Forever.Autumn Intro by MillsIdeas

Aliens live among us. They were here long before we crawled from the oceans.

FOREVER AUTUMN A Story by Thomas Mills

FOREVER AUTUMN 2017 – An ancient alien race inhabits planet earth, existing symbiotically and peacefully with humans, the preeminent species – who are rapidly approaching catastrophic, irreversible ecological disaster by virtue of ignorance, stupidity and denial. These aliens differ substantially from the human race – they exist in a vast, interconnected, mutually supportive environment. They nurture each other, throughout the diversity of their species. They venerate their elders and are masters at deception, adaptation, self preservation and defense. Their presence on earth is a monumental tribute to survival. Living for eons – these creatures eat, sleep, breathe, touch, taste, smell and see. They have sheltered us, circumnavigated vast oceans with us, sacrificed themselves as resources for our survival and observed us as we frequently kill each other. Non judgmental, they observe and exist. But now, they sense a tipping point, where the human species has taken too much for its own benefit – to an extent where humans must now die for others to live. The survivalist Arboreal culture must act to save the planet, to save their human cohabitants and to save themselves. Deforestation, global warming, political dysfunction, unmitigated material waste, overcrowding and human disrespect for planetary resources have not gone unnoticed. It is time. A time that will catalyze global change, survival of the few, and an unbelievable future for those who can adapt and evolve. – Thomas Mills Forever. Autumn A four-part science fantasy that is all too likely to come true! Forever. Autumn º Terra Incognita º Terra Redux º Terra Firma

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Images are licensed through Adobe Stock Images. FOREVER. AUTUMN Copyright © 2017 by Thomas Mills All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

The Story so far... Alix (Alessandra Garrett) and Gerek McGovern are about to experience Forever. Autumn Considering herself an “earthy” young woman, Alix was exceptionally comfortable outdoors. From a young age, she developed a considerable affinity for nature...especially for trees. From her very early childhood, Alix experienced strong sensations whenever she climbed and played in and around trees. Strange feelings, thoughts and ideas came to her that she felt compelled to repress from her parents, her friends and especially from her neighbor and classmate Gerek McGovern. As Alix reached her early teens, her feelings about Gerek began to change along with her “special occasions” with trees, as she liked to think of them. Her sensations increased in frequency, duration and magnitude. She began hearing faint voices in her head and dreamed of fantastic creatures living around her – unnoticed by all but Alix herself. Then, on her 20th birthday, Alix made inadvertent contact with an alien race here on Earth...recognizing them as the very beings she’d connected with and experienced while on long periods spent deep in the woods near her Michigan home. She’d discovered an utterly alien race of sentient beings, living among humans all over the globe, who identified themselves as Arboreals. Alix enters an ephemeral relationship with an extremely aged Arboreal called Methuselah. Fascinated and a little scared, she immerses herself in Arboreal culture, history and philosophy through dendritic, fungal connections into her bare skin while on numerous trips to her beloved and secluded wooded dells. She soon learns, to her abject horror...of a rapidly approaching ecological disaster – described by Arboreals as a preexisting situation that will escalate to a point of no return, from which there will be no salvation and no tomorrow for humans, Arboreals and the entire planet unless they intercede. Attending college in southern lower Michigan, Alix longs to reestablish a relationship with Gerek. She desperately wants to see him and share her recent discoveries, as well as the burden that her knowledge has become. But, Alix is warned by the intimidatingly adamant Methuselah, that human knowledge of pending events, to be initiated by Arboreals, would result in cataclysmic consequences for all life on earth. She must remain silent...for now.

Alix learns of a fantastic role the Arboreals plan for her and her alone – and that the path she must follow is both dangerous and lonely.

The human species has taken too much for it’s own benefit.

With the continuation of life on earth hanging in the balance, Alix adopts the name Chrysalis, as suggested by the stoic aliens. She embarks on an impossibly perilous journey...asked to somehow endure the deaths of billions worldwide while preparing a select few fellow humans for unbelievable change, growth, adaptation and evolution – at a pace beyond belief. If Arboreals succeed, earth will continue to host sentient life. Other earthly creatures, never before considered capable of cognitive thought, memory, and emotions will join Arboreals and humans in a cohesive, symbiotic existence. By then, no longer the self-proclaimed dominant species, humans will have to find a new place in a very lush and self-supportive natural ecosystem. The reward for those capable of embracing this change of unbelievable magnitude will rival that experienced by dinosaurs – as a direct result of their utter and irrevocable extinction...their re-birth...with ancestral ties to ancient earth’s pre-history, and the ultimate reward, unknown to the massive earth-bound creatures... the gift of flight! Humans that survive the calamitous effects of Forever. Autumn will experience the planet without an ever-present, penultimate price hanging over their heads for the actions they take while science and technology offer a highly seductive and morbidly ironic “means to an end” – a bitter, selfish, excessive and singular path to the end of days for all life on earth. Terra Incognita, Terra Redux and Terra Firma will follow Forever. Autumn...but, only for those fortunate enough to survive. Earth will never be the same. And, humans will have a significant amount to learn – in a very short time.

Alessandra Garrett (Alix)

FOREVER AUTUMN A Story by Thomas Mills

Methuselah

alessandra

FOREVER AUTUMN A Story by Thomas Mills

arboreals

FOREVER AUTUMN A Story by Thomas Mills

FOREVER AUTUMN FOREVER AUTUMN A Story by Thomas Mills

A Story by Thomas Mills

Roots

FOREVER AUTUMN A Story by Thomas Mills

NeverFall

Forever. Autumn - Teasers: (1) Methuselah (2) Alessandra (3) Arboreals (4) Roots (5) NeverFall (6) Status Quo (7) Dark State

FOREVER AUTUMN A Story by Thomas Mills

dark State

Forever. Autumn is a science fantasy story crafted from images into an outline of a much broader narrative. It’s essentially pictures supported by words. I’ve purposely left things out – inviting you to imagine plot twists, alternate endings and hopefully, inspiring you to craft your own stories in this manner. – Thomas Mills, Author-Artist /Entrepreneur This story is depicted in a series of large images (graphic tableaus) paired with descriptive graphic panels that pull from the central story and chapters of text. Absorb the imagery, imagine what’s happening in the story. Then, explore dialogue, quotations, keywords and facts in the graphic panels. Enjoy. Forever Autumn Copyright © 2017 Thomas Mills • All Rights Reserved

– Thomas Mills Author-Artist /Entrepreneur

July º 2017