Life hasn’t been going too well not for me at least depression has taken its toil and family matters keep getting worse I don’t know what’s true iv found a way to escape the pain for a little while but I the cost is losing this life while trying to live in a daydream Ann wrote her thoughts in a notebook then hid it under a hatch that was under the bed

“Ann time for school!” Mom yelled from downstairs “And done forget your math book!.”

“Ok, Mom!.” Ann replied irritated she put her earbuds in and started playing “Let You Down” by NF as she packed her bag and slid her math book under the bed packed her drawing pad then looked around her room it was a small room with a bed and desk above the desk were drawings of mythical dragons she made up along with lyrics from her favorite songs many of them was from Citizen Soldier then NF although she never told her mom about the song artists so she didn't put their names down on the papers she looked at her window ceil and found Pumpkin a black cat with white socks and greenish eyes the cat stared back at her and started purring “I wish I could switch places with you must be nice to sleep all day.” she said quietly to her cat while petting her fluffy shiny black fur

“Annabel Maria! Hurry up you're making me late for work.” Mom yelled once again from downstairs

“Coming!.” she said as she swung her backpack and then looked longingly back at her room “Bye Pumpkin see you after school.” Ann ran down the stairs two at a time and almost ran into mom

“Why are you wearing those boots to school?.” Mom said as she grabbed her purse off the rack

“Because I like them,” Ann said irritated

“I don't- well just hurry up your running late.” Mum said again as she walked to the door.”

Ann ran off to the kitchen grabbed some toast ran out the door and got into the car unpaused her earbuds played her song as loud as she dared without her mom hearing She looked out the window watching the scenery go by not really paying attention just wanted to escape the world she lived in

Jaclin groaned and stood up from her wrecked ship. The front of it was buried deep in the dirt.

“Now I’ll never get back home.” She sighed.

Jaclin stepped tentatively out of her ship and stared into the forest. A few bushes rustled. A deer scampered into the clearing with her, then ran off. A wolf chased close behind.

The sun glinted against something and Jaclin squinted through the trees at it. She couldn’t really see it, so she decided to get closer, leaving her ship behind.

When she reached it, she realized in was a car. Ferns and berry bushes grew in its tires and seats.

“Weird. Why would a car be out here?”

Suddenly, something hit Jaclin and she was slammed into the dirt.

“Hey!” She shouted at the person on top of her.

It got up and Jaclin followed. “What was that for?”

The person said nothing, just ran away.

“Such a strange person.” Jaclin sighed, dusting the dirt off her tight space suit.

Then she decided to follow the person, or at least try to. Jaclin started whistling and walking even farther away from her ship and the car.

The forest was beautiful. Jaclin stopped every once in a while to just let the breeze blow in her face.

Eventually, huge skyscrapers rose up from the horizon. Jaclin continued walking and gasped in wonder. She got closer and reached a wall. She stared up at its end and jumped up to climb to it. Once she reached it, Jaclin slid over the other side. An ox person stood there, watching her with fearful eyes.

“I’m not here to hurt you.” She whispered. “Can you tell me how to get to those skyscrapers?”

The ox person relaxed. “Ride the subway over there.” He pointed to a long subway train. “You better hurry, it’s about to leave.”

Jaclin thanked the ox and ran for the subway, dodging around many more animal people. Once she was able to comfortably sit in one of the seats, she realized the ox had talked.

“Woah.” She breathed.

When she looked up, a bunch of other animals were staring at her. Jaclin felt herself getting hot.

“Sorry.” She whispered, standing up.

“What animal are you?” A tiny voice asked from below her.

Jaclin looked down to see a tiny zebra. She crouched down closer to him and gently touched his nose. “A human.” She replied.

The zebra’s mother snatched him away from her. Jaclin looked up at her. “It’s okay. I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

“What’s a human?” The zebra kid asked, getting and ear flick from his mom.

Jaclin tried soothing the mother again. “They’re somewhat docile creatures. Some are really nice and the others aren’t so nice. I’m one of the nice ones fortunately.”

The zebra mother gave Jaclin a wary look, but placed her son down. He immediately ran to sit on one of Jaclin’s legs.

“Look mommy! I sitting on a human!” He squealed.

Jaclin giggled a little and placed the zebra back on the subway floor. “It’s my stop.” She stood up again.

The zebra tugged her pants. “Can I go with you?” He asked.

Jaclin leaned down and got close to his ear. “I’m pretty sure your mother wouldn’t like that.” She whispered.

The zebra moaned, but didn’t disagree and went back to his mother.

Jaclin stood upright and turned around. Before she could start to step close to the doors, a rabbit hopped past her out of the train. The rabbit looked awfully familiar somehow. Jaclin shook the thought away and stepped out of the subway.

When she saw the rabbit walking towards a police station, she decided to follow her. Jaclin raised her arm and turned her watch slightly to make herself invisible. Then she followed the rabbit inside.

She watched as it approached the front desk. A leopard greeted her.

The rabbit had to jump to make the leopard see her and he leaned over the edge.

Jaclin couldn’t hear what they were saying, but didn’t need to. She had crash-landed herself in Zootopia. Somehow.

Lizzie’s heart pounded in her chest as she struggled to regain her bearings. The crash had been sudden and unexpected, leaving her disoriented and surrounded by the wreckage of her spaceship. She looked around, her eyes widening in disbelief as she took in the lush landscape of the unknown planet.

“Daniel, are you okay?” Lizzie called out, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and excitement.

Daniel emerged from the wreckage, dusting off his clothes. “I’m fine, Lizzie. But where are we?”

Lizzie’s gaze swept across the horizon, her eyes widening with wonder. “Daniel, look! It’s our world, but… different. Everything seems… perfect.”

As they ventured further, they noticed something extraordinary. The people they encountered were genuinely kind and happy. Smiles adorned every face, and laughter filled the air. The streets were clean, and there was an overwhelming sense of harmony and compassion.

In this parallel universe, there was no trace of meanness or hate. The world seemed to have learned from the mistakes of their own reality, creating a society that valued empathy and love above all else. It was a utopia, a place where dreams of peace and unity had come true.

Lizzie and Daniel marveled at the beauty of this new world, eager to learn more about its inhabitants. They struck up conversations with the locals, who welcomed them with open arms and shared stories of their harmonious existence.

They discovered that in this world, conflicts were resolved through dialogue, understanding, and compromise. Education focused not only on knowledge but also on emotional intelligence and empathy. The arts flourished, reflecting the universal desire for beauty and expression. And most importantly, love and compassion were the guiding principles that shaped every interaction.

As Lizzie and Daniel immersed themselves in this idyllic society, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of longing for their own world. They yearned for the possibility of a reality where kindness prevailed over cruelty, where love triumphed over hate.

In their journey through this parallel universe, Lizzie and Daniel realized that the absence of meanness and hate didn’t mean the absence of challenges. They encountered struggles and setbacks, but the people faced them with resilience and a shared determination to overcome obstacles together.

With each passing day, Lizzie and Daniel grew more inspired by the people they met and the world they had discovered. They knew they had a choice – to return to their own reality or to stay in this utopia. They pondered the implications and the potential impact they could have on their world if they brought back the lessons they had learned.

In the end, Lizzie and Daniel made a decision. They bid farewell to the kind-hearted people of the parallel world, carrying with them the hope and knowledge that a world without meanness and hate was not just a dream, but a possibility worth fighting for.

As they returned to their own reality, Lizzie and Daniel vowed to spread kindness, love, and empathy. They knew that change starts with individuals, and they were determined to be the catalysts for a world where everyone could experience the joy and harmony they had witnessed.

And so, armed with the lessons from their extraordinary journey, Lizzie and Daniel set out to make their own world a little brighter, one act of kindness at a time.

Sometimes I wonder, If I’ve been silent for so long, That I’ve forgotten how to speak

And if I’m in the mirror, Watching my own life, In the same world but detached from everything.

Alone from everyone. I’ve become quite the introspective girl in these past months.

And relativity. How do I relate to anything? What is my place in the world? I’m trying to learn.

I spend everyday learning, Every moment growing, But I don’t just grow up, I grow out.

Everything is dark. The last thing I remember is a flashing light, and a loud BANG! I look to my left and move the fingers on my hand. I’m still alive. I think everything is okay. Luckily, the trees helped cushion the impact and slowed our speed before plummeting into the surface. Our crew is 6. I look around and everyone is accounted for in their hyper sleep chambers. Vitals appear to be normal and no one has been disturbed from their sleep. I look into the mirror. Aside from a few bumps and scratches, I too appear to be fine. The equipment still works on my dash. Aside from some outer damage, the engine and fuel lines appear to be stable. I pull up the information from sensors placed outside measuring the quality of the outside air. All the readings indicate that this is an exact duplicate of planet Earth. Which means, we shouldn’t require any kind of “space gear” to properly breath and function. Incredible. Within 15 minutes our ship is surrounded by the creatures of this planet. They look exactly like us… are they human? I suppose we will need to make contact and know for sure. As I descend upon our aircraft, the onlookers start to murmur. Clearly there is confusion amongst their kind. Probably like us, they were expecting to see something alien. Maybe some small grey figure with a giant heads and black eyes? As I approach the ground, someone who looks to be in charge walks towards me and extends a welcoming hand. “Gooo Gooo, gah gah” the full grown man says in a baby like voice, and begins trying to put my fingers towards his mouth. “What the fuck?!?” I scream out in utter confusion. “Leroy! No! The guests are not food” belts a much more adult voice. I look around to see where the voice is coming from. “Down Here!” As my eyes wander towards my feet, I notice a baby, just barely old enough to walk. I look in confusion. He opens his mouth. “Did you not hear me? I could have sworn you just yelled something in English, so clearly you must understand a bit of what I’m saying, no?” I blink several times. Clearly my eyes and/or ears must be playing tricks on me. I begin to speak. “I’m sorry, I must be a little dazed from the crash. I could have sworn that man over there sounded like a baby and attempted to put my fingers in his mouth… and you a baby of maybe 2 years old, is speaking to me as if you’re a 60 year old man.” “60?? I’m offended. I’ll have you know that I recently celebrated my 56th Birthday and am feeling as spry as ever… except for maybe my balance… my legs aren’t what they used to be. And maybe my vantage point has decreased significantly in the last 5 years… but my mind is sharp. But you wouldn’t know anything about that. You’re just a child. old enough to be my grandson. Let me guess, 7 or 8? Where’s the adult from your ship, clearly you can’t be in charge”.

Suddenly I realized a major difference between our worlds. It would appear that the aging process was the complete opposite to Earth, which made me think: how the hell does the birthing process take place? My mind starts to wander and I become overwhelmed in thought in front of this strange old man baby.

I looked down.

“Well son, how old are you? Where are your parents?”

“Wha…..!?”

I puke uncontrollably and begin to lose consciousness as I tumble towards the ground.

“What the actual fuck?!?!?” says the old man baby.

Everything goes black.

“Houston be aware - I’m coming in hot.”

“Roger that, Zenith One. We expected this. Brace for a bumpy landing.”

I braced all I could in the coffin-like pod, bunching my fists and screwing my eyes tight. Thoughts of Emily popped into my head, the way when she smiled at me she always gave me a little wink, something I’d never seen her do to anyone else. I couldn’t wait to see her. I had only been away for a day but that was a day too long.

A slight knock rattled the pod. I must be at the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere. The rattles turned into a full on battering as the air became thicker. As klaxons blared, I felt the pod beginning to tumble, pressure building in my legs, chest, arms, head. I tried to push back, held my breath and forced air up, trying to not black out, but I was crashing… crashing… this was it… Emily…

I came to hearing a rhythmic beeping to my left - my heartbeat turned into something digital - felt the cool of hospital sheets under me. I peeled open my eyes, making out the figure of Major Bolcher, chest puffed, wide grin.

“Welcome home, son. Extraordinary effort. First class. Our names… your name will be in the history books. ‘Tom Anderson, Light Speed Man.’”

The mission swam through the fog in my head, becoming clearer. The first manned attempt to reach light speed, slingshotting around the sun and Pluto. Apparently it had been a success.

“Emily…” I managed to croak.

The Major looked confused. “No Emily here, son. Was she working on the mission? Your nurse, maybe?”

The darkness closed around my eyes again.

The next few days were a blur. I heard voices, felt people prodding and poking with needles and icy implements. And in between, I dreamt of Emily, our wedding day, our honeymoon, nights curled up watching a movie, days eating at fine restaurants. At one point I was sure she was in the room with me, felt her presence, smelled her perfume. I forced my eyes open to find only a porter pushing a mop around my bed.

After a while the dream state lifted and I found myself face to face with the Cheshire Cat-smile of my best friend, James Brennan.

“What’s happening, Shitkicker?” he laughed.

“Not much, Skyscraper,” I grinned. “Nice of you to visit.”

“How could I not? How are you feeling, buddy?”

“Like I just fell out of the sky. How’s Emily? Where is she?”

“Who?”

“Stop screwing around, man. Emily. My wife?”

James clamped his hand over my mouth hard, his head swiveling to look around. “Hay dude, what’s wrong with you? Knock it off with that W talk before we both end up on the Separator.”

I pulled his hand away. “What the hell are you taking about? I want to see Emily.”

“Oh man, I think there’s something wrong with your meds. You’re talking crazy. I’m going to get the nurse,” jabbered James as he left in search of help. He couldn’t leave quick enough.

The rest of the day was a stream of nurses and doctors, all looking sternly at my notes, more prodding and poking, the kind of whispered conversations that are never a good sign. Still, no Emily.

That night, having mostly regained full use of my brain, I clicked on the TV above my bed. Some gameshow was on, the host a perma-grinned, vaguely orange man with the personality of an over-excited toddler. He was gesticulating wildly at a half-naked man and woman trussed up in some strange metal contraption that made it appear as though they had their arms and legs intertwined with each other. This was a strange gameshow.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our spouses have been loaded into The Separator,” the host chattered as an off-screen audience roared in applause. “Now, please welcome… The Convictooooorrrrr!”

The audience erupted in adulation as a tall figure, shrouded in a black cloak, entered the stage and stood with his (its?) back to the contestants.

“Spouses,” the Convictor boomed, “you have been found guilty of co-habitation, pursuant to Section 4 of the Anti-Marriage Act of 1983. You are sentenced to… Separation!”

A loud hydraulic hiss came from the contraption and the contestants (victims?) began to scream frantically, their faces turning pink, then red, then deepest purple. The strain was showing on their limbs as they were pulled apart from each other while still remaining intertwined. Their screams grew louder as the pressure grew before suddenly the contraption split apart, arms and legs and blood and muscle and bone raining down onto the stage as the crowd cheered their appreciation.

I hammered the power button on the remote, casting the room into near darkness.

My head was spinning. Marriage outlawed? Punished by death? Where was Emily? Where the hell was I?

I spent the next three days not taking in anything around me. People came and went, I slept a little, ate nothing. My mind was racing but I had no answers.

On the fourth night I was awoken by James. “Come on, buddy, we’re getting you out of here.”

I found myself in a car, speeding along a dark backroad. “I found her,” said James excitedly.

“Who?”

“This Emily chick. I found her. She was at college with us, right?”

“Of course. That’s where we met.”

“Well, man, I don’t know why you are obsessed with her all of a sudden, but I found her for you.”

We stopped, now in a quiet suburb, outside a small house. James nodded. “This is it. Be careful, man.”

I stepped out, cold air entering my hospital gown, stepped up to the house. I knocked.

A woman opened the door, unmistakably Emily. She smiled that same smile, gave a little wink. “Hi. I’ve been waiting forever to see you.”

ASHLEY’S SPACE JOURNAL

October 1, 2043

I wasn’t expecting that my first entry would be describing a terrifying crash rather than a safe landing, but here we are. The goal of this solo trip was simply to arrive on Mars and snap some photos, but inexplicably my ship crashed when I was only about halfway there. To my immense gratitude, I ended up crashing not into an asteroid or comet but another planet, one that, although it is completely new to us and was undiscovered before now, appears eerily similar to Earth from afar.

Luckily, I was just able to contact those at base and inform them of my location before all connection was lost. The rescue team will arrive in an estimated two days, so in the meantime, I suppose I should explore this foreign planet as much as I can.

October 1, 2043

It’s remarkable; from what I’ve seen of this planet so far, it is not only similar to Earth but completely identical. It’s a Goldilocks planet, thriving with a multitude of different animals, plants, and yes, even humans! Upon exiting my spaceship, I found that I had crashed in a large field filled with sunflowers and lush green grass.

I had only to walk a little before I discovered a small neighborhood, whose inhabitants were not the insect-eyed green men I might have expected to find but rather humans, humans just like us- old, young, male, female, two eyes, ten fingers, two legs- everything is the same. I was doubly shocked when I learned that every existing language on Earth is also spoken here, and also that I had luckily landed in this planet’s equivalent of America, where most of those around me speak fluent English. So, I conversed with the people living in this town, explaining where I come from and how I came to be here, and have thus far not been able to find a single feature of them or this planet that distinguishes them from what we have on Earth.

Their average lifespan is around 75-80 years. Their pregnant women carry the baby for nine months before giving birth. Their age of majority, depending on which country one lives in, ranges from 15-21. They build factories, have jobs, use currency, live under governments and kingdoms. Their children enjoy playing games and watching TV- yes, even TVs and the Internet exist on this planet. They keep pets, play instruments, create beautiful art. There are schools, and hospitals, and post offices, and amusement parks- really, it’s all so uncanny.

I will continue to observe this planet with great interest.

October 2, 2043

Well, I finally found it. It was purely accidental, but I found it nonetheless. The one difference between humans on Earth and the ones living here. When Anna (one of the town’s inhabitants who I befriended yesterday) tripped over a large stone on the ground and scraped her knee, I was astonished by the color of her blood. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet- she was bleeding a rainbow! She was puzzled by my surprise, and then was surprised herself when I told her that our blood on Earth is only crimson.

Now that I am aware of this unusual feature, its implications are both fascinating and somewhat amusing; it means that a smear of rainbow on this planet isn’t the work of an artist, but a bloodstain. The scenes featured in horror movies might include a deadly knife dripping in rainbow and painful wounds that ooze the seven colors. While a history book depicting a battlefield filled with Skittle-colored bodies of fallen soldiers might appear rather silly to us, it’s a very serious matter to them. A children’s cartoon in which an animated sparkling unicorn throws up rainbows might be entertaining and funny for kids on Earth, but for the young children on this planet it would be downright traumatizing and most likely receive complaints from angered parents. And, perhaps, it need not be mentioned, but of course this new discovery also means that all of the women on this planet are greeted with rainbows once a month.

On this planet, though, I suppose I am using the wrong word; they don’t call the seven-colored arc in the sky a rainbow, but a bloodbow, as it resembles their blood. And, not surprisingly, they refer to their lunar eclipses as simply Red Moons rather than Blood Moons, since the color red by itself carries no indication of blood to them.

Well, my rescue team arrives tomorrow, and I have much to tell and show them. I am honored to have made such an astounding discovery and look forward to learning more about these amazing people: The humans with rainbow blood in their veins.

Every muscle hurt. The memory of pain, incredible pain, rattled my clearly broken bones. Dry yet sticky my lips were stuck together. A cool sweet flavored towel patted my lips. Sweet relief. Slowly I opened my eyes. The Centauria were waiting.

Proxima Centauri b, earth’s closest M planet, was four light years away and the most like home. Nearly eighty percent water, this was an island planet. One giant continent dwarfed by its one giant sea. They reached out to us first. When the Centaurian satellite first appeared Earthlings lost their collective shit.

They were patient and good natured and clearly had way more advanced technology. Earth calmed its ass down. After years of communication NASA and the other space agencies copied their spacecraft design. Rakim and I manned the first vessel beautifully until the meteors. I blinked at the memories of the crash in the desert of Proxima Centauri b.

A cool hand patted away the sweat on my brow and my mind settled. There was the smell of summer grass after the rains. I opened my eyes. The Centauria waited. They were humanoid with delicate features and skins in shades of purple. A lavender one in front tilted their head with sympathy.

“Hey ‘sup?” Tall Lavender said through their translator box.

“Howdy strangers,” I croaked back. My translator sat on my chest.

The Centauria made their happy music language sounds to one another. I was in a hospital of some kind. I looked for Rakim. A cup of liquid floated towards and hovered by my hand. I accepted it and drank. The lights on the monitors around me glowed slightly. One of the aliens, stocky, deep purple, and muscular, surveyed the monitors then scanned its tablet.

“It’s like lemonade with cinnamon. Weird and wonderful,” I said.

This comment really jazzed up my visitors. The empty cup was gently pulled from my fingers.

“How’s Rakim? Where is he?”

Short Violet said solemnly, “you’re partner was busted up bad. We have him under sedation in our … water bed.”

Yeah we would need to tweak these translators or maybe the Centauria were trying to make feel comfortable. They were so chill. We talked about the accident and how a space phone would be brought in so I can communicate with earth.

“By the way you guys never said you were telepathic. Afraid to freak us out more?”

They were puzzled. I tried again.

“You can move objects with your thoughts.”

I gestured towards the pitcher currently pouring itself into my cup.

“Not thought that is Tills. She is a long timer. She was a nurse doctor here but died long ago during the great flood of Andurrier. Pilo Gray is your living nurse doctor but he knows it’s better not to get in the way of a … spirit,” Tall Lavender explained pointing to Short Violet.

The cup floated towards me and I screamed. The Centauria jumped back. Their music grew choppy.

“Rhea Smith please stop the loud mouth music it translates to something… unpleasant sexual in our languages. Please friend please. I am your nurse doctor and I do not want to injure Rhea Smith,” Short Violet aka Pilo said.

They laid a warm hand on my chest. I calmed a little.

“Do not the dying visit your living on planet BlueGreen. How do you say goodbye? How do say the unsaid till too late? We are top confusion Rhea Smith. How do you learn from the past wisdom?”

My mind tumbled. Ghosts are we talking ghosts. Over Pilo’s shoulder I saw a transparent periwinkle Centaurian dressed differently than the others watching me closely before disappearing. I started screaming again and then I must have blacked out.

“ReeRee, girl wake up.”

I opened my eyes to Rakim perched on the side of my bed. My whole body felt heavy and detached from my aching head.

“I heard you had a hissy fit and set feminism back eight light years,” Rakim said laughing.

“Shut it. I don’t play with no ghosts.”

Together we sang the Ghostbusters refrain.

“Look girl serious talk you have to keep it together. Remember we are the children in this scenario. We need to learn from these people. Be open to new things even the effed up ones. I know you can do this, be the best of Earth.”

I said holding my friend’s hand. “You’re right. I know you’re right. We need to better, more patient less human. What are you going to do Rak? Be a pretty face.”

Pilo walked into my room. His pale blue eyes grave.

“Well I’m too blessed to be stressed. I’m good, real good. Don’t worry about me.” Rakim flashed me a brilliant smile. “And Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”

I laughed. Rakim always said that in flight training when he got top scores or perfected a maneuver. I looked over to Pilo.

“Hey Rak this is Pilo my nurse doctor.”

Nodding Rakim grew translucent and then faded away. I could hear the Ghostbusters theme song humming out the door. Pilo laid a hand over my heart.

“Beeeeeeeeep” The door to my spacecraft slid open and the only thing in sight was… green. The ground was bright green and the sky was blue, everything was off to a great start. Then I noticed, the only living things there was animals. All the cats and dogs you could imagine were there; no humans in sight except for myself.

The sound of a loud hiss reeled me into consciousness. I inhaled and winced as a sharp pain shot through my ribs. The smell of burnt rubber filled my lungs causing me to cough.

My ribs screamed in protest. I groaned in response to the pain and peeled my eyes open. Darkness engulfed every one of my senses. My body started to wake up, responding to all of the things that were hurting it.

My head was dizzy and my mind fuzzy. My memory returned to me in fragments. My ship. My orders to rescue one of our informants from an unknown planet. A crash into an unknown atmosphere that tore my ship to shreds.

The planet had appeared out of nowhere. It wasn’t on my radar, I was sure of it. Right? My head started to throb.

I raised my hand and ran it over my helmet. It was miraculously still in tact. The seal was broken though, because I could smell every god forsaken thing in this burning capsule.

I felt like a piece of meat being smoked in a large smoker. Luckily the rest of my spacesuit seemed to have taken the brunt of the impact.

Despite escaping death by a thread, I wouldn’t consider myself lucky at all.

I was hanging upside down still fastened in my seat. My neck was on the ground and my chin was tucked into my chest.

I felt the blood rushing down from the lower half of my body to my face. With all the noises going on around me and the smoke, I knew I needed to get out and fast. I raised my good arm and blindly felt my way to the seatbelt buckle.

I released the seatbelt from the buckle and my legs slumped to the ground. I let out an agonized grunt.

Something was definitely broken, sprained at best. I rolled over as quickly as I could, which probably wasn’t quick at all. I crawled from under the capsule, pushing away sheets of metal with my right arm.

I couldn’t feel my left arm and I was too scared to look at it in case there was no arm there at all. With one last push, a stream of light broke through the sea of darkness.

My heart picked up speed. Was this the way to heaven? Was I really dead? For a moment I panicked. I thought I would be free from pain in the Holy place, yet I was in excruciating pain.

I thought back to my very Catholic grandmother, Tota.

“Hell is very hot, Krispa. Everything will burn” she said with a tight lipped scowl.

My lungs burned. I might be in hell. Guilt bloomed in my chest and formed into a knot in my throat.

I continued to crawl until the sun was entirely exposed and shone right above me. I rose to my knees and sat on my legs, shielding my face from the light.

It was hot, but it wasn’t hell hot. I involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.

‘Tota, there is still hope for me’, I whispered, sending my prayers to the sky. I squinted towards the horizon.

I surveyed the terrain around me. Flat grassy land. I winced as analyzed the condition of my left arm. Its supernatural twist told me that it was definitely broken.

I leaned forward putting all of my weight on my good arm and hauled myself to my feet. I ignored the wave of dizziness that passed through me. It was suddenly unbearably hot in my spacesuit but I knew better than to take it off.

The air could be poisonous to my skin even if inhaling it did nothing to my respiratory system. The only thing more dangerous than a foreign planet are the things that inhabit it.

As if I had spoken my fears into existence, the sky rumbled—no, growled. I felt a large drop land on my helmet. It was bright red. I slowly looked up to a sky that was red as blood.

“Holy f—“ I was cut off by the sky morphing into a whirlpool. My face turned hot as teeth formed on the outside of the vortex.

More droplets fell and splattered onto my helmet until it was covered in red. I frantically wiped the blood off and was met with a furry animal running towards me from across the clearing.

My heart slammed against my bruised ribs and my legs felt like lead. Suddenly I felt like I was running out of oxygen.

I turns around and ran towards my obliterated shuttle. Anywhere was better than standing right here.

I pushed past the pain in my lungs and legs and threw myself on the ground, crawling under the metal. I inhaled deeply to calm my erratic breathing. I crawled as far under the shuttle as I could, shielding me from the red rain.

I heard the growls of the creature getting closer. My mind was still reeling about the razor like teeth in the sky.

Where was I?

I felt hot tears roll down my cheeks. Sorry, Tota, I think hell would have been better than this.

I winced at the pain spreading across my entire body. Adrenaline crash.

I closed my eyes and thought about my family back on Earth. My beautiful family.

After what felt like an eternity, I no longer heard the rain pounding on the metal and I no longer heard the growls.

I held my breath. Everything was still.

And just when I was about to let my guard down, a yellow eye peered through the hole in the shuttle wall.

I screamed.