Status: inspired by Waters of Mars
Bright White
Present
June 27th, 2130
This morning should have been a normal day. I should have gotten up, brushed my teeth and made a note about the toothpaste that always seemed to be running out, before slipping into my spacesuit for a routine check around the base.
That’s what should have happened.
I shouldn’t have woken up in a cold sweat, the sheets clinging to my legs and my pillow slightly damp. I shouldn’t have ignored my routine check for the morning, and shut myself in the bathroom for two hours, wondering if I should tell them. What was I supposed to do? Sort them into two lines, telling one side to get on the ship headed towards home because their deaths wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things?
Twelve of us and seven were condemned.
My fingers feel numb against the metal door, and slowly I slide them over to the panel. A quick shot of air and it slides open. Everything is functioning just as it should. It’s like putting together a puzzle until you reach for the last piece to find it isn’t where it should be.
Should, could, would. The last words of the dead.
This morning should have been a normal day. I should have gotten up, brushed my teeth and made a note about the toothpaste that always seemed to be running out, before slipping into my spacesuit for a routine check around the base.
That’s what should have happened.
I shouldn’t have woken up in a cold sweat, the sheets clinging to my legs and my pillow slightly damp. I shouldn’t have ignored my routine check for the morning, and shut myself in the bathroom for two hours, wondering if I should tell them. What was I supposed to do? Sort them into two lines, telling one side to get on the ship headed towards home because their deaths wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things?
Twelve of us and seven were condemned.
My fingers feel numb against the metal door, and slowly I slide them over to the panel. A quick shot of air and it slides open. Everything is functioning just as it should. It’s like putting together a puzzle until you reach for the last piece to find it isn’t where it should be.
Should, could, would. The last words of the dead.
♠ ♠ ♠
I've had this story on my computer for actually ever and decided to finish it and post it. I'm still in the process of writing the last few chapters but I'll put this one up until I finish!