“This Must Be the Place”
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Over countless millennia, evolution took its course.
They began walking on two legs. They developed language, reason, culture, art. They built cities. They killed each other over gods and land and other petty squabbles. They overcame their differences. They reached for the stars.
The three travelers had long searched the galaxy for the planet of their species’ origin.
Stepping down from their spaceship, they cut imposing figures. Their giant black ears twitched. Their bulbous eyes surveyed their surroundings. Humming quietly, they thumbed the straps of their suspenders.
They had landed in a barren wasteland abutting a large ocean. Blue and white spires, the remnants of a long-abandoned castle, poked out of the sand.
In the ruins’ shadows, they came upon a bronze statue that the elements had long ago turned to green. They stopped, gaping in awe at the likeness.
“This must be the place,” said the first.
“He looks just like us,” said the second.
“Huh-huh!” said the third.