Alone
Finally it was time. Today was the day, the day I would achieve my dreams. I shifted in the seat uncomfortably, it was the only seat so I didn’t have much choice. I practiced my breathing exercises, bracing myself for the rumble as the engines ignited. I squeezed my eyes shut, in through my nose, out through my mouth. My breath slightly fogged the glass of my helmet. The rumble grew louder, and everything began to shake, but I was ready.
The small ship began to lift off of the ground, I could feel my weight being pressed against the seat as it began to climb into the sky. Before I knew it the station below me began to shrink smaller and smaller with every passing second. I could feel the pressure in my head the most, I felt heavy. The earth grew smaller, and the endless stretch of space engulfed me. It was beautiful, the shifting colors, the glimmer of stars not poisoned by the Earth’s atmosphere. I had dreamt of this moment my whole life, and it did not disappoint.
The planet was dying. We had known this for about forty seven years. The plan was to leave this planet to the next most inhabitable. I knew growing up I wanted to be among the first to go, to adventure into unexplored land. I trained for years, and took every opportunity to apply. I got in after two years of persistence. The preparation training they put you through was dreadful. But finally I was here, seeing the vastness of space.
The journey would be roughly thirteen days, and the compact ship was auto-piloted. I was opening a package of freeze-dried bananas, the dashboards’ various colored lights blinking comfortingly, when I felt a low rumble. The rumble grew into a deafening roar as I struggled to peer out of the glass. I barely caught a glimpse of the asteroid before it crashed into the back portion of the ship. I felt my head slam, and my vision faded to darkness.
I came to, warning lights blinking and blaring. I scrambled through the air towards the dashboard.
“Shit!” I exclaimed to no one.
The navigation was dysfunctional, and certainly not on course. The ship was badly damaged, and inoperable. I sighed in disbelief. I was saving the ice cream for when I saw our new planet, a form of celebration, but I slumped down and decided to eat the melty delicious cubes. As I chewed I pondered what I would do.
What could I do? I thought to myself.
I wanted to see it so badly, the vast emptiness of space. Now, I came to realize, I was stuck here. I was alone.
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