Genie in a Bottle

"Sorry. I must take this call.

That was my doctor, Ze said my test results came back and I am finally free from all the bacteria that were eating up my body parts. I am officially healthy after all those years of suffering and struggling with illnesses." said Utopia.

"Great news! I guess congratulations are in order. I also wanted to inform you that although I am not a professional, I think your treatment is done. I can clearly see the progress you have made."

Ze then looked out the window and said:

"I recall when we had our first coffee meeting. You were suffering from severe depression, you were emotionally devastated, and you were physically drained. Your heart was aching with sorrow and loneliness; it was killing you. They were killing you."

Ze paused then continued:

"You were at your breakdown point and have already given up on it all. Your face was as pale as a ghost. Your infections were speeding up rapidly and have become fatal diseases, but they did not seem to care. All the illnesses you suffered from ate you up slowly since the beginning of humanity, but they chose not to act."

"When they found out that my illnesses were incurable, they left.

I would like to make myself believe that that was the reason they left me in the first place."

"But, you were just a victim; you gave them everything yet they disappointed you and abused you. They nearly put an end to your life" said Venus.

Utopia nodded.

"Do you remember what your reply was when I asked you how come you have not lost hope on them yet?"

"Only a parent would understand… I did what I had to do to save myself and everyone. I mean, there was no other way. Anyway, what matters now is that everyone is safe and they finally see why they must keep me healthy."

"As a being of your kind, I honestly do not know how you were able to keep up with that much baggage all through those years and how you were able to tolerate it that long."

"I had no one to talk to. No one would understand what I was going through, not even you."

"I can see the transition that you have went through since the beginning of our meetings, and I personally have learned a lot myself from you, Ze continued: "I came up with an idea that you might like."

"Shoot."

"We probably will."

"I thought you were against killing."

"Who said anything about killing.

Now listen, how about we recall all what you have told me and write it down. We will put it all on paper then place that message in a bottle and shoot it into outer space for others, of our kind, to find. It would act as a warning sign, sort of like what you did with Mars but we would not know the destination of that bottle nor the being who finds it."

"That is brilliant! We can write down my healing process and all the emotional and mental support you provided me."

"Okay then, let us start with when you told me about your feelings towards your children.

I recall me explaining about human nature, from what I have read, and how every single person behaves in a certain way."

"Yes I was aware that not all of my children are the same and that every single one of them is special. Some were loving from the start, but some have lost their ways.

None of them is born evil. I truly believe that their lives and their misfortunes make them develop evilness or coldness in other words."

"Yes you said that every human being is unique in a certain way."

Utopia continued: "They each leave a footprint on me regardless of how big or small, good or bad."

"That is what creates diversity you mentioned" added Venus.

"A lot were too greedy and too self-centered. They never really cared for me, they just cared about money and power.

They poisoned my oceans with their toxic chemicals.

They polluted the loving atmosphere I provided them.

They even went as far as killing each other fighting over my body."

"Greed in the name of life you once called it."

"Not only did they fight over my body parts, but they also claimed that it is their rights to own them.

I have lost a lot of blood and have rained endless streams of tears but only a few ever noticed.

Those who cared for my feelings and health saw through my pain and suffering; they tried to fight for me. Those very few actually cared about me and fought for a better place of living for them and future generations."

A tear ran down on Utopia's left cheek as Ze said:

"That night however, even the ones who once fought for me left. They were on the spaceship too. It shattered me, as I knew that them leaving might be the end of me."

"Did you envy Mars on the night of their trip?" Venus interrupted.

Utopia drowned in silence.

"Well but what matters is that the nightmare is now over and they are all back here and everything is as you always hoped" continued Venus.

"I remember everything. Those who spent days and nights tied to a tree just so it does not get cut down, deserted me one dawn.

They were my only hope, they were the ones who reused my resources and never caused me harm. There were only a few who were not tempted by power and money. It is sad knowing that they too gave up on me.

What was even worse was that while some of my children were dying to protect me, others were mercilessly killing me in the name of God, religion, economy, society, and you name it.

My own children were feeding my cancerous tumors just to gather meaningless pieces of paper which they abused my resources to get in the first place." Utopia said as Ze looked at Venus.

They both took a sip of their coffees simultaneously.

"Only a parent could put Zeself in my shoes. I have infinite children and I treat them all equally. Although my love was never enough for them, I kept on giving all that I can and loving them with no intentions of stopping. This is how parental love is. My unconditional love however, failed and drained me.

They kept on taking with no return; on the contrary, they returned me harm. They spent all my resources. They used each other. They destroyed each other's homes.

They adapted to the idea of killing and causing damage. They mistreated each other and thought that they have privileges over one another. They destroyed me."

"Who do you blame for that?"

"There is no real being to blame here. They are all born kind and have their hearts filled with love but somehow they stray away due to certain temptations."

"Let us talk about when they left."

Flip the Page

"On new year's eve, I observed all my children finish their last-minute preparations. It was magical how they were all organiZed and had all their luggage ready.

Then, on the morning of the first of January in 2022, I watched them all get on Spaceship Hope and set off to their new destination. I must say it was very hard watching them leave, but they did what they thought was best for them."

"And how did you feel about all of them leaving you?"

"I…I guess deep inside I was relieved knowing that I could have a break. I believed that they will definitely be back. I was left all alone on the first day of the year, so I decided to start applying my new year's resolution right away.

Now that all my children have moved out, I have a lot of time to focus on myself and set off with a new and healthy lifestyle.

I took out my notebook and listed all what I believed needed fixing. The problem was that I honestly did not know where to start, that's when I called you and asked that we meet for coffee. That was the time where you helped me set the plan."

"Let us list some points on a separate paper then develop them into a well-constructed plan."

"That would be a great idea!"

Utopia paused trying to recall the plan.

Path to Utopia

v List of Things to do:

- Clean Bodies of Water

- Purify Air

- Replant Lands

- Reuse Resources

- Use Renewable Energy

- End Discrimination

- Seek Equality

- Stop Human and Animal Killing

- Stop All Forms of War

- Spread Happiness

"Great. Let us start."

"First, I have to flush out the toxins from my blood. I could build factories that are capable of filtering around a million cubic meters of water from my oceans and seas daily then flooding them back into rivers and lakes then back to oceans and seas in an ongoing cycle.

The second point should be regenerating my lost body parts. I need to set out a new diet to follow in order to regain my lost power and gain back some weight."

"If one million trees were planted daily, you would get back on track in a very short period" added Venus, "then, you should work on regaining your physical strength."

"I can try to come up with scientific methods that allow the transformation of heat generated from wastes to energy that would fuel me during my healing stage and then so on throughout the future."

"Let us write down the vision in details."

"Well, I am well aware that any future life that would inhibit me will need technology in order to have access to easier lives.

I have witnessed the changes in lifestyles throughout civilizations and must say that technology has helped ease humans' lives to a point of no return. Although at some points, technological advancements caused my destruction, it has saved the lives of many."

"Then I believe that in order for the plan to be synergetic and efficient, our plan should integrate technology in their everyday lives."

"That being set, we can incorporate machines into the plan to ease my children's lives. I can develop a system that would sync together humans and technology in a synergy that would bring simplicity to their lives by dividing their tasks.

Imagine that no single being would go to sleep on an empty stomach. No individual would die out of hunger. Seven billion people could go to sleep every night having had their daily nutritional intake fully taken."

"I think our plan is perfectly set and ready for implementation."

"I must get going now. I should start applying it right away."

"Okay. Good luck! See you next time."

Utopia left the coffee shop and started getting ready to implement the divine plan.

The Shock

"I must confess; our coffee time has become a sacred ritual. I wait eagerly for our meetings", Venus continued, "I have been waiting impatiently to hear all about the plan; I tried to peek an eye but my binoculars are broken. You did not return my calls; tell me all about it."

"I am sorry, it was hectic. After we wrapped up the divine plan last time, I went back to my orbit super excited to start implementing it. I could not believe that my dream was just a step away and felt like my happy ever after was now finally possible.

The following day, I woke up full of energy and ready to set out my new path when it all hit me" Utopia said in a lower tone.

"Yes, I may have a very well-organiZed plan, but I lacked the most important factor. The plan is all I ever dreamt of and all what I seek to be, but, I needed my children to help me fulfill my lifetime dream.

I also came up with more ideas about combining urban cities and rural areas by using trees as houses. Treehouses use much lesser resources than brick-built houses. Who said a city has to be made up of cement buildings only? Who said my trees have to be torn down in order to make more space for shelters? At least my treehouses would not need ventilation; they are natural oxygen emitting machines.

All means of transportation invented would remain, but they would all function with Zero emissions. Technology has ruined me for centuries but now my children can help solve this issue.

Roads and crossroads that link all places to one another could become possible if natural roads are left untouched."

"You are talking too fast, slow down so that I can keep up."

"When they get back, I promise no one will be left homeless. Even if caves must become shelters again, all my people should stay warm and protected.

The weather would be really balanced once my Ozone layer gets sealed.

Then it all hit me, they still have not come back and there is no one to start implementing the plan."

"You were all alone and they might never come back."

Utopia exhaled then said: "Dream postponed."

"I am sorry I am not physically able to help" said Venus.

"There is nothing to feel sorry about. I do not even myself possess the physical and mental capabilities to put our plan into action. I need the intellects of my children, I need to employ their labors, I want them emotionally supporting me throughout my transformation.

And just like that, my dream of becoming Utopia was shattered. I was devastated for days, and I honestly still am. I lost hope. I gave up on it all. I stayed up late and alcohol became my only companion. They are never coming back I convinced myself."

Utopia took a deep breath.

"Speaking of painful memories can be really hard, take as much time as you need." said Venus breaking the silence.

"I... I need a physical therapist and a psychiatrist to help me regain my lost physical strength and my messed up mental health."

"Do you think of them as villains?" asked Venus.

"Well, all I can say is that I thought I am their hero-Ze."

The End of the Tunnel

"Let's skip to the good part" suggested Venus.

"Then one day, I heard a knock on my door."

"I just remembered that I did not answer your question earlier on.

No, I did not envy Mars that my children considered starting a new beginning there. I did however, envy Mars for standing up for Zeself and prohibiting them from entering just as planned. They thought they would get to destroy me then start a new life on Mars."

"But Ze might have let them in if it was not for your warning."

"Well maybe Ze would have, but what matters now is that Ze did not and the plan worked. I am grateful for that being my children's wake up call. They knocked on my door crying and begging for my forgiveness and for me to take them back."

"Of course, a parent can never stay mad at their children for long."

"I could see on all their faces that they were back with the intentions of starting all over. They were finally ready to let go of the materialistic world that ruined all of us, and I was ready to forgive them. I let them rest and called it a night.

The next morning, I was too excited and anxious to have them back, for, the first thing I wanted to do was give them a look at the plan."

"The Arab poet Al Mutanabi was right when Ze said that the misfortunes of some people are advantages to others. If it weren't for Mars, we would probably not be here having coffee with each other today."

"Ze was my savior and I am forever grateful for the course of action Ze decided to take. As agreed, Mars did not even let the spaceship park. All Ze had to say was: "I will not allow you to destroy me like you destroyed Earth." Then Ze locked all the entrances.

"That one sentence changed the lives of seven billion people. It must have made your children realiZe the mess they have put both you and themselves into."

"Mars's rejection served as their wakeup call.

Ze later told me about a speech one of my children made:

"We have been awakened by our tragedies. We have failed to take care of our parent although Ze has been loving us and giving regardless since the beginning of time. We owe it to Ze to start all over. We should be there helping during the healing process from the mess that we have caused. Step by step we can build a better world for us and for future life. We can help our parent reach the goal Ze always wished for. All Ze ever wanted was to become a better place for all of us and thus make us better and happier individuals. You reap what you sow; and all what we sowed has harm and destruction.""

"That is touching" commented Venus.

"I guess I have been trying to earn their empathy all this time" said Utopia.

"On their first day back, every single person stood aligned just like an assembly line. The youth aligned with the elderly, dark-skinned people aligned with light-skinned people, previously poor people aligned with previously rich people. They worked together and expanded our scheme and added more details, elaborating the plan. It was like my whole realm was in a beautiful and peaceful harmony. One of the best scenes I have ever witnessed was the look of resilience in fourteen billion eyes.

As a parent, seeing your children unite is one of the best feelings. Don't get me wrong, I know that many have united together in the past and set goals to reach sustainable development and seal my wounds since ages, but this time it was different. They were different.

Those who used to go by the saying "I live to eat" have learned to share their meals with those who "cannot eat to stay alive". They now get to wake up stress free without worrying about providing for their families. Money is no longer a main concern of living after my resources have become equally distributed among all of them.

Turns out we are not geniuses; we were not the ones who came up with all these ideas. Human beings, my children, have already come up with all of them but were too caught up to implement them. They explained to me how energy from the sun can serve as fuel and minimiZes pollution. Did you know that it is possible to store energy from the sun for years? Around two hundred years back, my children came up with solar thermal fuel, a molecule in liquid form that stores energy from the sun for over a decade."

Praise the World

"It feels like yesterday that we were sitting here sipping on our last cup of coffee. How long has it been? How have you been?" asked Venus.

"I am doing great. I can feel love and positive vibes filling my atmosphere. I'm having a lot of new children lately. Everyone seems to be a lot happier and a lot healthier. All the phases and ideas of the plan worked; I have succeeded in providing them with fresh air and clean areas and they now do keep me clean.

I am no scientist, but I think their hormones have changed and they have become stress free after my transformation. Their daily lives are no longer considered as routines; they get to experience contemplations daily. They do not need to wait for a vacation once or twice a year to discover nature and enter their Zen modes.

Death rates have decreased ever since pollution levels decreased. Once they started breathing fresh oxygen and drinking pure water, their bodies expelled all the toxins that they have been holding for years.

Lab constructed meat was not very approved at first, it took them some time to get used to it. The outcome of not having to kill other living beings for food weighed it all. From fish to birds to pork, food scientists were able to maintain the same taste that would yield the same satisfaction as eating real meat. They now get to enjoy tasty meals without any souls being harmed or killed.

All the transformations they went through made my children become at peace with themselves. They now take care of themselves and of each other. They have stopped all kinds of killing and ended all forms of wars."

"Do you remember when you mentioned that you did what you had to do what do? I think you should confess now."

"Yes, at the beginning of our writing and I think it is time to come clean," Utopia's looked up straight and continued, "I contacted Mars and asked not to allow the spaceship in.

I told Ze everything; from how they exploited my land and abused my resources to how they caused me harm and emotionally killed me."

"This is a nice way to tell everyone how you have become a utopia."

Utopia straightened back up and gave a praising speech:

"I am proud of each and every one of them.

I am proud of language, one of my eldest children, who finally had the courage to change. Imagine, it took more than two thousand years to unite pronouns and use genderless nouns. The whole process was as simple as replacing the letters s and h by z and now we all use the pronoun Ze to refer to one another.

I would like to quote one of my deceased children:

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright day break of peace and brotherhood can never become reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."

Martin Luther King, one of my children, said those words more than two centuries ago. I used to believe that perseverance is key but very few have the energy to seek better lives.

I am proud that racism finally came to realiZe that life is not a race to be won. Life is not a game of survival nor dominance; all human beings are born equal and deserve to have access to equal rights and resources. Their diversity makes an extremely beautiful rainbow; but rainbows only come to life after rain.

Speaking of rainbows, I am proud that families are no longer limited to heterosexual couples. Everyone could have a family now that same sex marriages became of global acceptance. Single parents are all appreciated and looked upon universally. Interracial marriages and mixed religion marriages are no longer taboos. After all, language would not have formed with the letters LGBTQ missing from the alphabet. Sexual orientation and diversification keeps relationships balanced.

It makes me proud to announce that we have reached our Zero emission target with a Zero percentage pollution.

In the year 2022, scientists predicted that in a couple of decades there will be no smokers left. Here I am now, proud to announce myself a smoke free world, an ideal Utopia, at least in my eyes...

Many have come up with treatments to kill my vicious cancer cells but it was not until the wakeup call that all cooperated together."

"Let us add a catalog for other planets to see what you now look like."

"Even better, let us make a flying flyer."

"Maybe that would attract some outer space tourists" said Venus jokingly.

"Or save other planets from passing through what I passed through."

"What if other planets do not have televisions to watch our tape?"

A tear fell down Utopia's right cheek: "I am sure they will one day."