Asteroids, Meteors, and Fossils….Oh My

Disclaimer: This is story is fiction.

Boom! I jolted out of bed. I had just heard that loudest crash of my life. Did somebody get shot? Did a bomb go off? I thought I was just imagining until I saw fragments of hot, red lava outside my window. It couldn’t be, is it? I jumped out of bed, ran outside, and saw an event that I thought I would never see in my lifetime. An asteroid and a meteoroid collided near Earth. The remains are the collision are raining down on the planet surface causing havoc amongst the townspeople. It finally happened. The long awaited crash between an asteroid and a meteor. I wanted to say that I was surprised but I saw this coming from a mile away.

This was a news story for a while. Everybody just brushed it off except me. I knew that this crash was bound to happen. I put warning flyers around town, gave guest lectures at the local community college, and even created my own YouTube channel discussing my theories on this crash. Turns out, I was right. As everyone else was scrambling for cover, I simply went downstairs to my manmade shelter. This shelter was made from a rare form of metal that can protect citizens from any dangerous space objects such as the remains of an asteroid/meteor crash. I thought of helping my neighbors but I decided to say “fuck it” and go in myself.

When I woke up, the next day I heard no noise. No cars beeping, no neighbors talking, no birds chirping just silence. I walked outside and it was like somebody just gutted my entire neighborhood. It was nothing but a foreign wasteland. I started digging around that wasteland. All of the sudden, I discovered something. It was a fossil but not just any ordinary fossil. It was a fossil from a different planet. I quickly went to my manmade shelter to study this mysterious fossil. I discovered that this fossil was from the planet Mars. It was a fossil that looked like it could be from a foot of a horse or a dog. I could not tell what animal it was from. All I knew is that I was going to Mars.

My manmade shelter contained a jet pack that could send me to outer space at any time. After the collision, I concluded that it was a good idea to go to space. I set my engines, took off into space, and landed on mars. When I got there, I was greeted with a nice drift a red sand. I stepped outside my shuttle and saw yet another barbaric wasteland. I took my fossil and walked around the planet for a bit. All of the sudden, I found something peculiar. The giant footprint in front of me was the same footprint that was on the fossil that I found earlier. I quickly realized that the footprints formed a trail. I decided to follow that trial to see where it would take me. The results were shocking to say the least.

When I researched the end of this little trail, I thought what could this be. All of the sudden, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and I shit you not a real live alien was standing behind me. I was floored. He motioned me to follow him so I did. He stopped suddenly, took my hand, and showed me an alien village. I could not believe my eyes. I always though aliens were a sham until now. They were nothing but welcoming, kind-hearted creatures. I was so bashful that I kept looking at the ground the entire time they were talking to me. That is when I discovered that the footprints on the ground were the alien’s footprints. The same one that matched my fossil earlier. The fossil was proof that life existed on other planets.

It was that moment that I decided to move to Mars for good. For the first time in a long time, I felt respected. When I lived on Earth, no one would take me seriously. Every thought my warnings on the collision were a joke until it actually happened. Now, I have friends who listen, care, and want to know about my knowledge of space. I am so glad that I found this fossil because this fossil found me a bunch of new friends that I will never let go!

The Golden Nugget

Disclaimer: This story is fiction.

It was a nice, spring day. I decided to utilize my time outside and plant fresh roses in my garden. As I was planting these roses, I felt an unusual bump. I decided that it was just a rock and continued to plant roses. All of the sudden, I see this bright, shining light come from under the soil. Again, I did not think anything of it until the light was unbearable. I decided to go check it out. I dug into the soil where the light was shining through and realized that it was a golden nugget. A big, fat, shining golden nugget. My heart leaped out of its chest. I have heard about the golden nugget in books, magazines, movies, television, and everywhere else. This golden nugget was supposed to bring me unimaginable level of wealth. I was skeptical about it so I picked up the golden nugget and went inside. I placed the golden nugget onto my coffee table and flipped on the news.

“The search for the golden nugget is still underway”

“Yes, the nugget is said to be in the tristate area”

“What are the golden nugget’s magical powers, Susan?”

“Well, the golden nugget is the richest item in the world worth 2 billion dollars. If somebody finds it, they are officially the richest person in the world.”

I sat there frozen. I glanced over at the golden nugget. It was still shining as ever. This can’t be real I thought. I looked over again and the same golden nugget that was being portrayed on the news was on my coffee table. I leaped out of my seat, took the golden nugget, and ran to my local convenience store. When I got there, I quickly ran up to the boy at the cash register.

“LOOK IT IS THE GOLDEN NUGGET,” I shouted

The boy looked once and passed out. I stood there for a minute till the manager came out. The manager stood there in shock. He took the golden nugget from me and held it up.

“I am in disbelief. It is the actual golden nugget. The one everybody talks about in the movies. I’ll cash this baby up right away!!”

Soon enough, everyone knew that I won the golden nugget. I was on the front pages of all the magazines, my face was on the news every night, and I was accounting more wealth then I could imagine. I moved out of my old house into a giant mansion. I brought five fancy sports cars, a backyard waterpark, a concert venue, a 5-star restaurant as my kitchen, all these designer clothes, and much more. I quit my job. I threw wild parties every day and night. I gained all these new friends. I lead a life of fame and fortune. I was on top of the world. But that soon came to a screeching halt.

To my and everyone else’s surprise the golden nugget only gave you wealth for a certain amount of time. Six months to be exact. As soon as the six months ended, the wealth that you earned would be taken away from you. I learned this the hard way when the two billion dollars I got from the golden nugget disappeared overnight. Everything I had slowly disappeared. I had to sell everything; the mansion, the waterpark, the concert venue, restaurant, the clothes, and everything else that I bought. I lost all my friends. My fame was dwindling to nothing. The guy who cured cancer stole my spotlight. I was just another piece of history that was not getting revived any day soon.

I had to start from the ground up. I moved back into my old house. I worked at the local flower shop for minimum wage. I restarted my garden and planted a whole new batch of roses. I looked through the soil beforehand just in case I saw a golden nugget. No such luck was found. I am glad the golden nugget came into my life. Why? Because I realized that life is about quality not quantity. You do not need to be super wealthy to have a fulfilling life. You just need a few good friends, a roof over your head, and some nice roses to smell in your garden.