Shortz

Alluring Smile

Jacob's Log
Stardate: 2448
Day: 1917

Earth is lost and humanity is adrift.
It has been exactly five years and three months since the last ship, Lawless, left the almost dead planet, in search of greener pastures, so to speak.

I have never seen a pasture. I have only read about them in books, from the time when humanity was still earthbound; when earth still had a chance.

*****

"Jacob, " My mother, Susan Lawless, calls from the deck of our ship. "You need to come see this, son."

"Coming!" I yell into the intercom and close the window that opens into the vast lifeless space, before taking the hydraulic lift up to the top-most floor, the deck.

On my way up - a few seconds of absolute silence - I look back on how we (six generations of Lawless and Tanson family) had tried our best to get off the then dying planet in one piece. 

Consisting almost entirely of welders and smiths, except for a few brains, we had somehow managed to survive.
My elder sister, Cora, was one of the brains. She was our savior in the true sense of the word. Though young and inexperienced, she had managed to put together a ship that was not only capable of space travel, also capable of sustaining life.

But now, five years later, the resources were running out. We needed a break; a place to dock and replenish. We had traveled hundreds of light-years, and come across nada!

Of course, things are not as bad as I am making them sound. For, my sister working on a project that could help eliminate our need to dock. But I am bored; I am tired of waking up in the same place, walking the same paths, seeing the same faces, over and over again. It's monotonous.

I need a break. I need a reason to smile; a smile that is not fake. A smile that is more than just me fulfilling my duty; more than just me being courteous.

The lift chimes, pulling me out of my thoughts. Cora runs to me, "Hey doofus!" She chirps.
"Cora, you are smart and all, but your sense of humor sucks," I state, pursing my lips.

"Awww, did I hurt my baby bro's feelings?" She asks, smirking at me and drags me out of the lift, "You need to see this!" She gushes, pulling me to the observation deck and pointing towards the telescope that is mounted in the center of the deck. "Look!" she urges, and I walk towards it. I observe the faces of my extended family looking at me with smiles on their faces. Their smiles seem different. The feel warmer.

I do as I am told and am left speechless at the sight. A circle that holds within itself two shining orbs: eyes. And below them, I see a shimmering arc: a smile. 

"It's beautiful!" I whisper, taking in the brilliant smiling face, and my lips curl up on their own accord. I smile. It's real. It's from the heart. "What is it?"

Cora explains to all of us what the smiling face drawn on the dark canvas sprinkled with small stars and celestial masses truly was.  Something about how the eyes were two bright galaxies, the smile lines were arcs caused by strong gravitational lensing, and the rest was caused by gravitational pull...

Well, after the words 'gravitational pull' my mind drifts off and I immerse myself in observing the painting the universe had created in its free time. For it was truly a beautiful work of art.

"So, what do you think, Jacob?" My dad, Mick Lawless, asks, pulling me out of my musings. "About what?" I question.

"Should we chart a course to those galaxies? I mean, Cora says that they are huge. Maybe one of them supports life?" He says, sounding hopeful.
"What are the chances?" I ask. I have been disappointed more than a few times, so I don't dare to hope that easily anymore.

But before he can answer, Cora speaks, "Jacob, it made you smile. It made all of us smile. That is reason enough to hope; to dream. Don't you think so, little brother."

I nod approvingly, and she smiles. Her eyes shine with happiness and hope. Maybe, she too was smiling all this while because she had no choice; like me. I look around the deck and see the same smile reflected in all the faces that surround me, and I realize that I was not the only one faking smiles, all this time. Maybe we all were struggling with the monotony that had accompanied the safety and security of the future, that this unchanging confined space offered. 
Yes, I am aware that our search may yield nothing in the end, but at least, at this moment, we are smiling. And that is already a win.

"Great! So we are all in agreement then?" Cora asks, and we all nod, giving her permission to chart a course that will take us to the alluring smile.

*****

Jacob's Log
Stardate: 2449
Day: 2279

It has taken us nearly a year to get here. But unlike the years before, it was filled with hope. The smile had brought us closer. It had broken the walls we had built around ourselves; the walls that had kept us apart even in our closeness. We were happy. We smiled, just like before, but now every time we smiled, we meant it.

What's more, a few days ago, Cora finally succeeded in the project she was working on. Her project has eliminated the need to replenish our stocks. And I can't help but wonder if that too, had something to do with the smile.

Now all we needed to do, was search the galaxies that had called to us, for signs of life.

Maybe all one needs to hope, to dream, to love, to break barriers, and to be oneself, is a smile.

*****