I recently learned of a planet two galaxies from earth which is quite different than ours. The planet is covered in light blue hair, which grows out of the ground. A yellow liquid, which is said to look like ice cold lemonade, fills their ponds and runs from their taps. On this planet, lives a unique set of beings that seem to be separated into two types, the melas and famels. They do not look like humans, rather they are beings with three legs, three arms, and the famels have two jewels on each thigh. Each famel has a different and unique set of jewels which belongs to her and her alone. The melas have no such things to hide, and feel joy in looking at such precious jewels. They line these famels up and put them behind glass walls, so that they can feed their desires, by looking at the jewels, at whatever time they please. No punishment is sent upon them for their infatuation, rather it is encouraged, in any, and every way possible.
The older members of this society tell a story of the past that bewilders the majority of this planet. However, some wish that this mentality would return, and also see the wisdom behind it. The story goes that there was once a time when famels would hide these jewels that were at their side, and only showed them to those who deserved that joy. Only the rebels would go against this norm, and show their jewels to other onlookers. Special covers were made for these jewels, to conceal that they were even there. They covered a large part of each thigh so that the shape was not apparent. Only onlookers, who knew that each famel was born with jewels, knew of their presence. Each morning, the famels put on their coverings, hoping, just hoping, that onlookers would not feel the desire to rip them off and indulge in what was not theirs. When asked when the changes began to take place, the replies were one and the same.
They began to speak about a movement. One that was needed, but some how, was spun into a different direction. They tell of times, when the famels of their society were looked at as if they were slaves, and servants to the melas. Some even argued that these famels were without lungs. To them, lungs meant everything, and it removed them from the category of evil. They fought for the rights they knew that they deserved. They wanted the same rights as the melas. They wanted to be identified as the beings they were rather than the lung-less slaves they were condemned to be. To the streets they went, picketing, boycotting, doing anything and everything they could to make their statement. They did everything they could to win their fight.
Slowly, and painfully, they began to reap the fruits of their labor. Right after right was restored, but this wasn't good enough for them. Rather than fighting for the rights that the melas had, they began to fight to be melas. Some of the conservative famel beings began to drop out of the movement, afraid of living on a planet full of melas, but most persisted. The rules and guidelines they had all known before were fading. At the beginning, they said, the jewels still had their covering, still untouched. But as the years progressed, and changed, so did those coverings. They began to become tighter, to show form and shape. Hearts, diamonds, and circles began to be apparent on the thighs of these famels, the color concealed, but not much else. When they could no longer become tighter, they began to change color. The solid color that was once there, which helped conceal what was beneath, began to morph. First it became brighter, catching the attention of all those who walked by. Glitter and sequins began to find their way onto the once plain material. After this, they became lighter, the color fading, until the coverings were sheer. The melas saw this and egged it on. The more jewel the famels would show, the more rights they would get. Was it because the melas respected them more? No. It was because the melas wanted to see more of these precious jewels without holding any sort of responsibility to the bearers of them.
The melas began to enter the realm of fashion, designing the beautiful garments these famels would wear. Somewhere along the line, as fashion changed, the coverings seemed to completely disappear. Rather than the old, virtuous, jewel cover, there was a hole. These holes fit each jewel in way that the maximum amount of beauty would radiate from them. Anyone who wore the covering, was old fashioned, and was looked at as someone who lived in the past, unaware of the "vindication" that had occurred. Many of these famels, with the uncovered jewels began to try to help the "old fashioned brow-beaten" famels, but to their surprise, they didn't want it. This angered many of the "liberated" famels, and they even began to try to make laws against them. Many melas on this planet complain at the fact that their precious jewels on their precious wives are now shown to everyone, even though many don't deserve to see them. They speak of how they work, and work, for their famels hoping to come to home to someone who was truly theirs, but when they enter the doors of their home, it isn't so. Although most of their wives remain faithful, they cannot help but feel the pangs that hit them, one after another, when they realize the unspeakable truth. Their precious jewels, on their precious wives, have become nothing more than mere rhinestones...
