The planet Eleganz, named by expedition leader Captain Krause, is a beautiful striated world covered with colorful plant life similar to corals and lichens that grow in fantastic colonies at the base of the strange thin curved ridges that soar vertically thousands of meters high.
The atmosphere is mostly Earth normal, if not a little oxygen-rich, and somewhat lighter in gravity. Most of the planet’s water is below ground, the weather so far has been mild, even the storms, which have been described as “soft tornadoes”.
We now know it is good fortune to run across a Mook, the largest inhabitant of this planet, about the size of a small village, and they’re fascinated with all humans much like Earth’s whales and dolphins are.
The first encounter with a Mook was by a crew member who’d fallen into a very deep crevasse, injured, and the Mook had gently pulled him to safety, then proceeded to softly “pat” our survivor on the head and shoulders while sending out a low frequency sonar-type signal, which served as an emergency beacon for rescue. Later our crew member described “fear was quickly replaced by a feeling of well being and comfort, and being petted by such a giant creature resembled being tapped lightly with a balloon animal”.
Since then we have learned Mooks munch on the lichens, float in the sunlight doing a kind of photosynthesis, and they are always attracted to human activities. Also, if you give one a marshmallow, it’ll follow you around like a puppy. We like Mooks, they like us.
Near the end of the day, our local Mook friend floats off to bed, pushing and steering with his surprisingly delicate and articulate toes. Each Mook we meet is a different size, shape and color, but they all behave the same, benevolent, curious, and strangely intelligent in a very large, slow way. There is no indication they understand our language, but there have been no incidents of “misinterpretation of intent”. In other words, Mooks never get in the way, or interfere, and they generate a feeling of well being and amusement.
Click this LINK to see the origins of this story.
raymondoantonio
I LOVE YOUR WORLD SYD!! BRAVO!!
Syd Baker:
I thank you, Raymondo, the Mooks personalities emerged just as I was typing, the more I thought about them the more I liked them.
retepk
You must have further plans these wonderful worlds Syd.
Cheers mate.
Syd Baker:
The stories are an unexpected bonus, I go back several projects and can see the increasingly detailed descriptions, probably fueled by THIS story.Thanks Peter!
Bunny Clarke
I really like the journal style of these Syd. Excellent work. :o)
Syd Baker:
Thank you Bunny, Owlspook suggested this, I’d never have thought it would work so well!
Keith Reesor
Extraordinary work Syd!
Syd Baker:
Thank you Keith, looks like these work better on a book form too.
Cubixel
Nice work!
Syd Baker:
It was Owlspook who recognized the advantage of combining the descriptions and pictures in journal form, I can’t argue!
Cubixel
Cool. I might join in when I get time to sit at RedBubble for a while to write something up. Very glad to see you have found your creative spark. It’s one of those genuine important things in the world. Cheers,.
Syd Baker:
Thanks Brook, I was going for the opposite of the old standby “expendable crewman” like on old Star Treks, also promoting “big weird monsters don’t always eat you” thing. The idea for the helpful creatures on planet Gloss came from driving in murderous traffic, wondering why we can’t all just get along. So I decided to “make it so”. What’s funny is how the words started to flow after leaving a corporate career at Hallmark cards that was literally killing me. Not a good time to be unemployed, but creativity has tripled, gotta be a sign of something good! I’ll be interested to see shat you come up with, see ya!