Professor Gazen

Nasmyth Carmichael

Miss Carmichael

Alumion

Mars

Venus

Mercury

Earth

Womla

London

Where Venus Waited

One night, a writer read of a strange light on the red planet and ran to Professor Gazen.

At the telescope, the dark rim of Mars suddenly kindled, then shifted from green to gold to blue.

Professor Gazen stopped joking and wrote down each change with a shaking hand.

The light looked less like weather and more like a mind tapping on a locked door.

If someone could speak across that darkness, someone might cross it too.

Before dawn, the mystery had already become a dare.

The Signal on Mars

That same spark led him to a lonely cottage where Nasmyth Carmichael waited beside a sealed metal box.

Miss Carmichael opened the door, calm and watchful, while her father spoke like a man guarding fire.

Then the little box lifted from his hands and glided through the workshop as if gravity had forgotten it.

Under a glass bell, even the vacuum could not stop it.

Professor Gazen tested the machine, found no trick in it, and watched his own doubt give way.

Within weeks, a larger vessel stood ready in the dark garden, pointed toward the stars.

Carmichael's Secret

From that dark garden, the ship rose without thunder and carried them over London like a secret thought.

The river shone black below, the bridges burned with light, and the city roared like a sea.

Then the clouds swallowed everything, and the ship burst out into still blue darkness crowded with stars.

Venus waited ahead, bright as a promise, while Earth behind them shrank toward loneliness.

One man nearly died when the thin upper air stole his breath before anyone noticed.

When he woke, the blue world was already fading, and another was growing vast.

Leaving Earth

That growing world opened into Womla, a hidden crater of lakes, blossoms, and people who knelt in song.

Days later, on a sacred island, the strangers watched a young priestess step from a temple at sunrise.

She waded among white lilies, raised one shining bloom, and the whole shore answered with music.

When Alumion turned from the barge and smiled straight toward him, the noise of the world fell away.

Professor Gazen admired the ritual, but the traveler could only stand still, as if named by light.

From that hour, every path in Womla seemed to lead toward her.

The Flower Ceremony

That light drew him to a hidden grotto where Alumion bathed at sunset beside a sacred spring.

She heard his warning, laughed at his fear of the cave, and spoke to him as if she had always known him.

On the next evening, he offered flowers, confessed his love, and saw her eyes soften with the same answer.

Inside the glowing cave, they shared sacred water while Siloo, her jeweled serpent guardian, watched from the dark.

He called it marriage, but before dawn his friends carried him away, believing Venus had charmed him into madness.

When he woke on Mercury, love had become exile.

The Grotto Promise

Exile turned savage when a winged beast swept down over Mercury and lifted Miss Carmichael from the cliff.

Professor Gazen ran like a man on fire, and the ship plunged after the creature into a valley of ancient nightmares.

They reached the cave in time, fired together, and pulled her back alive from the slope below.

Then the engines jammed in the furnace heat, Nasmyth Carmichael collapsed, and the silent ship drifted toward the sun.

For one frozen stretch of time, even Professor Gazen could offer only the shape of their doom.

Then Miss Carmichael cooled the locked mechanism with oxygen, and the ship shuddered back to life.

Mercury's Shadow

That shudder became relief as Earth returned under them with rain, fields, barking dogs, and lamplight.

Professor Gazen found love waiting beside him, and soon he and Miss Carmichael were promised to each other.

Nasmyth Carmichael kept his engine secret, fearing that lesser hearts would carry greed from Earth to gentler worlds.

The traveler walked London again, yet the streets felt small after Womla and its endless, fragrant dawn.

One victory at chess paid his expenses, but no earthly wager could measure what he had lost.

When the wedding bells were done, his course was already set for Venus, where Alumion still waited like a star.

Home Again

Where Venus Waited
By John Munro
1897
The Signal on Mars
What if Mars answered?
One night, a writer read of a strange light on the red planet and ran to Professor Gazen.
At the telescope, the dark rim of Mars suddenly kindled, then shifted from green to gold to blue.
Professor Gazen stopped joking and wrote down each change with a shaking hand.
The light looked less like weather and more like a mind tapping on a locked door.
If someone could speak across that darkness, someone might cross it too.
Before dawn, the mystery had already become a dare.
Carmichael's Secret
That same spark led him to a lonely cottage where Nasmyth Carmichael waited beside a sealed metal box.
Miss Carmichael opened the door, calm and watchful, while her father spoke like a man guarding fire.
Then the little box lifted from his hands and glided through the workshop as if gravity had forgotten it.
Under a glass bell, even the vacuum could not stop it.
Professor Gazen tested the machine, found no trick in it, and watched his own doubt give way.
Within weeks, a larger vessel stood ready in the dark garden, pointed toward the stars.
Leaving Earth
From that dark garden, the ship rose without thunder and carried them over London like a secret thought.
The river shone black below, the bridges burned with light, and the city roared like a sea.
Then the clouds swallowed everything, and the ship burst out into still blue darkness crowded with stars.
Venus waited ahead, bright as a promise, while Earth behind them shrank toward loneliness.
One man nearly died when the thin upper air stole his breath before anyone noticed.
When he woke, the blue world was already fading, and another was growing vast.
The Flower Ceremony
That growing world opened into Womla, a hidden crater of lakes, blossoms, and people who knelt in song.
Days later, on a sacred island, the strangers watched a young priestess step from a temple at sunrise.
She waded among white lilies, raised one shining bloom, and the whole shore answered with music.
When Alumion turned from the barge and smiled straight toward him, the noise of the world fell away.
Professor Gazen admired the ritual, but the traveler could only stand still, as if named by light.
From that hour, every path in Womla seemed to lead toward her.
The Grotto Promise
That light drew him to a hidden grotto where Alumion bathed at sunset beside a sacred spring.
She heard his warning, laughed at his fear of the cave, and spoke to him as if she had always known him.
On the next evening, he offered flowers, confessed his love, and saw her eyes soften with the same answer.
Inside the glowing cave, they shared sacred water while Siloo, her jeweled serpent guardian, watched from the dark.
He called it marriage, but before dawn his friends carried him away, believing Venus had charmed him into madness.
When he woke on Mercury, love had become exile.
Mercury's Shadow
Exile turned savage when a winged beast swept down over Mercury and lifted Miss Carmichael from the cliff.
Professor Gazen ran like a man on fire, and the ship plunged after the creature into a valley of ancient nightmares.
They reached the cave in time, fired together, and pulled her back alive from the slope below.
Then the engines jammed in the furnace heat, Nasmyth Carmichael collapsed, and the silent ship drifted toward the sun.
For one frozen stretch of time, even Professor Gazen could offer only the shape of their doom.
Then Miss Carmichael cooled the locked mechanism with oxygen, and the ship shuddered back to life.
Home Again
That shudder became relief as Earth returned under them with rain, fields, barking dogs, and lamplight.
Professor Gazen found love waiting beside him, and soon he and Miss Carmichael were promised to each other.
Nasmyth Carmichael kept his engine secret, fearing that lesser hearts would carry greed from Earth to gentler worlds.
The traveler walked London again, yet the streets felt small after Womla and its endless, fragrant dawn.
One victory at chess paid his expenses, but no earthly wager could measure what he had lost.
When the wedding bells were done, his course was already set for Venus, where Alumion still waited like a star.

A Trip To Venus - Story Book

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