Earth Left Behind
"Do you remember the day we left Earth?" The question is softly spoken, the speaker hesitant and afraid of the answer.
"Yes." My answer is calm, like I could care less about that dusty rock we left far behind. But I yearn for the green fields of our homeland, I miss watching the cattle and horses graze and the sound of a child's laughter. But that's all behind us now, it is all something that we can't go back to. "What about it?" I ask, my tone gruff as I turn back to my work.
"W-would you tell me about it, please?" I sigh in response and I can feel her cringe behind me. I don't want to talk about this, but... I can't deny her anything. Not after all we've been through.
"It..." I start, trying not to choke on the words. Why is it so hard for me to talk about this? It isn't like we're the only ones that went through this. Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I start again.
"It started out as a normal day," Doesn't it always though? "You was out wandering in the woods and I was relaxing in front of the house, listening to the sound of mom moving about inside. The sun was high in the sky and the cattle and the horses were relaxed, grazing in the pasture. Our little brother was chasing some puppies around the yard. It... It really was just a normal day."
I choked a little on those last words, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried not to cry. I had to be strong enough to hold up not just myself, but both of us. "And... And then..." My voice quivered as I spoke, small tears escaping to roll down my cheeks. "You came running back to the house, saying something about how you saw something fall from the sky and land in a field somewhere in the direction of town. You said you wanted me to go with you to check it out, and at first I wanted to say no. But then you smiled at me and showed off your cute dimples and I couldn't say no to you. So I told mom that we were going to go check something out, and I followed you as you ran in the direction of town." I stopped, opening my eyes and staring down at my work with tears in my eyes. I was working on an elaborate and very beautiful dress for someone special.
Clearing my throat, I picked up work and my story and started again. "When we got to the spot you said you saw your mysterious falling star land, there was nothing there except for a smoking crater. I of course, being the cautious person I am, was quite relieved that there was nothing to be seen. Though I did feel it a bit odd that there was a smoking crater and nothing to show for it. Anyway, brushing that little fact off, I turned to you to suggest that we go home now. But you were nowhere to be seen. I panicked. I ran all the way back home, looking for you. I even ran into town and asked around your usual haunts, but no one had seen you. You had just... Disappeared. We reported you to the police as a missing person, but no one ever found you. Twenty years passed with no sign of you, and life went on. And every day of those twenty years, I went back to that crater, feeling guilty that I had let this happen to you."
"I remember one night I was sitting at the edge of the crater, thinking about everything I could have -should have- done to prevent all of this. What I should have said, how I should have told you no right off the bat. Of course I was feeling sorry for myself, remembering small things and thinking of things that could have been. And then you were there beside me, asking me what was wrong. I didn't even stop to think about the impossibility of it all, I just hugged you. I sobbed like a child and held on to you for dear life, and I forgot about all of those missing years. I didn't care about anything else right then. My little sister was back. She was safe. Never mind that she didn't look any older than when she disappeared, never mind that this was all technically impossible. Never mind any of that. I was just happy that you were alright."
"And then you started talking. You said something about how the earth was dying and we needed to leave. You said you knew somewhere that we could go, where we would be safe. According to you, the core of the earth was rotting, and there was something terrible on its way. You said that this terrible thing would be there any minute now, and that while we couldn't save everyone, we should get out while could. I was speechless. I couldn't believe what you were saying. You had gone missing for twenty years and when you came back, you spoke like a mad person. I started to try and calm you down, to tell you that nothing was coming and that we were going to be alright, but something struck the back of my head hard. I heard you scream as I fell forward, wondering what was going on and why my head hurt so bad."
"When I came to, we were pulling away from Earth. I could do nothing but gawk at my home planet, and watch in disbelief as it burned and withered. I turned to ask you what was going on, but you would only tell me that everything was going to be alright. We were on our way to a new home, a planet that had just been born and needed more inhabitants. I didn't bother to argue with you, you so serious about it all. Instead I just turned back to the window of whatever space ship we were flying in at the moment and watched my home disappear completely. After a while, I passed out from exhaustion and shock, too worn out from everything to stay awake."
"And when I woke up, you told me that I had slept for twelve weeks and that we had finally arrived. I didn't question you, just went along with everything you said. I guess that at some point in time while I was sleeping, I managed to come to terms with the fact that we were in fact, flying through space and our home had burned up." I sighed, falling silent and letting my words sink in. I really didn't want to go on with this story, there was too much pain and heartbreak involved.
"I-is that all you remember?" Her question was hesitant; like she was scared I might blow up on her if she asked me more questions.
"Yes, that's all I remember." My words were whisper quiet and my tone gave away that I was done. I would speak no more of any of this. For me, the memory of it was all still too fresh, too painful, even though ten years had passed since that day.
My sister sighed, accepting defeat. And for a while, it was silent in our new home, except for the sound of my sewing machine as I worked. "What was our mother like?"
"One story is enough for tonight," I whispered over my shoulder, shivering as memories ran through my mind. "Ask me that tomorrow, when I can stand the pain."
"Yes." My answer is calm, like I could care less about that dusty rock we left far behind. But I yearn for the green fields of our homeland, I miss watching the cattle and horses graze and the sound of a child's laughter. But that's all behind us now, it is all something that we can't go back to. "What about it?" I ask, my tone gruff as I turn back to my work.
"W-would you tell me about it, please?" I sigh in response and I can feel her cringe behind me. I don't want to talk about this, but... I can't deny her anything. Not after all we've been through.
"It..." I start, trying not to choke on the words. Why is it so hard for me to talk about this? It isn't like we're the only ones that went through this. Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I start again.
"It started out as a normal day," Doesn't it always though? "You was out wandering in the woods and I was relaxing in front of the house, listening to the sound of mom moving about inside. The sun was high in the sky and the cattle and the horses were relaxed, grazing in the pasture. Our little brother was chasing some puppies around the yard. It... It really was just a normal day."
I choked a little on those last words, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried not to cry. I had to be strong enough to hold up not just myself, but both of us. "And... And then..." My voice quivered as I spoke, small tears escaping to roll down my cheeks. "You came running back to the house, saying something about how you saw something fall from the sky and land in a field somewhere in the direction of town. You said you wanted me to go with you to check it out, and at first I wanted to say no. But then you smiled at me and showed off your cute dimples and I couldn't say no to you. So I told mom that we were going to go check something out, and I followed you as you ran in the direction of town." I stopped, opening my eyes and staring down at my work with tears in my eyes. I was working on an elaborate and very beautiful dress for someone special.
Clearing my throat, I picked up work and my story and started again. "When we got to the spot you said you saw your mysterious falling star land, there was nothing there except for a smoking crater. I of course, being the cautious person I am, was quite relieved that there was nothing to be seen. Though I did feel it a bit odd that there was a smoking crater and nothing to show for it. Anyway, brushing that little fact off, I turned to you to suggest that we go home now. But you were nowhere to be seen. I panicked. I ran all the way back home, looking for you. I even ran into town and asked around your usual haunts, but no one had seen you. You had just... Disappeared. We reported you to the police as a missing person, but no one ever found you. Twenty years passed with no sign of you, and life went on. And every day of those twenty years, I went back to that crater, feeling guilty that I had let this happen to you."
"I remember one night I was sitting at the edge of the crater, thinking about everything I could have -should have- done to prevent all of this. What I should have said, how I should have told you no right off the bat. Of course I was feeling sorry for myself, remembering small things and thinking of things that could have been. And then you were there beside me, asking me what was wrong. I didn't even stop to think about the impossibility of it all, I just hugged you. I sobbed like a child and held on to you for dear life, and I forgot about all of those missing years. I didn't care about anything else right then. My little sister was back. She was safe. Never mind that she didn't look any older than when she disappeared, never mind that this was all technically impossible. Never mind any of that. I was just happy that you were alright."
"And then you started talking. You said something about how the earth was dying and we needed to leave. You said you knew somewhere that we could go, where we would be safe. According to you, the core of the earth was rotting, and there was something terrible on its way. You said that this terrible thing would be there any minute now, and that while we couldn't save everyone, we should get out while could. I was speechless. I couldn't believe what you were saying. You had gone missing for twenty years and when you came back, you spoke like a mad person. I started to try and calm you down, to tell you that nothing was coming and that we were going to be alright, but something struck the back of my head hard. I heard you scream as I fell forward, wondering what was going on and why my head hurt so bad."
"When I came to, we were pulling away from Earth. I could do nothing but gawk at my home planet, and watch in disbelief as it burned and withered. I turned to ask you what was going on, but you would only tell me that everything was going to be alright. We were on our way to a new home, a planet that had just been born and needed more inhabitants. I didn't bother to argue with you, you so serious about it all. Instead I just turned back to the window of whatever space ship we were flying in at the moment and watched my home disappear completely. After a while, I passed out from exhaustion and shock, too worn out from everything to stay awake."
"And when I woke up, you told me that I had slept for twelve weeks and that we had finally arrived. I didn't question you, just went along with everything you said. I guess that at some point in time while I was sleeping, I managed to come to terms with the fact that we were in fact, flying through space and our home had burned up." I sighed, falling silent and letting my words sink in. I really didn't want to go on with this story, there was too much pain and heartbreak involved.
"I-is that all you remember?" Her question was hesitant; like she was scared I might blow up on her if she asked me more questions.
"Yes, that's all I remember." My words were whisper quiet and my tone gave away that I was done. I would speak no more of any of this. For me, the memory of it was all still too fresh, too painful, even though ten years had passed since that day.
My sister sighed, accepting defeat. And for a while, it was silent in our new home, except for the sound of my sewing machine as I worked. "What was our mother like?"
"One story is enough for tonight," I whispered over my shoulder, shivering as memories ran through my mind. "Ask me that tomorrow, when I can stand the pain."