that several comets and asteroids have nearly collided with our planet in the last several months. Such a collision would destroy all of us on this planet. Future collisions are inevitable. Even as I'm writing this letter, there are several volcanic " code red" eruptions taking place on our planet. We must find other planets for colonization. I wish we could find where Noah 1 has landed, because I'm sure that if they survived their planet would be much like ours. Your job is to explore our solar system in search of life, liberty, and colonization.