Martian Sunset

The Martian landscape ... barren, icy, cold (or hot â?? whatever). Burnt and frozen. Nothing. Or so it seems. Slowly the sun sets, and as it eases itself down over the Martian horizon, a shadow can be seen forming, slowly growing longer in proportion to the setting sun.

Sunsets have been really weird here. At first the days were 18 hours long, but after two months it suddenly changed to 12 hour days and seems to have remained constant -- must be the telepathic power of the martians at work for whatever mysterious reasons.

The sun sets lower in a purple haze of orange-tinged sunlight, and the shadow grows longer and longer. It starts to coalesce into a seemingly frightful array of splayed fingers reaching across the desert.

The fingers grow clearer and I can see the edges taking on a distinct and oh-so familiar saw-toothed appearance.

The fiery sunset bursts upon the land, and in the glow I can see it silhouetted. Vast in its hugeness, like the 50ft woman, the plant towers over the marscape. Low gravity had enabled the herb to grow to giant proportions. Buds the size of hay bales and seeds like coconuts.

I stared closer and could see a group of little green "men" (we call'em the Nugs) dancing around the stalk of the plant, apparently singing, or chanting in the weird Martian sunset.

Suddenly, the plant burst into flame with an incendiary POP ... seeds go flying everywhere, impacting into the surrounding earth leaving little craters, as plant matter spontaneously combusts and vaporizes (don't ask me how or what air, it's just a story) adding to the fire-y-ness of the sunset.

Nugs lay scattered around the smoking stalks and leaves like bowling pins after a strike, except they all seem to be smiling (unless that's their ass) really big.

God ... What have I done? Rule 17 -- never clean your stash on alien planets -- it's been broken. Iâ??ve terraformed Mars. Damn, shoulda memorized that guide. I'm sorry Dave.

Nice sunset â?? wish I had a fatty.

Note to self: There is apparently "pot"able water on Mars. We can stop looking.

he he, cool story man.

take me next time?