Went up on flames. Eighteen thousand (eighteen thousand!) cows inside one dwelling. Dead in hours. (Cows aren’t fire resistant. Flames, though, were worth witnessing. Remember wildfires that turned skies beautiful crimson like hemoglobinrich blood?) Another tragedy for animal kingdom. (Us-we remember when albatrosses were clubbed to death. Pretty feathers danced on air for days after that. And remember piles of bison bones and skulls fiveperson high? And oceans rich with delicious bloodsmell off right whales and sharks? Beautiful places with harmonious deathsongs and lingering afterimages. Worth visiting.) In landmass us-we were visiting, debates raged on, no, not about perished cows, but about famouspersons abusing power (again). Us-we thought there was time. Lots off it.

Spring came early, right after cow tragedy. Bees didn’t show up. (Was it protest or mourning?) Announcement papers and vision boxes that tell truths and untruths paid little attention. Importanter things were happening on the planet. Earthquakes, mass shootings and vision box shows. (Personbody is vulnerable to tectonic shifts, fast projectiles and storytelling.)

Ponds didn’t fill with ribbits. May be frogs joined bees on silent protest. (Is silence effectiver than ribbits?) Swarms off mosquitoes mushroomed out off ribbitless waters. Outsidedwellerperson swore scourge off mosquitoes killed their progeny. Noperson believed them. (What are survival advantages off outsidedwellers? Their numbers increase steadily.)

Governments awarded new research grants investigating not-so-new bee problem. Sciencepersons waded kneedeep in dead bees, trying measuring protest. (Is death effectiver than silence?)

Scourges got bigger. (Remember millions off bats roasted alive on caves to eliminate unpleasant odors off guano? Bats ate their weight in mosquitoes each night. Can anyperson else?) Some scourges got so large, they blocked sun. (Ah, passenger pigeons were skydarkening clouds, remember? They were careless, yet stingy with their eggs, which tasted great.) More grants were awarded investigating benefits off scourgeshade. Sciencepersons proved that individual insects were getting larger, not just scourges. Repellent sales soared, made billionaires off stockholders. (How can anyperson hold something that doesn’t exist?) Another progeny was sucked dry, this time by Hollywood Scourge. Last thing announcementperson on vision box did before they were attacked was to frown at scourge hanging above megadwellings. Their escape headinjury made bloodgurgling sounds. That they’d been wearing wig their entire career was on vision boxes for weeks. (What makes special hat worn on head such compelling subject matter?)

Birds didn’t come back, either. Maybe they’d had enough. Or may be whales had warned them. Birdloverpersons formed action groups shortly before they, too, succumbed to scourges. Reports off giant insects that ate plastic and metal (and cows?) came from faraway. Sciencepersons with thermal cameras and data simulations went investigating. Maybe these new insects could eat away permanent trash problem. Sciencepersons were never heard from again.

Just a few months after eighteen thousand cows burned alive, governments declared state off emergency. One quarrelsome leaderperson started new war and threatened all landmasses with leaky weapons. That’s when us-we decided leaving, finding another spot. May be one not so overrun by humanoids. They ruin every intergalactic vacation.

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Blue Guldal is a queer, first-generation Turkish American writer, a scientist, and an editor in nonprofit healthcare. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her partner of twenty years. She’s currently working on her first novel.