Prompt

Sol System, 3986

Mars is celebrating 500 years of breathable air and a bounty of flora and fauna between their still-growing city centers. In the Asteroid belt, a massive asteroid called Ida has been hollowed out, and is the "vibrant" cemter of culture among the miners and outlandrrs who abide nere or nearby. Several moons of the larger outer planets have been or are being developed and terraformed, the gas giants are being mined from low orbit platforms. Mother earth has been pillaged and regrown, still seperated by vast differences in class staus. Earth is home to the Terran federation, Mars and Ida, are not a part, Terrans have bases all throughout the sol system.

Our story begins at one of the 50 days of celebrations on Mars, or on our way there...

Dear Adam.

Dear Adam,

It was nice seeing you this weekend. Thanks for always coming to the boys' birthdays. I know you'll say "Of course!", and not make a big deal of it, but know that it isn't something I take for granted. I'm sorry I can't always be there for your birthdays, but the boys are more suited for weekend getaways to Chicago, we'll be there. We wouldn't want to miss your 34th birthday, after all. 

I'm sure you recall that while you were here we talked as we sometimes do of this blog.  I can't say it's the finest catalogue of my personal portfolio by any means, but I think we were onto something that needs to prevail.  Our format was absurd, then manageable, but in the end I think there was still something missing. It's possible that we're not cut out for any kind of regular submission. Perhaps if it is just a conversation we would do better. Perhaps not. Let's see what happens, shall we?

Your Brother Forever,

-Jeremy-

P.S. Almost forgot! I thought I would write a little something to sprinkle some creativity on this post. Here it is...

The ravages of time were evident on the old weathered stones. The dull gray winter sky was echoed in the faded granite that jutted from the rippling field of blue grass. Wind whistled and moaned as it rushed past the ruined monument. Axar and Ziva stepped down lightly from their hovercraft. The rustling grass rose to their knees, tickling where it reached past their boots. It was a quiet place, and they hadn't spoken a word since they spotted it across the gently sloping grasslands.  Ziva reached the shattered pillar first, though neither of them was in any hurry. This was their honeymoon after all, and they weren't supposed to return until their spirits had bonded. Whatever that meant. It hadn't been a marriage of choice, but a matter of political significance. They had only first met today at their wedding, and had yet to hold a conversation. The ride away from civilization had been uncomfortable, neither knowing what to say.

Axar carefully watched his bride as she reached out and traced her fingers gentle through the deep, pitted grooves. She seemed to be a gentle person. He had never heard her raise her voice, or make even a single aggressive motion in the time he had known her. The ancient platform had been long claimed by the soil and grass, but what once must have been a square obelisk lie shattered across the plain. Even on its side, the rocks stood nearly two meters tall. She stood next to the dark thing and glowed. Her hair danced in the wind and he was lost in it until she turned and caught his look. Ziva smiled a new smile then, one he hadn't seen before but like a lot. It made him blush for the first time since he was a child.

"Do you know what they mean?" He asked, diverting his gaze to the designs and symbols that covered every surface. Her smile didn't disappear even as she turned back to the stone and began speaking.

"They're old. This language uses a mixture of symbols with meaning and designs that alter those meanings depending on the other symbols, the placement, and other factors like that. This is left over from the ancient ancestors of my people, but they only used them in the most formal and permanent of settings, like worship settings or monuments. However..."

Ziva grabbed a hold of the top edge with both hands and vaulted her entire body up with one smooth motion, landing with both feet on top of the plinth.

"They can't be read as such. They are meant to evoke feelings, so they don't translate very well."

She cast him a look with that smile again and his knees almost buckled. What was