The Ent Colony – A Space Exploration Short Story

26th Serrill 16584 HE

We land on Yunta tomorrow, and there was a big party on the ship tonight. Mom and dad gave me this journal and pen as a gift. It’s made of paper and it’s like the hand terminal I use for school but instead of changing files I flip the pages. They say it’s an old thing. They say we’ll be using a lot of old things on the colony. But dad told me many explorers kept journals, so I’ll keep one too.

The party is still happening, I can hear it through the air vents of the ship. Mommy took me to bed but she let me feel my sister kick in her tummy before I went to sleep. I’m glad she’ll be a girl like me, we can go on explorations together when she’s older.

Everyone is excited to land tomorrow. I hope that Yunta is more beautiful than the metal walls around me. 

9th Vilchis 16584 HE

There is so much work to do. Mom can’t do much so I help around the cabin. There is a forest near the village and every day more logs are hauled into the town. The equipment we brought cuts them into planks or posts. It’s loud and dangerous and dad says I have to stay away, but in a few years I can use them. Soon everyone in the colony will have their own house. Dad says we’d never have a house of our own if we stayed in the Central System.

When mom takes a nap in the afternoon I sneak away and explore the forest. I imagine I’m a famous explorer like Sacagawea, Armstrong, or Taleeta. So far I’ve found twisting rivers and some lizards under rocks. I describe the lizards to dad and he says they’re common. Biologist found them before we landed.

12th Vilchis 16584 HE

We discovered something amazing today. It’s all anyone is talking about. I think it discovered us but the captain is writing to the Central System about it so I figured I should write about it in my journal. I was about to go exploring when it came lumbering out of the forest. It looked like a tree with bark and leaves growing out of it but its roots moved slowly across the dirt. The people working on the saws were scared. Some grabbed axes, others ran off for guns. It sat down at the edge of town, its roots digging into the ground. It looked like it’d always been there. It’s a little taller than the rest and a little thicker around the trunk. Then it started humming, like the rocket that dropped us off here did when it left. I wanted to be scared, but I’m an explorer so I approached the saws, getting closer than I was supposed to. Which is why I heard the tree speak.

We all heard its voice in our head like a branch rattling in the wind. It said we were hurting its forest. By then the captain of the town had come with guns and explained we needed the wood to live. The humming stopped for a while and my toes felt warm like I was connected to the ground like a tree. The tree hummed again and said it would show us which sick trees and dense areas we could use.

Mom said she didn’t hear the voice at the house. She told me to not go into the woods anymore. Dad said the creature was rare. No biologists knew it existed when they first surveyed this planet. I’ve started thinking of names for it. But maybe I should ask it what its name is. All of mine feel silly and made up.

15th Vilchis 16584 HE

The wooden giant comes to the village every morning and leads the lumberjacks into the woods. While they cut trees the captain and doctor ask the giant questions. The captain has had nightly town meetings reassuring everyone in the town that the giant isn’t dangerous. The captain hasn’t asked the tree what its name is yet. I keep telling mom to tell the captain to ask but she is tired a lot now. She says to dad that she just wants my sister out.

I still explore the forest a little bit. I hum at the trees and ask if they’re awake. None of them have responded yet.

26th Vilchis 16584 HE

My sister was born today. Mom and dad named her Evangeline, it’s a long name that’s hard to spell so I call her Eva. Everyone is excited that she’s the first Yuntandan. I can hear parties outside but the doctor said that people should leave our house alone. A lot of people were here to see my mom. She’s happy my sister was born but I can tell she isn’t happy with people coming over. She gives them the same look she gives me when I am in the kitchen while she’s cooking.

The town meetings are less often but when we have them many people complain about not having enough fuel for the winter. We have heat reserves from the ship but we were mostly counting on the wood to warm us. I remember a story of travelers on the Old World where they had a hard first winter but the native inhabitants helped them. I hope the wood giant helps us. But the lumberjacks say they’re getting less and less wood from the forest every week.

3rd Taleeta 16584 HE

Today is our first cold day on Yunta. Boy is it a chilly one. That’s what dad keeps saying. It was nice yesterday I was running around barefoot in the grass but now I’m under the blankets writing in the living room. Mom has had me watching the fire all day, adding logs when it gets low. The flames are neat to watch, like dancers at Cinderella’s ball. My room is too cold so we’re all in one room. Eva keeps crying. She’s probably keeping the whole village up.

Dad just said it might snow tomorrow. I’ve never seen snow. Maybe I can play in it or study it. I’ll take notes here if it’s interesting.

4th Taleeta 16584 HE

Snow sucks. Mom says not to use that word but the lumberjacks use it and I think it sounds right. Dad found me a warm jacket and boots and pants in the ship’s supplies. They’re all a bit big but he says I’ll grow into them and the lumberjacks are complaining all their warm weather gear is too small. But the snow gets everything wet when it touches stuff and if I press it into a ball like I’m supposed to it just crushes under my hands. The lumberjacks are having a hard time finding the wood giant. Maybe he hibernates for the winter. So they started cutting down as many trees as they can but it’s harder than shitting in zero g. That’s another thing they say. I don’t think I should say it around mom and dad though.

15th Taleeta 16584 HE

Based on the research survey of this planet the winter is supposed to stay cold until Mandlestadt. It will probably keep snowing too. Everyone is always tired and cold and there are not many parties.

20th Taleeta 16584 HE

The wood giant came today and told the lumberjacks that they were taking too much wood from the forest and they must stop. Dad told me this. I was stuck inside all day sewing blankets into jackets with mom so that the lumberjacks will be warmer. I don’t like sewing, it’s boring and you miss out on cool stuff like the wood giant showing up.

11th Vogelfonte 16584 HE

There is a big blizzard outside. The whole town is in the city hall and we have a big fire in the fireplace but I’m still cold. My teeth keep hitting together and it’s annoying. Eva is crying. I want to go home, to the metal ship, and not have to deal with snow or soot or sewing. I want to be able to sleep.

Centauri 16584 HE

There were no holiday celebrations even though it’s Centauri. Everyone is sleeping in the town hall now. We moved beds in and added another fireplace. Mom, Eva, and I are near the old fireplace but it’s still cold. The lumberjacks can’t get more wood. The wood giant is outside our town and he gives people headaches who try to sneak into the forest. People talk about killing the wood giant. The captain says we’re not allowed to since it’s native to the planet.

3rd Middleton 16584 HE

I woke up to my mom crying in the middle of night. I’m very sad. I want to go back to the starship. I’d still have a sister if we lived on a starship.

7th Middleton 16584 HE

The ground is too cold to bury anyone. The captain is doing something to preserve them, I don’t think I want to know what that means because the captain told my dad quietly. Mom is also quiet now.

The lumberjacks talk about sneaking past the wood giant but they’re too slow moving wood back. We’ve had to start taking down houses and burning them. No one has their own house anyway. 

4th Mandlestadt 16584 HE

I haven’t written in a while because it is sad and boring around the village. There’s lots of work to do and I go to bed tired. I sleep on the same bed as my mom and dad to stay warm. Lots of families do this now. But we won’t have to do it much longer. It is warm today and the snow is melting. I want to go exploring soon. I think I can sneak past the wood giant.

Dad and some other lumberjacks say I might be big enough to work with the saws this year. Mom says I’m still too young but the lumberjacks need help. And I’m tired of sewing all winter.

7th Mandlestadt 16584 HE

The wood giant led us to some trees that didn’t wake up from the winter today. I got to go with them, dad came too. I tried to help where I could but everything is too big for me. I stayed out of the way and sat near the wood giant. I asked him lots of questions about the forest and its plants and animals. I also got to ask what his name was. He didn’t say anything I understood but my head filled with the sounds of lizards chirping and water flowing over rocks. I’m glad I know his name but I don’t think anyone will be able to pronounce it. So I call him Kashoo because it sounds like a lizard chirping and river water.

24th Mandlestadt 16584 HE

I talk with Kashoo every day we go into the woods. I don’t have much to do. I tie up branches and charge the saw’s batteries with solar panels but it doesn’t take me much time. I told Kashoo the story about my mother and Eva. Kashoo wants to be called she and her now because she has a lot in common with my mom’s story. I tell Kashoo that if we had more wood then I’d still have a sister. That’s what everyone in the town says about the people that are buried in our graveyard. They say colonies shouldn’t have graveyards this early and we wouldn’t if Kashoo had let us cut down trees. I didn’t tell Kashoo all this, just the bit about Eva. Kashoo didn’t hum to me the rest of the day. Maybe she’s thinking. I hope she’s not sad like my mom now.

27th Mandlestadt 16584 HE

Kashoo talked to me again today. She said I was the only person who loved the forest like her. I said I didn’t think that was true but she says the lumberjacks just treat the forest like it’s a commodity, but I am curious and ask questions about how it works. She asks me if I can do something to stop them. I told her I’m not important enough to do that.

I talked to dad about it. I feel like a famous explorer who discovered something important but he told me not to talk to Kashoo anymore. Only the captain is allowed to.

Elder’s Day 16584 HE

The captain and Kashoo fight a lot now. I hear about it in the town hall where we still sleep. We haven’t gotten enough wood to rebuild our houses and we’re working to store up fuel. People are talking about getting rid of Kashoo, like she’s just another tree in the forest. I asked mom if they’re going to do this, I was crying and she patted my back. Eventually dad explained that it’s not allowed because the Central System exists to protect sapient life. If the lumberjacks hurt Kashoo they’d be in a lot of trouble. Some say that they’ll be in trouble next winter if they don’t do it. The captain has requested researchers and extra funding that he can spend on fuel and equipment. I hope the researchers can figure out how to balance Kashoo’s needs and the needs of the village.

13th Stein 16584 HE

I think we should leave. I snuck off and spoke to Kashoo this afternoon and told her about the researchers. That made her scared, and I’m sorry I told her but I just wanted to help. I didn’t tell her about what the lumberjacks wanted to do. But they don’t hide their feelings. I think she can tell what they want while they work.

I asked dad why we couldn’t just leave and he said there weren’t many planets that humans could live on. Yunta is special like that and if the human race is going to survive we need planets like this. I asked if Kashoo would be able to survive here too. He said the researchers would figure something out.

15th Stein 16584 HE

The captain announced that the researcher would be here in two weeks. We just got our first message from them and the captain is sending them his notes. I asked dad if I should send them mine and he thought the captain would be able to do it without my help. I’ve started typing things up on my old terminal anyway.

4th Acrecia 16584 HE

I snuck off and told Kashoo that the researchers were coming tomorrow. She was soaking her roots in a river while lizards crawled between them. She told me that I should do what I can to protect the forest. I said I wasn’t that important. I wasn’t a big tree like her. But she told me that there were little bugs and fungus that broke down dead trees into dirt and that’s an important part of taking care of the forest.

I got back later than usual. There was a big fight between the captain and the lumberjacks outside the town hall. Mom was glad I was home and she made me eat dinner and go to sleep early “before anything crazy happened”, those were the words she used. But crazy things always happen around here.

5th Acrecia 16584 HE

The researchers got here today. I couldn’t talk to them because they were busy with the captain. I sent them my write up on Kashoo. Mom helped me with some of the spelling and it may not be perfect but it should show them I know a lot about her.

7th Acrecia 16584 HE

The researcher can’t find Kashoo. She hasn’t been to the village since I last saw her. The lumberjacks are cutting as many trees down as they can. If Kashoo comes back she will be very angry. But I don’t think she’ll be back. I hope she found a far away forest. Maybe one we can’t find, hidden away like Neverland.