Heart

I had a dream, and decided to write it down. Here I tell the story of a small, poor family making their way through the unforgiving landscape of Mars, trying to eke out a meagre living how they can.

There was a small family of pioneers, making their way through the unforgiving harshness of Mars. There was a man named Jobh, his younger brother Sparrow, and his young son Ami. They were a very close-knit family, and they all loved each other a lot. Ami was playful and fun-loving, and Sparrow loved playing with him and making him smile. Jobh was the responsible one, making sure the family had what they needed and everyone was safe.

It was a harsh life, living in the wastelands of Mars. There was no water. Just the water that you could buy from the supply station. There was no food. Just the food you could buy from the supply station. And everything from the supply station cost an immense amount of money. More money than what made sense.

The family made their money by sifting through the many, many coarse sands that covered the landscape and straining out the minerals. Precious minerals that were important for the manufacture of many technologies. They sifted out many pounds of minerals a day, but they could not sell them for much, and so they were still poor.

They lived in a small tent with two rooms. The rooms were just big enough for them to sleep in. They slept right beside each other, sharing each other's presence and giving each other comfort. They had barely any items, but they were content as a family.

They were constantly on the move, and had a cart which they packed their stuff onto so they could lug it behind them. They walked everywhere, and their footsteps were all over the Martian terrain, hidden by the strong winds. They had to always be on the move, for they had to find stretches of sand that had not had their minerals stripped yet, so that they could continue making a living.

Did they hate what they were doing to the planet? Yes. But they did not have a choice, they had to make their living somehow, and this was the least terrible option for them.

One day they were out of supplies. And so Sparrow went down to the supply station, which was very far away. The inside of the supply station was very busy, and very grand, with people flying everywhere and screens and holograms wherever you turned, displaying many products. Sparrow felt really small and measly compared to it all.

He was sitting on a concrete bench waiting for his order to come through when he was approached by a lady with glossy black hair, wearing pretty clothes that were bright and new. She asked him if he wanted to donate his heart for a hundred thousand dollars.

At this, his eyes went wide. That was enough for his family to live for many years. But donate his heart? That would mean he died. His family wasn't desperate enough to warrant that. They had enough food, enough water. Enough medicine and other supplies. If just barely. He didn't need to sacrifice himself.

And so he said no, and the lady told him that if he ever changed his mind, he could call the number on her card, which she gave to him. Sparrow told her that he wouldn't change his mind, and she would not hear from him. But still, he kept the card. Just in case. He did not show it to anyone, hiding it in his pocket.

He went back to his family with the supplies for the month, and did not tell them about the encounter he had. Ami was very happy to see him, and the two of them played together in the red sands, under the orange sky. Ami was always a bit sad when Sparrow or Jobh left to get supplies without bringing him along. But he was always happy when they got back. The two of them played until it was time to go to sleep.

The next few months passed without much fanfare. The family worked in the sands, they played on the sands, they spent late evenings talking in their tents. It was hard, the work. But the family was together and they had what they needed, and that was enough.

But then one night disaster struck. There was a large dust storm that threw coarse, hard, sharp dust everywhere. The dust was biting, it was piercing, it was cutting. The wind sent it over the lands in sheet after sheet after sheet after sheet, slamming it into everything that was in its way. The tent, thankfully, was not destroyed. But the cart full of supplies was ruined.

The family woke up and they saw the disaster that had struck. They had dread plunge into their very bones, for they did not know how they would survive. They didn't have enough money to go buy new supplies, and they wouldn't have enough money for a while yet. They could try getting a job at the factories but that would take months. And their food was ruined. Their water was ruined. It was all tainted with deadly poison from the Martian dust. They knew that they would starve before they could get any new supplies. They did not know what to do.

Sparrow told the rest of his family that he would go to the supply station to check if there was anything on sale. But what he did not say was his real reason for going. They bid him goodbye, and he made sure to hug them both extra tight, and for extra long, for this was most likely the last time he would get to hug them, not that they knew it.

Sparrow went to the supply station and at first he really did check if anything was on sale. Some things were, but they were still too expensive for the family to buy right now. And so he steeled himself and went to the phones on one wall of the lounge. There, he took out his card, and dialled the number. He told himself again and again that he was doing this so his family wouldn't starve.

The lady from before picked up, and she asked him if he changed his mind. He replied that yes, yes he did. And so she came to pick him up, and took him to a strange white hospital where everything was so bright and terrifying. He was put on a surgical table, and told to breathe in a gas. The last thing he saw was surgeons hovering over him.

Jobh was very worried. He had gotten a cheque for one hundred thousand dollars, more money than he had ever seen in one place in his life, but he had not seen his brother in a week. He was terrified that Sparrow had done something terrible to get that money.

But he did not let his fear show when he talked to Ami. The boy asked again and again where his uncle was, and why he was taking so long to come back. The child was frustrated, and he missed his uncle, and he wanted to see his uncle again, to talk to him and play with him and spend time with him.

Of course, Jobh didn't know what had happened to Sparrow, or when he would be back. So he told the truth to Ami, that his uncle was away and he didn't know when he would return. Ami was frustrated and exasperated with that answer, and Jobh was too.

One night, the father had a dream. He dreamed that he was in a strange room, kind of like a hospital, and there was a man lying on a surgical table. He was lying face down so his face could not be seen. When Jobh turned him over, he saw that the man was his brother, and he had blood all over his shirt. Sparrow got up, and the two of them walked outside the hospital to the ever-shifting sands of Mars.

There, Sparrow told Jobh about what happened, about how he had given up his heart and his life in order to provide for his family. He asked Jobh to not tell Ami that he was dead. And he asked him to help Ami write letters to him so that the two of them could stay in touch. Jobh agreed, though he was absolutely heartbroken that his little brother had died. He talked to Sparrow long throughout the night and bid him goodbye when the morning came.

Jobh kept his word. He did not tell Ami that Sparrow was dead, but rather told him that he was away, and would be away for a while. He helped the child write letters to his uncle, and to keep him in his memories.

Ami was very heartbroken that his uncle was gone, that his family was broken. But he wrote letters telling Sparrow about everything in his life.

If you like this piece check out my Mastodon my account is FSairuv@mas.to and I post about human rights, social justice, and the environment.