They named me Genesis, my parents did. The beginning.
I can’t help but think about the irony as I stand here watching the end.
The observation deck is empty and silent, but brilliantly lit by the fiery explosions upon decrepit, lava-riddled Xandir. I, silver-haired, dark-eyed, stare out the window. Wondering. Endlessly wondering.
What now?
Where to?
And how?
“Gen.”
I inwardly sigh as, my complex train of thought broken, I turn to see Aspere standing on the upper level, long caramel curls braided over one shoulder.
“It’s time.”
My heart stops, twisted. “Asp…”
She lowers her eyes, but nods. “It’s almost gone, Gen.”
I turn back for one final gaze at the planet that raised me for seventeen years.
People talk about time slowing down, time stopping for one particular, precious moment where they just thought. I never believed them, thinking that it was a concept, a trick of speech adapted from readers and the like.
That is, I never believed them up till now. For time froze, just for me.
Scenes streak across my senses: forgotten memories, broken dialogue, sunlight and moondark against the numbness of my brain. Contrasts, contradictions. I know I have to go, but where am I going? Fear becomes cotton fibers, twisting and catching in my chest. I can’t breathe. I have no home. At least, not anymore.
I am lost, drifting anchorless in an infinite sea of stars. I can’t, won’t survive.
And yet, I think of the countless others who have sailed across such a sea. Some, for survival like me. Others, for much higher purposes. Heights I could never aspire to. Kings, queens, heroes, villains, ordinary folk. Oh, some brave souls surely flung themselves outward, branding themselves forever roamers among the galaxies. Others set their sights on a specific destination, calculating and strategizing every step of the way until arrival. And still others, like me, terrified and forced to flee, drifted until they found their new, eternal home.
A new home.
A new beginning.
“Genesis.”
I blink, and time relaxes into its chronological flow once more. Aspere stares down at me, and for the first time, I notice tears in her dark blue gaze.
“C-come on. We have to go.” She turns abruptly and half-walks, half-runs to the door.
I nod, and, as I follow in her wake, look over my shoulder.
“Marla’i avaurn, Xandir.” Goodbye, Xandir.
Sometime in the near future, I and my people will find a new, strange world. We’ll land, explore, settle, and generally survive. We’ll live and flourish and become the second Xandi.
But who cares about the future. About survival.
All that matters at the moment is that I found a diamond in the midst of despair.
I am the beginning in the end.
Points: 29
Reviews: 49
Donate