There you are, walking up to the stage, two thousand and ninety nine eyes on you. You're not smiling. You're frowning. Drowning in your own ominous thoughts. There is a NASA man there, with an envelope and your name printed onto a single silver slip. His hand is extended, and he greets you with a smile.
"Congratulations, mister Scorch. It's not every day an average guy like you wins a trip to space." He hands you the envelope, and the slip. It cuts you.
"Fuck." You say, and the envelope flies to the floor, a bloodstain on the corner. The NASA man gives you a disapproving look, and you give him a regretful smile. You pick up the envelope and the tiny slip that cut your finger.
The principal is at the podium. He announces the winner, and the winner stands there, smiling like a champion. The audience claps, and even allows some whistles. After it dies down, a man in a NASA uniform stands up to the microphone.
"This is one small step for this man, and one giant leap for his future. It is an honor to accept mister Scorch into our intern program. And I'm sure he will excel, like all of the previous interns. Now, a word from the winner himself." A winner? He doesn't feel like a winner. And if he did win, it must be a ticket to certain doom. He smiles and walks up to the microphone.
"Well, this... Is certainly unexpected. Lately, I haven't had the best luck. I swear, every time I flip a coin, it lands on tails," the crowd laughs. "No, I mean it, guys. Seriously. I'm worse than a black cat." Another chuckle. "But enough about my stupid babbling, I thank luck, or at least the very little bit I have left. And I thank NASA, and the people who created this program, for this wonderful opportunity." Everyone in the crowd cheers and applauds as he steps away from the microphone. He stands next to the NASA man, and tunes everything out. He starts to think to himself:
There is not a big probability of getting stranded in space. Why the hell am I so stressed? This is amazing. I get to go to space before I graduate. Suddenly the crowd is moving in every way, and the man in the NASA uniform grabs him by the arm, and they walk to a limousine outside. He has no idea where they're heading, but he doesn't think it's somewhere bad.
YOU ARE READING
Odyssey: Black Dawn
Science FictionAfter an unexpected space trip goes horribly wrong, Tyler Scorch wakes up in an I know planet. His mission is to survive long enough to be rescued by an incoming mission. Will he survive?
