A new life

Dream into a nightmare

I remember dreaming about being an astronaut when I was little. Wanting to go to the moon and see all the stars up close, running around the couch from my mother pretending she is a monster and getting into a box pretending it's a spaceship. But all dreams must come to an end, crushed by reality. In my case, my dream was crushed by my parents.

I was born to a rich family of Nyman's. I was always expected to be perfect, always succeed. I got into the best schools, even studied at Harward. A few years ago a meteor hit the earth, it was dying slowly but surely. Scientists predicted that in ten years 90% of the population would be wiped. Scientists started to look for a way out, to save the human species. After three years of searching, they found a planet with oxygen, water, and even vegetation, but the planet was small and could only support about 5% of the human population. Scientists invented an exam, the first 5% of people to pass this exam would be accepted to the long journey to Mezapus (name of the planet). The exam was hard it consisted of astronaut training, an IQ test, and a physical test, to ensure that all the best people got to Mezapus to create a better future. That's what they all said but people all trained blood and sweat, but only got disappointed.

At that time I had just finished school at 18, I wanted to be a biologist, travel the world, well at least what was left of it. I didn't want to go to another world, even if this one was dying. I was happy here. My mother thought differently, she wanted me to carry our family's name to the new world. She forced me to train until I was about to pass out, then bury my head into countless books and become a scientist. No school was necessary, I had to study at night, and then train at day. I was given three hours to sleep every day. If I refused to do something my mother would beat me with her belt, sometimes until I bled. I hated her for that but I couldn't do anything about it because she was all-powerful, no one could stand in her way. It was a nightmare.

Finally, I was prepared for the exam, after a year of nonstop torture. Of course, I passed with flying colors, I guess all my mother's torture paid off. I was accepted into "the new life" project. I was trained, again but this time with proper equipment, it was like military school. Every day someone was eliminated because there were still too many people passing the test. I was assigned a room with six other people with whom I would pilot the Jupiter to get to the Mezapus. We studied every day about the little we knew, about Mezapus, went through astronaut training, and military training. We learned to fight and protect ourselves, preparing for the worst. Most people there were teenagers because Mezapus was so far away and we would become adults by the time we got there. Everyone had a major/specialty like engineering, medicine, and science that we would master in order to pilot the Jupiter. All of us were children but trained like adults.

I didn't have any friends there, barely even talked to my roommates. I spent all the nights studying or training, to reach my mother's goal, to make her happy. I wanted her to say "good job" but nothing I ever did was good enough, she kept on pilling more studies and more flaws to fix. I was my mother's little slave just doing everything she wanted. To be in "the new life" project we had to be the best versions of ourselves, the best versions of everyone, we were the next and probably the only generation to come next.

We studied every day, with no break for two years while the Jupiters were made. Each Jupiter would contain six children and one adult, who will be the captain. It would take two years to get to the Mezapus and a lot of stops would be made, for food, fuel and to explore other planets on the way. Scientists held on till the last point to send us to space. More than half of the Earth was destroyed and we were finally ready to put the project "the new life" in action.