It was raining. The planet had 250 sunny days and 75 rainy ones. That’s how the terraformers made it. That’s why it was perfect for agriculture. It was supposed to be a sunny day. But it was raining. Marion looked up and closed her eyes, letting the drops fall onto her face. At least they washed down her tears. She allowed it. She allowed the water to collect in her deep-set eyes and then like an overflown pond the water poured out of its basin and continued its path to the ground. She allowed it for a minute. To hold her breath. To try to calm down. To be brave.

She forced herself to come back to reality, even though all she wanted to do was to forget everything but the rain. She looked down. Down at the grave they had just placed her mother in. For a second, she remembered being four years old and on a massive settlers’ ship, coming to this planet. She sat in her mother’s lap and she was telling her all about the new planet, how there would be plenty of space and how great it was to provide medical help to the first colonists. They would have a home. Fresh food every day. Marion couldn’t imagine it, she was a space station girl. She was born just as her parents were finishing their degrees.

Then another flash, another picture. Her mother valiantly bending over her equipment, trying to understand, trying to find a cure, racing against time, and then slumping over the table, the loser. Marion was there the moment it happened. She didn’t even try to make her be alive, she looked the same way her dad did a few days before. She didn’t even cry. Not until her mother’s body hit the bottom of the shallow grave they dug.

She looked away now, at the faces of her companions. Children stood around the grave. A few bending over shovels, looking at her. She was the oldest. They expected her to tell them to cover her mother’s body with dirt. Marion hesitated. She didn’t want to do it. She wanted to curl up to her mother’s warmth, hear her father’s laughter, not this. Not burry them.

There was a movement in front of her. Lily, her little sister was looking up at her now too, expectantly. She was begging her sister with her eyes, but for what? To make it all go away? To make their parents be alive? To make this a nightmare that they would all wake up from? Marion wanted to scream at her, to shout, to question what was she, what were they all expecting her to do? She was just a child herself. Before she knew it, the scream bubbled out of her, and she was shouting at the other kids to do it, cover the grave, and she turned around, running away, away. Away from everything. Away from the responsibility, the future, the dead and the living.

When she was suddenly out of breath, she stopped. Looking around she noticed that she had run into one of the gardens next to a house. An empty house, all the adults dead. There were barely any of them alive anymore, just the kids. Why would a disease kill the strong and leave the weak? That was what her mother kept asking. Marion didn’t know.

The wind caught up. Before, the rain was pouring straight down, and then suddenly a wind came. There was a roar in the sky, and Marion knew what it was, a ship. The planet was under quarantine, no one was supposed to land. Curious, and forgetting her grief for the moment, she raised her hand to shield her eyes from the downpour. It was an egg-shaped ship, bright lights coming from it. It slowly, but deliberately landed on the pad that they used for supply ships. She ran again, but this time towards the ship, hoping that there would be people to save them, to save her from having to become a mother to her sister, from a future full of hardships. She ran but stopped suddenly as she saw that the things exiting the ship weren’t people, but the aliens people called ‘demons’. Their tall, lithe bodies, alabaster skin and jewel-coloured hair made them imposing, and scary figures. There were three of them, in the middle a female of the species stood regally in flowing red fabric. She swerved her head towards Marion, fixing her eyes on the girl. She wanted to scream again at the sight of those eyes but caught herself just in time. The alien had black eyes with red pupils, and a sense of dread filled the human child.

“Do not be afraid, human, we have come to rescue you. We have a cure for the sickness ravaging the planet,” she spoke with a clear, though forced voice. “Where is your leader?”

Marion pointed towards the hut where the few remaining adults were trying to keep each other alive, and the woman glided towards it, seemingly not minding the rain. Two males followed her, obviously her guards.

The girl looked after them. She knew that everything was going to change. Her old life had died, and she was beginning a new path, without her parents, but with her sister. The thought of the unknown scared her, but she had to go on. With a new resolve, she squared her shoulders, and headed back to the grave, back to her sister, and her new life. Whatever it may bring.

#scifi #alien #death #newbeginning #children

They opened their eyes, and stared at each other, then the table. It was packed with food. A great big glistening bird dominated the spread, making their mouths water. All of it was untouched, waiting for them. However, not even the magnificence before them could completely draw their attention from the confusion in their heads.

"Who are you?" asked the older man from the younger sitting before him.

"I don't know. Who are you?"

"Who am I?" came a shrill voice from the head of the table. It was a woman, looking around in confusion.

A small child stood beside her, clutching her doll, at the brink of crying.

"What could have done this?" voiced the older man his concern.

"Or who?" said the woman, as she embraced the child to comfort her.

They all looked at the table. Crystal glasses stood beside their empty plates, with the distinct marks of red wine. Even the child had some in hers.

Suddenly, the great big double doors opened, and a young woman entered. The occupants of the room just stared at her. She looked around, smiling, though looking at the little girl, she frowned.

"Who are you?" the older man repeated his previous question.

"Your daughter. Though don't try to remember. I'm a chemist, and developed a drug that creates permanent amnesia. You are all deplorable people. I imagined killing you many times. However, I've decided to give you another chance. Start fresh, maybe you'll be better people."

"But, we even forgot our own name!"

"Good!" she left, leaving confused people after her.

Loneliness was by my side every day. I knew even as a small child in daycare that the others regarded me as strange. I wouldn't play with them in the sand. I hated the feeling of it rubbing against my skin. I was also aware that I had to be careful of my clothes. I took great care in not getting it dirty. Perhaps it was me already trying not to be a bother to anyone.

My thinking was different. The other children were such children, only interested in the physical. I was living in my head, my mind conjuring stories far more interesting than the real world around me. It could take me away to a place where I was admired and appreciated. I was a princess, with my subjects looking at me with love.

Maybe I loved nap time the most. One day, it was bright and sunny outside. Our caretakers placed our barred beds by the house of the daycare. The roof only partially blocked out the sky. I couldn't stop looking at the fluffy clouds passing overhead on a sea of blue. It felt endless. Like my life at the time. I had the illusion that everything in my head could one day come true. I could be admired. I could be famous.

However, that person died a long time ago. All her cells had died and been replaced by new ones. Her wondering mind had been dragged into the harsh cold facts of reality. Only I mourn her, because only I really knew her. At the same time, I am her killer. All that remains of her, is my love of an endless blue sky.