The Timid One

KariveShort Fiction

The pods are all attached to an opaque dome, which lies in the middle of the circle formed by the pods. Inside the dome lies one of the 78 terraformed spaces on the surface of Karive. The members of the food pod spend their time here, examining the roots and soil composition and making minute adjustments to the humidity, temperature and atmospheric content of the dome. Inside the dome looked very similar to earth if it wasn't for the opaque walls. They were a full blue color, chosen to mimic the blue skies of Earth, but in reality missing a certain essence. This was the home of the timid one. He was more at home among the Earth plants than those of Karive. He shuddered at the thought of the Jungles of Karive with it's tall grasses and sparse trees. He had grown up inside the dome, and as a result, despite living on Karive his whole life, the outside looked peculiar and foreign to him.

The timid one rarely left the enclosure of the dome, in fact it took quite a bit of coercing by the others to get the timid one to do anything. For him everything was just a little bit too risky. The timid one had his reasons, his dome was comfortable and stable. He could be certain of his surroundings, he couldn't say this for the outside of the dome. While the others went off and wandered through Karive's peculiar landscapes the timid one stayed back and looked after the plants. He would hear the stories of their adventures and live through them, but never participating himself.

The day they found the mechanism was a very rare day. The timid one had decided to join the others. He now regretted that decision as he thought back to the apparent danger he was in. He returned to his roots and moved on to the next plant he had to fertilize. Every once in a while he would look up, but his gaze would not go far as the opaque blue dome blocked his line of sight.