A planet that is perfect for humanity... but the star is too dim to see it

Every few days or so a new first contact story comes out and it’s always a setup for a punchline. It’s a bit overdone and not very funny tbh, but it bears an interesting question, why are we so focused on telling stories about first contact? What makes it so intriguing to the human mind? I think the first answer is that it’s a mystery, and we love unraveling mysteries. The big question on everyone’s mind is, are we alone in the universe? So any attempt to answer that is intriguing.<br><br>The second reason I think is that it’s a great storytelling tool. It’s an easy way to set a story up and start going, it’s a good character development tool, and it can create instant tension. The third reason is that it is BEYOND our subject. It is something beyond what we can currently do. So it is something beyond our reality, and opens up a world of possibilities. It is something we would love to happen, but have no idea how to make it happen. <br><br>On the flip side of this, I think it’s why a lot of people hate the first contact story. It’s been overdone to an annoying point, and even though it’s a good storytelling tool, that could also be its biggest weakness. No one wants to read a setup for a punchline over and over again. And, on the flip side of the third point, even though we want to make this happen, the fact that we have no idea how to do it is frustrating to a lot of people. <br><br>I think there’s room for improvement with first contact stories, and I think that new ideas could definitely be introduced to make them interesting. Or, you know, people could just stop using them. What are your thoughts on first contact and do you think there’s room left for new ideas?#####Edit: it was a first contact story in the sense that it was the first time the aliens ever communicated with humanity, not a story "about" the first contact. But yeah I'm definitely using OP as a prompt to write a story.