Using my sense of direction, I pushed through the vegetation in search
of her. I did not levitate, because the feebleness of her call indicated
she might be hurt and on the ground. Besides, levitation is much more
difficult on the earth than on the moon.
The reply came stronger to my next call and I sensed through seven of my
senses that she was near. She was on the ground, probably injured, which
explained why she had not returned as she had promised.
I came to a patch of wilderness, a great marshy plain. In the middle of
this swamp was a crater, like those caused by meteors, a deep, ugly scar
in the mud. I shuddered at the thought that my darling Mjly might have
landed there. Her weaker scientific sense might not have given her the
cue to use her skin as a parachute and she might have made the fatal
mistake of trying to reverse-levitate.
"Mjly!" I called, speaking aloud now. "Mjly! Where are you?"
"Yljm! I am here!"
Yes, the voice came from the crater. Gliding to its rim, I looked down.
A pool of water lay on the bottom. A greenish scum covered the surface.
The scum moved with a million tiny wriggles.
"Yes, Yljm," came Mjly's voice. "It is I. But I am no longer one being."
And her voice sounded like a million tiny chirps joined together. "I
landed with such force that I came apart. Now each of my body cells
lives a life of its own. And now and then each cell grows fat and
becomes two. I am my sisters, I ..."
Let's not be subtle about it. Mjly was a microbe, the beginning of
animal life on the earth. She lives today, she is and always will be her
sisters, her mothers, herselves and her ancestors. But there are few
ancestors, for microbes do not die--just part of themselves die.
And I do not die. For I crept away into a hole in the ground, where I
will live forever. I do not starve, for roots reach me here. But I miss
my love life with Mjly. I can never be a mother or a sister. I will
always be me, a lonesome old bem.
иии THE END
Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from _If Worlds of Science Fiction_ July
1954. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and
typographical errors have been corrected without note. Two
occurrences of the word 'visory' have been amended to _visual_.