Stardust

Chapter Eight

Getting out of the car, Pippi stopped Thomas before he could go any further, "Thomas, hold up."

He turned around, leaving his suitcase in the car.

"Yeah?"

She got out of the car, facing him, "Congratulations."

He looked surprised, "On what?"

"For graduating college! We all knew it was hard for you, you were worried you wouldn't. And for being pooled to go."

"Is that all?" he retorted. Pippi looked a bit hurt. "Sorry, I'm just ... not feeling so well."

"Homesick?"

Thomas nodded. She sighed and closed the door on Thomas side, leaving the suitcase in there. Her hair blew in the wind and she moved the strands out of the way.

"Thanks for being friends with me when no one else would."

He scoffed, "What about your drinking buddies?"

"It was just the college class; I was never friends with them."

Thomas smiled. Pippi smiled back and came close to hug him. He yelped in surprise but hugged her back for a few long seconds.

"When your ceremony is over, I'll bring your stuff to the plane."

"Thank goodness, cause' this suitcase is heavy!" Oliver exclaimed from the side of the car. He has stood there the whole time Thomas and Pippi were talking. They all laughed.

"You can take it yourself; I don't mind it!" Pippi said to him. He frowned.

"No!"

"Okay then. Just go, I'm about to cry."

Thomas frowned when she said that.

"Good luck," Pippi said to him. He nodded and skipped after his brother, already walking towards the stage, the sky growing dark.

"ID?"

Oliver handed his over and the man checked it. The booth surrounding the man was small and set up near one of the ends of the stage. He nodded and handed it back to Oliver. He walked through, climbing the stairs.

"ID?" he asked to Thomas. Thomas sighed, handing over his bracelet that was not on his wrist yet.

He looked over it but furrowed his eyebrows, looking at Thomas, "You sure you're-"

"Yes, I'm twenty-five. I've been asked this before."

The man nodded and smiled, handing him the bracelet.

"Go on."

Thomas nodded and followed his brother Oliver.

Walking across the stage with the curtain drawn, he saw many people of different ages, genders, and races wearing formal outfits as well. Looking behind him, he saw that he and Oliver were the last people to get on the stage.

"Thomas, over here."

After about five minutes of tired walking across the long stage, they set up on a spot near the end and in a corner.

Thomas was the last person, the person on the very end.

"You excited?" Oliver exclaimed,

"Yeah," Thomas replied, though he really wasn't. He was nervous and sick.

Then, a man started to speak on a microphone in front of the drawn curtain. All Thomas could see was the curtain, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to the annual ceremony of the Stardust departure to PEGASUS. These here are the patients polled to live another life. These are the lucky fellows who-"

Thomas sighed and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath while fiddling with the pen his mother gave him that he had in his pocket. He was anxious to just get this done and over with, regretting his decision at coming. Oliver noticed.

"You nervous, mate?"

"Yeah."

He opened his eyes to see the curtain rising, a huge crowd of about 300 people cheering for them. The noises warped and faded out, as Thomas felt very nervous and homesick. He didn't feel right. The flashing lights flickered and pulsated, the cheering merged together and faded off, his visions got hazy and dizzy. He felt dizzy.

He felt like falling down, and he didn't know why.

"We are live, here are the lucky people to go to Proxima Centauri!" The crowd cheered again and Thomas saw a huge and bulky camera moving on a rail, recording the people on the stage live, left to right. It was nearing him.

Through his blurry vision, all Thomas could perceive was Pippi in the very back of the crowd, holding her thumbs up. He didn't feel any better, just worse. They had no clue how he was feeling.

"Here comes the camera, brother. Smile!"

The camera neared Oliver and when it was positioned in front of him, Oliver smiled. But when it faced Thomas, he felt like fainting. Oliver continued to smiled but he noticed there was something wrong with Thomas and nudged his shoulder.

"Thomas, you okay, mate?"

With the last flicker of light, the garbled voice of his brother and his concerned face looking back at him, Thomas just stifled a breath and fell to the ground, blacking out. Oliver tried to catch him but failed.

The crowd gasped and went silent.

"Thomas!" Pippi cried out.