Shreds of an Archive

The End of A Planet

An overbearing sense of dullness seeped from every poor of the distant planet. Michael looked as he watched it growing bigger, slowly and delicately, with such subtlety that if you were not looking for it you wouldn't notice a thing. Michael knew the planet wasn't growing larger in any sense, but alternatively it was getting closer. This was it. The last day of boarding the evacuation ships before the planets collided and everything he knew was laid to waste. He stood with his bag slung across his back. His mom stood by his side anxiously pacing side to side. They were in the Space Federations hanger, haltingly moving forward as an overwhelming sense of dread and panic filled the space. Frequently his shoulder or side would get bumped by someone jostling to get to the front, cutting the line so they could have a chance of survival, but time someone tried, they were quickly electrocuted by one of the drones that was hovering about, tasers on stand by. As the final ship was nearing full capacity, they reached the front of the line, Mother becoming visibly relieved and letting her shoulders slump in exhaustion.

"Hold out your arm, please." The attendant said, scanning mine and my moms ID chips.

"I'm afraid I can only take one of you, there's only one seat left in Economy Sector 4" The attendant spoke in a clear, monotone voice, betraying no emotion or feeling on her face.

"What?" Mother spoke, her voice barely a whisper, her next words were full of emotion "The broadcast said there would be enough room for everybody"

"Yes Ma'am, but we had a VIP guest order several shuttles for a 'The coming of a new age party'" The attendee narrowed her eyes staring intently "What is your decision?"

"I- I'll stay. Please take my son and keep him safe." At the last word a speaker blared All passengers please board the plane, departure is commencing immediately. Michael panicked, turning to his mother, "Mom! Please, I don't wanna go alone." His mother kneeled down and kissed his forehead and whispered

"Be strong, I will always love you." An attendant grabbed michaels arm, pulling him away toward the space craft. He pulled at the arm, hitting and biting the attendant, but the attendant kept his pace and picked up the boy.

Inside the shuttle, he looked through the crowd scanning for his mothers eyes, feeling empty, powerless, and most of all, angry. The hanger was now cleared out for the ship to take off as the thrusters roared to life. As the ship creaked forward he finally saw his mother. It was too far to tell but he knew they made eye contact, and felt a connection, one that he would never get again after this day. A Final goodbye.

"No." he heard himself say "NO!" He yelled "NO!" he cried out, in desperation and misery. His fist banged against the window, the ship responded with a dull thud. As the ship pulled forward, he quickly lost sight of his mother, and after they began takeoff, he resigned himself to his chair, pulling his knees tight to his chest.

Two days after departure, the boy watched as everything he ever knew, his school, his house, the last of his family was destroyed in a grandiose show of destruction. Every once in a while a drunkard would come out of the 'Party Shuttles' slurring about some insignificant problem and then depart into the restroom. He hated them. An hatred so pure that it felt like nothing else mattered, just the beating in his heart as his anger roared like an open flame. He was watching the destruction of the two planets colliding as he heard footsteps approaching behind him. He turned to see a haggard fat man with liquor and spit covering the neck of his shirt.

The man's words were slurred and slow "W- What are you doing here boy, move so I can sit" Michael felt spittle hit his face, as the man's putrid breath washed over him. Michael said nothing in response, instead stood up and reached towards one of the nearby compartments and pulled out a silver fork, plunging it into the man's shoulder. Immediately, an electric shock surged throughout his body, making him shake and shudder on the floor. He vaguely heard a woman scream and watched through his fading sight as an attendant ran over to them.