The Empty Empire
It took a hundred years to design and build the first planet. Multi-dimensional bulldozers and hyper-spatial cranes arranged the mountains, the icy spires, the cozy sea-green valleys in-between. Everything was perfect; ready for a feathered avian species to take roost in the frozen castle-like heights or maybe a variety of vine-swinging primates to set up their homes in the valleys. But no one came.
So I built another world--a moon to circle the planet. To follow the theme, the moon's face was formed from glassy mirror-like ice, great stretches and planes of ice. Hoofed equines could pound their way around the moon, reveling in those wide, broad planes. But the equines didn't come.
The planet and the moon shone at each other, reflecting each other's empty beauty, waiting.
Enjoying this story? Don't miss the next one!
SUBSCRIBE TO DSF
No one wants ice worlds anymore, I thought. My next planet was red and dusty, and it only took a few years to build, smashing asteroids together, gluing them in place. But no reptiles came to bask in the red world's sunburnt warmth.
I was good at building worlds now--I could churn them out, one every several years. So, I kept building: a green planet, wishing for a civilization of tiny rodents; another covered in oceans, hoping to become inhabited by sentient fish; an entire world carved out of a giant purple gem--I don't even know who would live there. But it's beautiful.
Each of them waited.
Each of them is waiting.
I keep building worlds, hoping that some day the creatures will come, but there are too many other worlds out there for them. Too many places to live. Yet, I keep building. Some day they will come.
Until then, my empty empire is perfect and serene.
The End
This story was first published on Tuesday, December 6th, 2016
We hope you're enjoying
The Empty Empire by
Mary E. Lowd.
Please support Daily Science Fiction by becoming a member.
Daily Science Fiction does not have a paywall, but we do have expenses—more than 95% of which are direct payments to authors for their stories. With your $15 membership, less than 6 cents per story, we can continue to provide genre fiction every weekday by email and on the website to thousands of readers for many years to come. You may also choose to support us via patreon.
Tell me more!
Support Daily Science Fiction
Please click to rate this story from 1 (ho-hum) to 7 (excellent!):
Please don't read too much into these ratings. For many reasons, a superior story may not get a superior score.
4.5 Rocket Dragons Average
Please join our mailing list and
receive free daily sci-fi (your email address will be kept
100% private):