They said it couldn’t be done. They said the technology wasn’t advanced enough. They said Mars was too far to reach. But here it is, the very first recreational expedition to the red rock.
Jane spent her life stargazing. She observed for NASA, taught astrophysics at MIT, and built rockets for Space X. Truth be told, those fully fledged careers for other people were just stepping stones for Jane. She had always dreamed of stepping foot on the dusty red surface of Mars, but more than anything she wanted to share that dream. And not with astronauts and billions, talking about atmospheric pressure, and profitability and earning potential of mining Mars rock.
She wanted to share it with other dreamers; those with the fascination and curiosity that compels them to do great things. So she gathered the greatest minds she could. Finding ways to make the trip cost effective, comfortable and rewarding were challenges that spanned decades.
Finally, she had made it to the stars.
“How’s the case coming along?” I say as I bring the coffee into his office. I have to move several documents and manuscripts to find space on the desk to set it down. “Oh just great!” A hard edge of sarcasm cuts me like a knife. I can’t help but feel bad. He started this business because he loved the movie Ace Ventura, but you need an extra license or something to be classified as a detective. He also didn’t realise investigative work would be hard.
“Why can’t she just say where she’s going so I can follow her?” He buries his head in some photos. The pictures show a woman about 35 at a coffee shop; first unaware, then gradually getting closer to the camera until the final photo she’s abusing the photographer behind the lens.
Sandra lives alone in the back woods of Indiana. She spends her days writing emails back and forth from her work from home job as a customer support supervisor for her local library.
When she was younger Sandra spent so much time in the library, exploring strange worlds and vast continents from the comfort of the small cottage she and her mother lived in.
As the years went by, Sandra outgrew that small cottage; but she never did explore the open ocean or traverse bleak deserts in the name of adventure. No, she found the only excitement that would enter her life recently would be when she would have to chase away local wildlife after they dug through her trash.
“It’s a simple life. I need no more, no less” she would mutter, over her cooling tea on crisp winter mornings. As she looked out through the window in her kitchen, fresh snow had fallen in the woods just beyond her backyard. She heaved a long sigh. No more, no less.
She set her tea aside and made for the living room. The cream walls adorned in crochet and other homely crafts were once charming and cute. Now they represented a life that had seemingly come to a stand still.
She floats over to her laptop, it lays closed on a small desk tray, a droopy crochet piece hanging from the edges. She edges it closer to her as she lounges back into her soft leather recliner. She turns on the tv for some background noise to fight against the muffled silence of the snowy woods outside. Sandra turns the volume down to a whisper, she couldn’t care less about the discussions happening on Antiques Roadshow while she tries to get her work done. Another heavy sigh “Christ, who have I become?”, she was only 26.
As she opens her laptop she notices one particular email at the top of her inbox.
!! COMMUNITY SIGN ON - THRILL SEEKERS WANTED !!
It was probably spam that slipped through her filter. But hey, at least it was more exciting than antiques roadshow. She opened up the email to find that there was a group that met on the last Saturday of every month at the local library. Her library. And they would organise little group outings to go on “exciting adventures”, what classified as exciting in this neck of the woods, she wasn’t sure, but there were photos of cookouts, teams playing capture the flag, people paragliding, and those bikes with the four wheels that can go through mud.
Before she knew it, Sandra was skimming the safety waivers and mentally preparing what she was to wear for her first meet up.
John and Steven are brothers that work at a cinema. Late nights and odd characters are a common occurrence. One night as John is closing up shop, he sees something out of the corner of his eye. He’s shocked to find a lone shadow of a person cast upon one of the walls in the foyer. John tries to show the discovery to his brother, but when Steven is finally convinced to take a look, the shadow has disappeared. Over the coming nights John struggles to fight back as he’s plagued by strange visions and curious happenings. Will he survive or will the shadows consume him?
