star children

one

"Valerie Angel, group four, you may board the ship." A males voice said over the intercom. I exhaled the air I had been holding in my mouth. I held my helmet under my arm as I walked to the entrance of the spaceship.
The crowds of people surrounding us were cheering and clapping. Even though they were miles away, the sound was deafening, well it seemed that way.
The grey skies above produced little sunlight. It was supposed to rain in a few hours, I guess I'll have to miss it.
I got into my seat and started strapping in after pulling the helmet over my long dark brown hair, I had pulled it back earlier in a tight low ponytail. I heard the man call everyone on to the ship.
There was one big window which we could all see through. Everyone had their mics off, even though we could've easily pressed a button on the side of our helmets and talked to each other.
   "Today, on June 15th, 2037, we send 107 of our students at the ISSOE's School for Space Exploration to the planet Kepler-186f to explore the new world. With the inability to create radios that could transmit that far away although we will be able to keep contact for part of their travels, only for two days, but we will keep in touch, we won't be able to assist them during their year on the planet, but in exactly 365 days we will send another ship to go and collect them, and bring them home. So, as we countdown, and as we wait for your return, we will keep all 107 of you in our prayers. Stay safe. We will see you soon. Good luck." Said the man. Seconds later the countdown began.
My breath got stuck in my throat as the 10 minutes counted down. Every thirty seconds they gave us the time left, until we had 12 seconds left, then everyone, including us on the ship, counted down.

"7, main engine start."
I held my breathe.
"2."
My green eyes probably looked pink as they began watering. I don't want to leave.
"1, booster ignition, liftoff."
The tear fell as the ship shook and we took off.

The window was full of blurred clouds and soon flames, then that quickly turned to black skies and stars. Well, I guess it wasn't skies.
Someone said over their mic, "Well, we'll be on planet Kepler in a week and three days, when can we leave our seats again." Everyone laughed because we had gone over it everyday for three years now. We could leave our seats when the orange light flashed three times and the blue overhead lights were white.
As soon as the happened, most of us got out of our seats, took our helmets off, and went to the bunks. I went to stand next to the big window, watching the stars pass by.
"Hey, Angel? How are you doing?" A familiar voice asked walking up behind me, using my last name as a nickname. "Hey Brody, I'm doing okay I guess, it's just a lot to take in." The boy I've known my whole life nodded and rubbed my shoulder. "You should get some rest." He suggested. I nodded and said, "Yeah, you too, we have a long week ahead of us." I said kissing his cheek and walking towards the bunks.
   We were all like siblings. Well, some of us, others were in relationships and some hated each other. But Brody has always been like a brother. The only person I've ever liked was named Scott and he dropped out of the program two years ago. He had kissed me two weeks before he left. Jerk.
   I found the bunk with my ID number painted on it. I climbed up the slim ladder and crawled under the thin blanket on my bunk. Then, I reached up and pulled down the glass top and concealed myself in the pod.
   The lighting in my pod changed, so did the temperature, and the sound. I slowly drifted off to sleep.
   I woke up when my pod opened. The time on the side of my bunk read 10 hrs. Wow, I slept ten hours.
   I walked to the cafeteria, looking for something to eat. The meals already set apart in boxes for each of us. Extras in the back room for our first few months on the planet.
   I sat down and ate the dry food. Alone. Earlier than everyone else, soon others came in. And that's how the next few days went. A few conversations with Brody and my best friend Audrey, sleeping, and eating.
   It's our last day. In 13 hours we will be on the planet. Audrey came up to me. Her short red curly hair bouncing excitedly. Her brown eyes watered with happiness as she exclaimed, "We are going to be the first people to ever touch the planet! It's crazy how we just turned 16 three months ago.
   I held my arms out for the excited girl to give me a tight hug. She did. Our birthdays were only a week apart. We were in the same group, group four. We were raised together. Along with Brody and a few others. We are all around the same age. All of us born in the same month.
   "Angel, I'm so excited!" She said smiling. I nodded and said, "So am I." And I was, I was excited to get to the planet and off of this ship. And I was terrified.
   We all started getting ready. We got our suits on, our helmets, our mics, and we started strapping in. At five hours left everyone was seated. And three and a half hours gravity on the ship shut off, and we were moving faster, with dark blue lighting.
   At two hours, we could see the planet. Everyone cheered. It looked almost exactly like earth, unlike what scientists and artists had imagined it would appear. It wasn't brown and foggy. It looked cleaner than earth actually.
   Then, we started entering the atmosphere. Our ship burning up. Then quickly cooling off as we were flung towards a green forest. It looked just like our own a few years ago, a long time ago actually. Maybe sixty years. Maybe eighty.
   A parachute shot out of our ship and our descent slowed down. All of us were cheering over our mics. Then, our ship landed with a thud and the cheering stop. Realization set over us.