Day 88 Writing Short Stories

Final Act

Here I was again, living the greatest failure of my life. I let it torment me every day. Not so much as a reminder of what I chose and how poorly I chose, but because I had a duty to fulfill. I hauled myself into the hull of the spaceship from the open wound I had caused and stepped into the darkness. There were still bodies inside the ship, and it was to bury them. That was my atonement, a penance I couldn’t escape even when the last body was buried in the alien soil.

I adjusted my breathing mask and continued down the upside-down corridor to the ship’s kitchen. I had already cleared the cryo chambers, and now it was time to get to those who had been alive when the crash happened.

I reached the kitchen, pulling myself up with the ropes I had attached all over the ship to help me move against the planet’s gravity. The effort made my knees ache. I pushed through the pain, knowing I had to finish this task before my supplies ran out and I joined the others.

I found Lara’s corpse tangled with the kitchen chairs. I tied my fingers around her collarbones and hauled her up. She weighed more than she did when alive. It was as if the planet reminded me of my mistake with the asteroids.

I got her out through the wound on the spaceship and dropped her on the sandy ground. I swiped my forehead to ease the sweat pouring out, but what I got was my visor.

I took a deep breath and lowered myself to hoist Lara up into my arms; arms and fingers that felt stiff in the spacesuit I was wearing.

The steps I took backward toward the graveyard I had built strained my muscles, making my legs shake. I felt the release when I finally lowered Lara into the hole I had dug. I didn’t dwell long in the ease. I took the shovel I had salvaged from the ship and began filling up the mound.

As my last act, I wrote her name on the stone to mark her grave. I had buried her next to her sister, wishing that would bring some peace to her and me. I didn’t. Not when she, like the others, was destined to be forgotten here on the alien planet. As their captain, I should have prevented this.

I stood up, leaving the stone on the grave, and watched the other mounds. There were hundreds of them.

—

Oh, what a sad story. I didn’t mean to write it so sad, but it came out like this. What I got today was an experimental sci-fi tragedy, written in the first person. I think I managed to do that, excluding the experimental part.

Now I need to hurry to work. I have an early morning. I have an exciting and terrifying day ahead. I might change companies. We will see!

Thank you for reading! Have a day of acceptance, and see you tomorrow ❤