Fantasy fiction; Utopian fiction; Utopias -- Fiction
The memory of that night will remain with me many years. Before falling
asleep I let my mind dwell on the singular circumstances in which we
were placed and the strange manner of our leaving the earth. I had never
experienced anything that seemed more real, and yet I could not make it
appear quite reasonable that we were in truth living on the planet Mars.
All I could say was that it was an instance where the facts were against
the theory, and I knew that in such cases it was always safest to
believe in the facts. I could distinctly remember each step of our
journey, and there could be no mistake about our present understanding.
What settled the question more firmly than ever was this thought: If we
were not on Mars, where were we? We must be somewhere.
By the time I had disposed of all my doubts I was becoming drowsy, and
then I began to think of the doctor and his unfortunate condition of
mind. This malady would doubtless increase and I should have to look
out for him, and at the same time fill the arduous position of the only
sound representative of our race in Mars. I resolved to try once more to
make my companion see how ridiculous his strange fancy was and realize
the danger of clinging to it.
With this thought my brain lost coherence, and I passed over the
invisible boundary into dreamland. It was a beautiful evening in summer.
I was at home among my friends and we were sitting in the open air. The
doctor was there, taking his turn with me in telling the story of our
adventures. This went on till our listeners were tired out, and then
one of the company gave a little variety to the occasion by singing a
capital song.
Here the scene changed to the country. It was morning in the woods. The
trees wore their spring foliage, bright flowers spread their beauty and
fragrance around us, and the air was filled with the music of birds. The
sweet notes of these songsters were by far the most vivid part of the
dream. Now loud, now soft, the unbroken melody absorbed our attention
and made it difficult for us to understand how our situation again
gradually changed, until the air became piercingly cold, the cruel wind
beat upon us furiously, and the violent elements seemed bent upon our
destruction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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