Yet when they looked back, the gods saw the world was beautiful.

They flew on into space, leaving the blue planet, its fascinating surface, watery and dry, cold and hot.

They had seeded it with bacteria and viruses. They had given it a satellite, called Selene. So the water flowed back and forth, and would eventually encourage life to flow onto the land.

They knew billions of years would pass and agreed to return when, and if, a major species grew up and made efforts to fly beyond the world.

They called the planet Earith, home, Gaia, and waited to see if their seed bed grew.

In May 2020 they returned.

They saw the oceans polluted, the mountains denuded of snow. They saw the glaciers melting and the oceans rising. They could see all the problems.

But they were gods, they could will things to change, eradicate the major species, allow the wilderness to return.

They agreed that this was not possible. Man must learn from its mistakes. Let us return in two millenia and see what has happened they said.

They left, wondering what they would find on their return.

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