Five years had passed.
Mars was changing. Outside the domes, small green patches now appeared. Green saplings on red dust—like someone's painting. Among the trees brought from Earth, some survived, some died. But those that survived grew slowly larger.
Lina was no longer young. She was thirty now. She had become Mars' chief agriculturist. Fifty scientists worked under her leadership. Their mission—how to grow crops in Martian soil, how to keep trees alive.
Today was a big day. For the first time, a flower had bloomed on Martian soil. A red rose. Not an Earth rose—the first flower born on Martian soil.
Lina ran to the flower. Everyone gathered around. Some cried, some laughed. David came—now Mars' administrator. His eyes too held tears.
"Lina, you did it!" David said.
Lina touched the flower. Her hands trembled. "Not me—we did it. Earth's seed, Mars' soil—together they made it happen."
The flower was red. Red like Martian soil. But this red wasn't the red of death—it was the red of life, the red of love.
News spread to Earth. Maya was on Earth then. Standing on her balcony, she heard the news. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Emon, can you see this?" she whispered. "Flowers bloom in the desert. What you said came true."
That night, every TV channel on Earth showed that red rose. People cried, people lost themselves in joy. An old man, Haridas, said, "Emon's dream came true. He didn't just save people—he saved a planet."
Festive mood prevailed on Mars. Everyone decided together—this day would be "Flower Day." Every year on this day, new flowers would be planted, and old flowers cared for.
Lina couldn't sleep that night. She kept thinking—what would the next generation see? Would her children see green forests on this red desert?
She wrote in her diary:
"Dear Diary, today the first flower bloomed on Martian soil. A red rose. When I was small, Father used to say, 'Flowers will never bloom on Mars.' Father was wrong. Father thought Mars was only rock and dust. But Father didn't know that human will can melt even rock. We melted it. We proved nothing is impossible."
The next morning, Lina went out to plant new saplings. Then she saw a boy standing in the distance. The boy was ten or eleven. He was kneeling on Martian soil, looking at something.
Lina approached. "What are you looking at?"
The boy said, "I'm watching that ant. There were no ants on Mars. Where did it come from?"
Lina was surprised. Indeed, an ant walked on the ground. A tiny black ant. Perhaps it came with plants from Earth. Now it was building a new home on Martian soil.
Lina smiled. "It came from Earth. Its home was on Earth. Now it's made Mars its home."
The boy asked, "Will we also make Mars our home? Isn't Earth our home?"
Lina placed her hand on the boy's head. "Earth is like our mother. We're born there. But Mars is now like our sister. We'll build homes here too. We'll live in both places, love both places."
The boy's name was Jon. His parents were among Mars' first settlers. Jon had never seen Earth, but had heard many stories.
"Auntie Lina, can I go to Earth someday?"
"You can. When you grow up, you'll go to Earth. You'll see blue sky there, green fields, rivers. But remember—Mars is your first home. Your roots are in this red soil."
Jon fell silent. Then he said, "I'll go to Earth, but I'll come back. Because I too will plant trees here. I too will make flowers bloom."
Lina embraced Jon. In this boy, she saw the future Mars—a Mars no longer desert, but green, vibrant, beautiful.
That evening, a strange sight appeared in Mars' sky. When Earth and Mars aligned in a straight line, it seemed as if the two planets were kissing. Lina stood at the window watching.
David came beside her. "What are you thinking?"
Lina said, "I'm wondering what Emon would say if he saw this."
David smiled. "He'd say, 'Look—people and planets, all together one family.'"
Lina smiled too. In the sky, two planets—one blue, one red—both seemed to smile.
The next morning, Lina went to the flower garden. Yesterday's red rose was still there. But beside it, another flower had bloomed today. White. Not like Earth's white roses—slightly different—the first white flower born on Martian soil.
Lina ran to call David. "Look! Another flower bloomed!"
David came and saw. Both fell silent. These two flowers—one red, one white—seemed symbols of Earth and Mars. Red for Mars, not blue for Earth—white, like a symbol of peace.
David said, "We must preserve this too. This day will also remain in history."
Lina said, "Every day of ours is history. Every day we're doing something new, building something new. This Mars is no longer the old Mars."
True. In five years, Mars had changed greatly. The number of domes had increased. The population had grown. Now nearly a hundred thousand people lived here. Half from Earth, half original Martian residents. They had merged together. Now no one asked, "Are you from Earth or Mars?" Everyone knew—they were all Martians, all Earthlings—one human race.
Maya came to Mars once more. This time she came for a special reason. She brought Emon's old medicine box. It would be kept in Mars' museum. Just as it was on Earth, it would now be on Mars—in memory of Emon.
The museum was built in Mars' central area. Inside a massive dome. It held Mars' history—the first ship, the first house, the first sapling, and now the first flower.
When Maya placed the medicine box, thousands of people stood in silence. Then David said, "Emon didn't just save Earth—he saved our Mars too. His touch touched every one of our lives. We are grateful."
Lina stepped forward. In her hand was a flower—the red rose, Mars' first flower. She placed it beside the medicine box.
"For Emon," she said. "To let him know his dream came true."
Everyone remained silent. But within that silence, a thousand voices seemed to call Emon's name, thank him.
Maya opened her diary that night:
"Dear Emon, today your medicine box reached Mars. So far from Earth, yet you're here too. Your love transcended boundaries. Today I understood how great a person can become. You're no longer just a name—you're a belief, a hope, a dream. You live among us. You live in this red soil, in these green saplings, in these flowers. You live forever."
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