Gueren wandered across the arid landscape, kicking up sand with every weary step.

 

At last, he stumbled across an oasis. Not exactly like what he’d find on Earth, but similar enough. Several tree-things loomed on the edge of a small, still pond. He gratefully slid into their scant shade like a baseball player sliding into home plate, winning relief from the relentless heat and glare of this alien sun.

 

He needed sleep, but his thirst wanted slaking more.

 

Keeping to the thin shade, he crept to the edge of the pool. With trembling hand, he scooped up a handful of —

 

It wasn’t water after all. That would have been too perfectly fortuitous. The substance in his hand was viscous, syrupy. It wasn’t clear either; it was foggy. Gueren brought the handful to his nose and sniffed. It smelled like flowers! Roses maybe? He didn’t know flowers on Earth that well, but he knew what they smelled like. He’d been to enough funerals of fellow astronauts to recognize that fragrance.

 

He shook his hand, flinging the goo back into the pond. He then staggered back to the tree-thing, leaned against it and slumped down. He’d take a nap in what little shade it offered. He closed his eyes to dream of the cool vast lakes of Earth.

 

* * *

 

The chill of this brutal planet’s night woke him. Shivering, but somewhat refreshed, Gueren stretched and yawned and — looking at the pond, he saw ripples in the moonlight. Not one giant ripple, but several small ripples pinging all around the pool.

 

He glanced up at the tree-thing, wondering if debris or seeds had fallen from its large multi-fingered leaves. He saw no movement, observed no detritus on the sands around him. Was there life under the surface of this gelatinous pool? Life that stirred when the ambient temperature cooled to a certain point? It was so unrelentingly hot during the day, he could understand if life on this region of the planet was nocturnal.

 

He laughed to himself. If I lived here I would be.

 

As he mused, a small — something— leapt from the center of the pond and splashed— splashed! — back down. Was it possible that as the temperature fell, the gooey pond liquefied? That made no sense; but then, there was much on this particular world that made no sense to him.

 

Gueren approached the edge of the pool, now seeing blooms of green fringing its perimeter. And with those spots of green, tiny bright — flowers? They weren't petaled, and had no stamens in their centers. But they were colorful, with varying shades of iridescent blues and pinks, and cup-shaped. He gingerly touched one, and the cup flattened into a saucer shape. He wondered if it was like the Venus flytrap back on Earth.

 

Splash! He heard again as he studied the flora. Jerking his head up, he caught the tail-end of something frolicking in the center of the pond. He once more dipped his hand into the pool, and this time retrieved a substance very much like water. It leaked between his fingers, dripping clear and tepid onto the sand. He brought up to his nose. It smelled like Earth water! Don’t taste it just yet, he ordered himself. Must test it first.

 

In the center of this pond floated a flat lily-pad shaped flower, palely glowing in the moonlight. The size of it equaled the span of his outstretched arms. It begged for investigation; he rose and crossed into the shallow edge of the pool. The ambient temperature of the water was so calming he didn’t care if his suit was drenched, making him heavier, making every movement a challenge. Curiosity tempted him to wade farther in.

 

As he neared the alien flower floating in the center, the sandy floor beneath him gave way, and he went under, barely having time to catch his breath.

 

The alien dawn came quickly, bringing its exhausting heat with it. The pond first gelled, then hardened, never again to liquefy; the pool had captured its hapless prey like an insect trapped in amber. It would take a hundred thousand revolutions of this planet around its sun before the remains of the astounded astronaut would be found and put on display to be studied by future off-world archaeologists.