[ WP ] A group of people worship a small , plain , clear glass marble . You touch it , and realise why .

I touched the marble, and as I looked at the girl holding it in her hand, standing erect and proud, I understood. On this planet, under the harsh glow of this alien sun, they had nothing left to worship. The technology that brought them to this world, their engineering skills and their knowledge of who they were and why they had come... bled away over the generations until all that was left was this. A relic from a time when the Universe was their playground, now the pride of a people who had so little they could cherish a worthless piece of glass over all. 
 
 I understood. 
 
 `` My lady,'' I bowed to her, `` I thank you for the gift you have given me, to allow me to not only see this holy stone, but to touch it as though I were one of the sacred. I will not forget this, nor will my people.'' 
 
 She nodded, and haughtily drew herself to her full height. She reverently placed the marble within the shell where it was normally housed, and placed it within the hands of the blind caretakers that cared for it. `` You are privileged. Yes, more than you know. I wished you to know that we, too, have wonders beyond imagining here on our world, that we, too, have things beyond human understanding. When you return to your people, you will tell them this?'' 
 
 I nodded to her once again. `` My Lady, I will tell them of all I have seen.'' I bowed once again to her, then to the people assembled in the sunken valley below the stone outcrop where we stood, and turned to return to the transference platform. 
 
 I would tell my people of what I have seen here. A people with nothing and a world with no potential. I would not return.
