{"sf1_id":706610,"sf2_id":"rnaGzE3e","title":"Disease","author":"ShingetsuMoon","words":315,"posted_at":"2014-05-18T19:28:00.000Z","tags":["Aliens","Humans","Poem","Poetry","War","outer space"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/706610-disease","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/rnaGzE3e","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/1b/4f/1b4f6ca9-995d-4002-9196-31d18a11191b","description":"#11 of Poems\n\nSo I read a book once. In the end the crisis was averted and earth was saved and life kept spinning on. I am a religious person and believe that there is a much better and brighter future hope for this planet earth, but still the thought that another imperfect alien species would decide NOT to push the button was a question that left me on the fence.","content":"* * *\n\nI read a book once   \nwhen I was a little girl.  \nA group of teenagers   \nwere chosen to go around  \nthe world and pick out  \nthe best qualities of humanity.\n\nThey had to find those who  \nwere kind, merciful, honest,  \ncreative, patient, loving.\n\nThey were to find these  \npeople and take their findings  \nback to the aliens waiting   \nabove the earth.\n\nWaiting to destroy   \nhumans once and for all.\n\nThe teenagers came back   \ndisappointed. Discouraged.  \nHopeless but searching for   \nhope anyway.\n\nThey did not find their   \nevidence. They found a   \nhistory of death and mass  \nmurder.\n\nThe alien council showed  \nall of these images and more   \nto them. War, death, violence,  \nmurder, child abuse, on and on  \nuntil all the images blurred   \ntogether.\n\nBecause to them humans  \nwere a disease. A parasite.  \nA vile creature that needed  \nto be stopped before it could  \nspread out to the stars.\n\nMankind had to be killed  \noff before they became   \nsmart enough to discover  \nlife on other planets.\n\nBecause if they spread  \nout among the stars they   \nwould take their lust for   \nviolence and death along  \nwith them.\n\nTheir murderous nature  \nwould infect every alien  \nspecies they came across  \nuntil nothing was left but   \nmore death, more hatred  \nand more war.\n\nSo the teenagers countered  \nby saying that humans  \nwere still young. Didn't all  \ncivilizations fight while they  \nwere young? Hadn't all of theirs?\n\nHumans were at a tipping point  \nand amid all the violence and  \ndeath they spread were brief  \nshining moments of love and  \naffection. Empathy and kindness.\n\nHumans didn't need to be  \nexterminated. They needed to  \nbe guided and taught. Someone  \nhad to take the time to show them   \nthe way. They could change if only  \nthey were given the chance.\n\nI read a book once.\n\nAnd when I finished I couldn't   \nhelp but feel that they had   \ngotten the ending wrong.\n\n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Poems","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/701487-clockwork-city-of-gears.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/708172-variant.json"}}