The Last Goodbye
As I write this I am sitting on the park bench looking through my old photo albums. Looking at the photos that Xavier and I took, I am waiting for the death. The death that they say will be painless. It will take us so fast we won't have time to think. Except we do have time to think. We have time to think about our loved ones, the ones that left us, and about what we could have done differently to try and save our planet. Like instead of making an artificial oxygen plant and cutting down all the trees, we could have saved the trees and found a way to make artificial wood instead. But I'm getting ahead of myself; I'm going to explain how the human race ruined our planet one resource at a time.
I will always remember that day. I woke up just like every day. Waking up I got dressed and got ready for school. Looking at my oxygen tank levels I headed down to the kitchen to grab my breakfast and refill my oxygen tank. In the background the news was on, but it seemed to go in one ear and out the other.
"Last night scientists working for NASA discovered reasons to expect a solar flare. Experts aren't sure at this time the magnitude of the flare." My head snapped around at the sound of a car honking. Grabbing my backpack and oxygen tank, I ran outside to the car.
At school in our current events class we learned about the solar flare. We learned that now the scientists at NASA knew it was going to be huge, but how huge no one knew.
After school I walked with Xavier over to the library to study. When we got there it was closed. A sign hung from the door with furious scribbles declaring that they would be closed "FOREVER." Xavier and I just looked at eachother assuming that they were just over exaggerating. We decided to study at his place so we turned and headed that way.
We studied, watched T.V., and ate. At six o'clock, while I was preparing to leave a knock came at the door. Xavier walked over and opened it. Outside was a uniformed man, he looked down at Xavier and asked, "Are you or are you not Xavier Kinsey?"
Looking back at me he replied, "I am."
The man answered in his gravelly voice, "I have orders to take you directly to the D.C. Space Station, to undergo an extensive training and medical exam in order to be prepared to be sent to Neptune."
Xavier doubled over laughing while the man just stared pointedly ahead, "Who put you up to this, because it sure is funny!"
"The government and NASA did and you can be sure that this is no laughing matter Mr. Kinsey. The scientists working on it have found reasons to believe that this solar flare will be the end of human kind. And you will be one of the lucky thousand that get to take the rocket to Neptune and continue living."
He looked back at me; I gave him a small smile. Turning back to the man he spoke, "Sign me up! Sounds like fun. When do we start?"
Smiling the man answered, "Now, as soon as you grab everything you want to take. Just keepsakes, mind you, you won't be needing your clothes. You will get a new pair of standard issue as soon as we get there."
For the first time the man noticed me, "And who might you be," he asked referring to his sheet.
"Uhh, uh," I stuttered, "Lily McGee, sir."
The man looked down at his sheet, "Well I don't see you on my list so I will just be taking Mr. Kinsey. You have a nice death, err, day ma'am."
And with that he turned on his heel towards his car, yelling back, "I will meet you in the car Mr. Kinsey. You have five minutes to gather all that you need."
The next week dragged out. My mind wasn't on my class work anymore. I kept thinking about how Xavier hadn't even looked back as he left. I thought about how the man had wished me a nice death, as if he knew that the solar flare was going to kill everyone on Earth..But he
didn't know that right there was no way he could know that, the scientists only had reasons to believe that, but no stead fast evidence. For all we knew we could all live, while the "lucky" thousand went to Neptune and died. But in the back of my mind I knew that this was the end that there would be no laughing at the people who had gone to Neptune. There would only be that lonely time where you thought about all of the things that you wish you could have done differently in your life.
The bomb alarm started blaring, shocking me out of my day dream. I looked around the class, it was sheer madness. Suddenly I remembered, the teacher had told us that this would happen when they knew that the flare would be in less than three hours. They would give us time to say good bye to our loved ones and go watch the launch of the space rocket to Neptune.
I grabbed my bag, and sprinted to my car so that I could get past all the traffic. I hoped to see Xavier one last time, and deep down I hoped that he wouldn't get on. But that was just a wish that I knew wouldn't happen. I drove like crazy, not caring about the traffic laws. I would get there no matter what. Finally I reached my destination of the D.C. Space Station. I jumped out of the car and flew across the parking lot. I slowed as I reached the already forming crowd. I pushed and shoved my way to the front. I was squeezed against the fence by the people hoping to get a last minute chance at Neptune. Abruptly our National Anthem began playing. Limos began pulling up, and people dressed in
blue suits began walking towards the space rocket. I searched them for a familiar face. I told myself that I was just looking for people I knew, but really I was just searching for Xavier. Suddenly I saw him; he was walking just by the gate with a huge grin on his face. I screamed his name, he turned and smiled and waved as if I was just some star-crazed teenager. I waited to see some spark of recognition in his eyes, but he just walked on past. In a haze I slowly turned around. Tears streaming from my eyes, time seemed to slow. I began walking back to my car thinking that now I really didn't have anything to live for.
I turned the key in the ignition. I wove in out of the traffic towards the old park where we used to hang out. Pulling up I got out of the car. The people on the streets were in panic mode. Pushing through the crowd was like swimming through a bowl of jello. I reached the bench we used to sit at and took out the photo albums that I had carried with me since Xavier had left for training. I looked through the pages not seeing the pictures, but thinking of how my end would come.
I'm still thinking of the end as I finish this story. This is what I have to say, so listen closely. If you are reading this then that means that the
mission to Neptune was successful. If you are now able to return to Earth, please take care of it don't let what happened this time happen again. The human race became greedy and used all of the oil for cars, and continually used up all of the resources we had on Earth. They used all of the trees to make more houses for the growing population of Earth. But what they didn't realize at the time was that they were slowly depriving us of oxygen. The cars emitted a type of gas called CO2 that slowly ate away at our Ozone layer. Without the Ozone we didn't have anything to protect us from the Sun's harmful rays. Without protection the Earth continually heated up. Soon one of the flares that the sun frequently experiences reached Earth. Take care of the environment and don't let an ozone hole the size of all the oceans combined kill all of the rest of the human race. I can now see the yellowish tint of the solar flare eating its way towards me. This is my las.....
I will always remember that day. I woke up just like every day. Waking up I got dressed and got ready for school. Looking at my oxygen tank levels I headed down to the kitchen to grab my breakfast and refill my oxygen tank. In the background the news was on, but it seemed to go in one ear and out the other.
"Last night scientists working for NASA discovered reasons to expect a solar flare. Experts aren't sure at this time the magnitude of the flare." My head snapped around at the sound of a car honking. Grabbing my backpack and oxygen tank, I ran outside to the car.
At school in our current events class we learned about the solar flare. We learned that now the scientists at NASA knew it was going to be huge, but how huge no one knew.
After school I walked with Xavier over to the library to study. When we got there it was closed. A sign hung from the door with furious scribbles declaring that they would be closed "FOREVER." Xavier and I just looked at eachother assuming that they were just over exaggerating. We decided to study at his place so we turned and headed that way.
We studied, watched T.V., and ate. At six o'clock, while I was preparing to leave a knock came at the door. Xavier walked over and opened it. Outside was a uniformed man, he looked down at Xavier and asked, "Are you or are you not Xavier Kinsey?"
Looking back at me he replied, "I am."
The man answered in his gravelly voice, "I have orders to take you directly to the D.C. Space Station, to undergo an extensive training and medical exam in order to be prepared to be sent to Neptune."
Xavier doubled over laughing while the man just stared pointedly ahead, "Who put you up to this, because it sure is funny!"
"The government and NASA did and you can be sure that this is no laughing matter Mr. Kinsey. The scientists working on it have found reasons to believe that this solar flare will be the end of human kind. And you will be one of the lucky thousand that get to take the rocket to Neptune and continue living."
He looked back at me; I gave him a small smile. Turning back to the man he spoke, "Sign me up! Sounds like fun. When do we start?"
Smiling the man answered, "Now, as soon as you grab everything you want to take. Just keepsakes, mind you, you won't be needing your clothes. You will get a new pair of standard issue as soon as we get there."
For the first time the man noticed me, "And who might you be," he asked referring to his sheet.
"Uhh, uh," I stuttered, "Lily McGee, sir."
The man looked down at his sheet, "Well I don't see you on my list so I will just be taking Mr. Kinsey. You have a nice death, err, day ma'am."
And with that he turned on his heel towards his car, yelling back, "I will meet you in the car Mr. Kinsey. You have five minutes to gather all that you need."
The next week dragged out. My mind wasn't on my class work anymore. I kept thinking about how Xavier hadn't even looked back as he left. I thought about how the man had wished me a nice death, as if he knew that the solar flare was going to kill everyone on Earth..But he
didn't know that right there was no way he could know that, the scientists only had reasons to believe that, but no stead fast evidence. For all we knew we could all live, while the "lucky" thousand went to Neptune and died. But in the back of my mind I knew that this was the end that there would be no laughing at the people who had gone to Neptune. There would only be that lonely time where you thought about all of the things that you wish you could have done differently in your life.
The bomb alarm started blaring, shocking me out of my day dream. I looked around the class, it was sheer madness. Suddenly I remembered, the teacher had told us that this would happen when they knew that the flare would be in less than three hours. They would give us time to say good bye to our loved ones and go watch the launch of the space rocket to Neptune.
I grabbed my bag, and sprinted to my car so that I could get past all the traffic. I hoped to see Xavier one last time, and deep down I hoped that he wouldn't get on. But that was just a wish that I knew wouldn't happen. I drove like crazy, not caring about the traffic laws. I would get there no matter what. Finally I reached my destination of the D.C. Space Station. I jumped out of the car and flew across the parking lot. I slowed as I reached the already forming crowd. I pushed and shoved my way to the front. I was squeezed against the fence by the people hoping to get a last minute chance at Neptune. Abruptly our National Anthem began playing. Limos began pulling up, and people dressed in
blue suits began walking towards the space rocket. I searched them for a familiar face. I told myself that I was just looking for people I knew, but really I was just searching for Xavier. Suddenly I saw him; he was walking just by the gate with a huge grin on his face. I screamed his name, he turned and smiled and waved as if I was just some star-crazed teenager. I waited to see some spark of recognition in his eyes, but he just walked on past. In a haze I slowly turned around. Tears streaming from my eyes, time seemed to slow. I began walking back to my car thinking that now I really didn't have anything to live for.
I turned the key in the ignition. I wove in out of the traffic towards the old park where we used to hang out. Pulling up I got out of the car. The people on the streets were in panic mode. Pushing through the crowd was like swimming through a bowl of jello. I reached the bench we used to sit at and took out the photo albums that I had carried with me since Xavier had left for training. I looked through the pages not seeing the pictures, but thinking of how my end would come.
I'm still thinking of the end as I finish this story. This is what I have to say, so listen closely. If you are reading this then that means that the
mission to Neptune was successful. If you are now able to return to Earth, please take care of it don't let what happened this time happen again. The human race became greedy and used all of the oil for cars, and continually used up all of the resources we had on Earth. They used all of the trees to make more houses for the growing population of Earth. But what they didn't realize at the time was that they were slowly depriving us of oxygen. The cars emitted a type of gas called CO2 that slowly ate away at our Ozone layer. Without the Ozone we didn't have anything to protect us from the Sun's harmful rays. Without protection the Earth continually heated up. Soon one of the flares that the sun frequently experiences reached Earth. Take care of the environment and don't let an ozone hole the size of all the oceans combined kill all of the rest of the human race. I can now see the yellowish tint of the solar flare eating its way towards me. This is my las.....