A to Z Challenge 2026 - E - Contessina’s Collection of Human Treasures

 “Earth,” she said, “the whole planet. I love the whole planet.

“There’s not a world that had ever heard of it before the Welborn set off the alarm, when we learned the Danab had attacked. Everyone knew all about the Danab, or so we thought. We knew the Tikanni had in effect created them, but we didn’t know where they had originated. We didn’t know they came from Earth. That was a thousand years ago. A lot of things were different, back then. Even the Puck were very different, back then. Of course we were.

“We’ve been accused of becoming…sycophants. Sucking up to humanity. But wouldn’t anyone? Given the circumstances? We haven’t exactly been treated well…elsewhere. Anywhere else, really. But humans were different. We had never met anyone else like them. And they had no reason at all to welcome us as they did. We weren’t military allies, like the Welborn, the Vanadi, the Omoxians, the Arkosians, the Bith’Mari…We’d fought our wars, thank you. We’d been left…scarred. Mostly we settled on defense. No one fought for us. We showed up anyway. We did what we could. And the humans were grateful.

“And the planet was…beautiful, even in the immediate aftermath. I’ve watched a lot of the old movies, at this point. They used to imagine all their important landmarks being lost. But the Danab weren’t interested in any of that. They made the humans use all their endurance. They fought a Danab war. They were forced to the very limits. No one had ever brought the fight to the heights of the Himalayas, to the Sahara, to the Arctic…

“There were new movies made, after. They were breathtaking. Me, I sometimes think that’s why the Danab do it that way. They certainly had motivation, this time. They also want to test cultures, to see if their opponents have real worth, if they can see the beauty in the madness. Maybe not. That’s how I see it, anyway.

“The movies were the first things I saw. Then I saw Earth itself. Then I heard the Whitfield was being constructed. Another audacity. The scars were still very much visible. Someone had said, We have seen the apocalypse, and we will live on. That’s humanity, to me. That’s Earth. 

“I find it beautiful.”