Tensa

Earth's End

It all happened in a blur. A flash of a second... Literally. There was chaos on the streets, fire burning in the middle of the road, and news reporters everywhere. Panic was setting it's pace with the human race when the meteorite hit the Eastern Hemisphere with the Earth. Although the rock collided on the other side of the earth from me, the effect was showing it's ugly side... And quickly.

 Everywhere I turned, families were huddling together, weeping, knowing that this might be the end. Others were trying to frantically contact their friends or families. The rest were boarding a few hundred rockets, trying to fit as many people in them as possible. I watched them take off, and it was finally my turn to board the rocket. People were shoving and pushing me on all sides of my body, squirming to get a place inside of the rocket. We eventually made it into the crowded rocket, then the door shut, and were were quickly off of the ground, and away from Earth. I didn't get to see what the Earth had become while I was in space. Honestly, I really don't think I wanted to know.

 The trip took about two hours, and everyone on board was getting sick and impatient. I felt the rocket land smoothly onto the ground, and the door popped open. Nothing that I've ever imagined possible in the year 5000. At least, not like what was right in front of me, and a crowd of other people.

 The ground was like ice, even though it wasn't cold, at all. I bent down to touch it, and got a solid form that resembled ice itself, just not cold. Interesting.

 There were buildings that stretched from miles on end... Buildings? People knew about this place?

 The air was thick. Thicker than Earth's atmosphere, but breathable. Some people vomited from getting exposed to the sudden changes of air pressure, and the thickness of the air. I did not, although it was harder to breathe for a few seconds.

 I looked around some more, abandoning the speechless group to go examine my new world... If we were going to stay here forever, at least.

 As I explored, the more things reminded me of Earth. Trees were grown, plants, and even some animals roamed it. I smiled, remembering the comforts that earth had given me.

 I stared up into the sky, or what I thought was the sky, at least. It was just stars. Space. So how could we breathe? She didn't feel like questioning such a phenomenon, and decided to go back to the group.

 By the time I got back, many more rockets have landed, making more people come out and look at this planet the same way as everyone else did. My father had exited out of the rocket, sweeping his gaze around the crowd of people, finally spotting me. He quickly jogged towards me, gently pushing people out of the way until he finally came close enough to me to embrace me in a tight hug, as I delivered the same thing right back to him.

 "Heather," he whispers, almost in tears, "I thought I'd never see you again," His body softened, letting me step back before he spoke again, "This is the planet Tensa, home to mammals, and plants. The only other planet that can sustain human life."

 I nod, figuring that the trees weren't already a dead give-away. he continued. "We're going to stay here for a bit," he paused, all of a sudden, looking uneasy, "Then go back to Earth and see if there's anything left that we can take back."

 Four days of living on a planet that I didn't know existed wasn't that bad. Almost the same as Earth... Almost. The food was more bland, sort of like military food, wrapped in packages, and ready to eat. but besides that, everything else on Tensa was tolerable. Father came up to me.

 "It's time," he says, taking my hand, and leading me to a rocket, where we set off to Earth, once again. This time, the trip seemed longer than before.

 Earth was covered in mounds of dust, and radiation seemed to give what was left of the atmosphere a green tint to the sky. We stayed in the rocket, circling a good distance away from what was left of Earth, searching for survivors, and things we possibly could take back for good use. Father put a hand on my shoulder.

 "This is our life, now." He muttered, looking at the destruction before him.

I followed his gaze, watching as we flew by all of the wreckage that almost brought me to tears.

We searched and searched, but did not find anything useful to take back with us. We decided to land, putting on our radiation suits, and venturing out to stores, in need of canned foods, and water bottles that had survived, but we had to do it quickly.

I could have sworn that I was stepping on the ashes of what was once someone's body, but I had no time for my negativity to get in the way with my work. The Earth smelled of rotten flesh, and rusted dirt.

After two dreadful hours of rummaging with what could have been what was left of the human race, we boarded the rocket once again, taking off our radiation suits as we started off for home, having enough supplies and food to feed what was left of us for a good solid month, if everyone took into consideration portioning their diet, that is.

I let a tear escape my eye, knowing that we couldn't keep doing this forever, that mankind will perish over time... But I kept that thought to myself when my father startled me back into reality.

"You okay there, kiddo?" he took time to look away from whatever he was watching for, and put a hand on my leg, giving me a wistful smile. I bet he had the same thing in mind, but I was in no state to ask if he really was, or not.

I turned away, and closed my eyes, hoping when I opened them again, this would all turn out to be nothing but a bad dream.

I guess I didn't hope hard enough, because when I opened my eyes, I was in my decently-cushioned bed. I lazily got up, and checked outside. It was dark out.
"How long was I asleep for?" I murmured to myself, rubbing my temples from a slight headache starting to form. There was a familiar voice behind me.

"Ten hours. It only took a few hours to get back to Tensa, and you slept the rest of the time in your bed," father straightened his posture in his rocking chair, staring at me with the dim light available in the room. "You were, uh.. Having some night terrors, I suppose, because all that was coming out of you were shakes and shivers, and the occasional, 'take me back home' phrase," I could faintly see him frown, bowing his head, "Listen, Heather. I do feel like the human species will die off in due time on this planet, but I do not believe that it will happen any time soon," he stared outside of the window, watching the stars twinkle in the night, "And for that, I beg you not to worry. If it does happen, it will not be within your lifetime," his tone through all of what he had just said was a low, constant monotone vibe that brought me to peace, but sent chills down my spine, as well. How was he so calm with all of this? Did he know all of this would happen? Who put him in charge? How does he know so much about this planet, and what might eventually happen in the future? The questions kept coming, like a raging tidal storm with no way to stop the questions from being asked. One day I will have to find out the truth, even if it kills me.

Life on Tensa started to become dull, and plain. Nothing seemed to give me the natural excited 'spark' that I had when I first got here. I knew every crater's placing by now, and could practically walk on the planet blindfolded, and still knew where I was heading. Boredom threatened to take over my daily routines, and everyone was living a routined life. Almost like Earth, but with less options, and freedom.

Little to no crimes were being committed, because no criminal found pleasure in seeking out the extra attention, knowing they had nowhere to hide.

Fertility rate was slowly decreasing, as well. We needed all the space we could get on this tiny planet inhabiting 10,000 Homo sapiens, and to top it all off, animals that we couldn't stop from reproducing. Sanity on this damned planet seemed to be decreasing by the minute. I longed for Earth -or what was left of it, at least- to be able to sustain human life forms once again, because I felt a rebellion coming our way... But what good would that do? We're slowly running out of supplies, and everything seemed to be getting worse by the week.

But I had to give it to some of the people's spirits, trying to make their children feel at home with a little birthday party for their young, or the exciting moment when a girl becomes a woman on her Quinceanera. I had to respect their efforts to make this feel as home as possible, but they couldn't keep up the charade forever.