Gone

Bursting forth from the blinding orange glow of the supernova, a streak of silver and gold sliced into the blackness that surrounded the dying star. Faster than the speed of light, it burned its way through the airless expanse of space, until, as suddenly as it had appeared, it came to an abrupt halt. As it hovered, motionless, its form became apparent. A torso, two arms, two legs, a humanoid head and, it was female A matching set of two braids, almost as black as space itself, sprouted from either side of the head and traced the line of the girl creature‘s back, finally tapering to rest at her slim waist.

There in the void, she seemed to be waiting. Nothing would be meeting her there, some part of her knew, yet as she closed her eyes and listened, she could swear she heard voices. They were distant echoes of those lost to her, but they almost became real to the girl, resplendent in her silver and gold armour, standing out against the black backdrop. Opening her eyes, she scanned the depths ahead, catching sight of a glowing ball of bluey-green far in the distance. There was only one way she could go and, if hope were to be found, perhaps her course was clear. She aggressively resisted the urge to look back as she once more flashed forward; leaving only a trail of memories behind her, memories that would never be told and certainly never heard.

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The bluey-green ball made its way around its fiery companion, time moving on for its cargo with every revolution. Blissfully unaware, neither the ball nor its inhabitants knew anything of lost worlds beyond that place. Their time would come, that much was certain, but for now, on the ball rolled; night and day swapping places as dark and light danced across the surface, hand in hand.

It was into a realm of shadow that the silver and gold streak surged forth, parting the oxygen filled atmosphere momentarily as she came in to land. The air weighed heavy on the girl’s chest as she took her first gasping breath of the new world. There were sounds here, many sounds; a cacophony that made her delicate ears hurt. But where were the people? Did this land of bluey -green not provide sanctuary for any intelligent species? Looking up into a jagged tower of brown and green protruding from the ground, the girl noted the source of the painful din, small two legged creatures with sharp faces and no clothes. Much they chattered, for that is what the girl presumed they did, but none of it made sense to her, and she was quite sure the naked creatures should be avoided at all costs.

So, she did. Bluey-green, as she had christened her new environment, seemed to be teaming with the things. As she made her way across many varying terrains, she frequently had to find somewhere to hide as the pointed faces of the things soared down from above and fixed her with curious stares. Feeling thankful for her armour, and the fact they never stopped on the ground for very long, the girl resolved to build her new home from something they had an aversion to; when she found an area to settle that is.

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Long the girl travelled, passing all manner of creatures, yet never any that reminded her of her kin. Something died inside her each time she passed from one day into the next, still having never encountered intelligent life. Two large curved blades were still strapped to her back, and she considered the option they offered for a way out should hope be beyond her reach. 

Idly she began to count her footsteps, speaking the numbers aloud as if to remind herself she was still moving. At step number 12’063, she almost reversed and restarted at 12’000 as she came across one of the sharp-faces on the ground in front of her metal covered feet. The thing did not move, it simply lay there, still, beady eyes gaping from their sockets. She jumped as a piece of its raggedy skin flapped about in the cool breeze. But still it did not move. Gaining a little control of her fear, the girl tentatively knelt on the dusty track next to the thing and slowly reached out a gloved hand. She poked it softly, lurching back in readiness of its expected ploy to trap her into becoming its next meal. When it didn’t react to her touch, she felt braver still and prodded its body with a little more assurance. The girl gasped as the rounded head gave a tiny crisp sound and tumbled away from the rest of its naked form, resting with its yawning eyes fixed in her direction. As the heat from Bluey-Green’s star blazed down upon the girl’s head, her eyes traced the rocky ground that stretched out for miles around. Without knowing why, a sadness began to seep out from her inner being, gradually enveloping her as she stared down at the beast that once was.

She didn’t want to count after that. Her thoughts were of death and as much as she tried, there was no respite from them. “Cursed death” she muttered bitterly to herself.

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It was as the dark was kissing the light goodbye for the seventh time, when the girl, still embittered by her now obsessive thoughts, arrived at an expanse of water. She knew water and silently thanked the ether for its existence in this weird world. She knew that her kind could only go on without it for a certain time and although each day had started to blend in to the next, hindering her ability to keep track, the tight, dry feeling in her throat heralded that time was soon. 

She approached the water’s edge and bent down to see her reflection in its sparkling depths. Her armour of silver and gold no longer gleamed; both it and her exposed skin were mottled with shades of brown and grey. Her hair was covered in a fine layer of dust, turning it from deep, dark ebony to no colour she could describe. One of her braids had loosened from its tie and was threatening to flow free at any moment. A frown pulled at the corners of her small mouth, tugging on the corners of her large, brown eyes as it did so. Looking down into the dark depths, the girl stopped breathing , allowing herself to begin to choke for air as she imagined the water calling to her, dragging her down until the option to breath existed no more. The air on this ball was thick and heavy and she could feel the desire to breathe it no longer like a pressure on her soul.  When the time for a change of heart was almost up and her knees began to grow week, something snapped her from her hypnotic thrall and urged her to look towards the far side of the body of water. There, standing proud on a strip of craggy ground that jutted out into the lake, was a simple structure that seemed to catch the last of the light, as it began to spread out and fade across the purple tinged sky.

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By the time she had discovered how to reach the strip of land, the girls heart had felt the tender fingertips of hope taking her lightly by the soul and compelling her to move on with belief. Something stirred within her as she stepped up onto the rocks; still she had seen not a single person but a feeling was emanating from this place and it deserved her faith.

The night had come by now, but there was a funny cool blue light arching down from a white ball high up in the sky. The girl had been starting to get used to having to alter her vision in order to see during this phase of Bluey-Greens orbit. However, though she didn't know what the light-giver was, she was grateful for its presence.  Having been staring up at the ball since she'd noticed its arrival, she finally followed the course of its light down until it made contact with the ground ahead of her. The structure was clear within its beam. When the girl finally came within arms reach of it, she couldn't help but feel small in comparison. Towering some way above her head, the tower was made from some kind of rock, though not of the same consistency as that upon which she now stood. It consisted of two parts; one vertical, the other horizontal and, sited closer to the top than the bottom of the upright piece, it extended evenly out on each side. 

The girl had a distinct urge to reach out and touch it. It was almost as if it spoke to her, whispering to her inner-self, telling her to be at peace. She gazed up at it in wonder before finally removing her right glove and splaying her hand flat across the smooth, polished surface.

Suddenly, a myriad of images rapidly flashed through her mind. Part of her insisted she pull away but it was too late, her back arched and her head flexed backwards to face up to the night sky. Her eyes clouded over and then closed as she became transfixed by the story told in pictures. They told of life and death, honesty and betrayal, joy and sorrow. She felt the pain the images showed her and more besides and, above all else, she felt an end, a certainty that there was nothing left. They were all… gone!

 When finally, the tale was finished, her hand dropped from the structure and she fell to the ground in a daze.

When the drained feeling had passed and she once more felt the strength to stand, the girl looked up at the white ball of light in the sky. She looked at the water and the brown and green ragged sharp-face perches. She looked at the path she had travelled to get here and she looked far off through the atmosphere and out into space, where she lingered for just a moment. Lastly, she looked up at the smooth rock structure in front of her, before she bowed her head and sadly turned away. 

With cold resignation, she called upon all of her strength and prepared herself for another journey; not knowing if it would be her last. 

She didn’t know exactly what she had seen as those images had assaulted her mind, strange machines, odd creatures,  a disjointed people, tragedy of some kind - she knew that much, but when it was done, she was sure of one thing, this place was lost, she would find no hope on bluey-green.

As night once more exchanged places with day in the eternal dance, the ball continued its revolution around its star, the smaller white fellow mimicking its movement as an ever-faithful companion.

Up into the blackness of space, a streak of silver and gold surged forward into the beyond, twinkling amidst the points of light made by a billion far off worlds, before finally blinking out of existence.

Author's Note

I entered this into a regional competition, the first short story I had written since I was at school (too many moons ago, lol). However, it didn't even get a look in. Was curious to know where I went wrong so that I can learn from my mistakes.

Reviews

[hardscoper6]

Really great story, very smooth feeling about it. I don't see why you didn't get a shot, love the whole part with the bird, though! Don't let the contest get you down, either way, in my opinion it's awesome. Another cool idea would be write a second short story like this, like a sequel or if you could think of some way to do it, a full story. Just ideas for you, i'll watch for more of your writing!

[Rebecca K Pavia]

Thank you, that has boosted my confidence a great deal. I have read through it again and can now see some silly errors that I should have picked up on before I submitted it, but, not to worry, it's all a learning curve after all.

[Rebecca K Pavia]

I have now edited the 'bad bits'. Feel happier now : )

[hardscoper6]

Even better now! Keep it up!