Your oldest friends are a living reminder of your mortality. You remember them in their youth and that puts them entropy of aging in a stark and visible contrast. It wasn’t until recently that I saw we were entering the early autumn of our lives. The hair falling from our heads, the way discolored leaves wither and fall from the branches of trees. It is a visible reminder of the approaching inevitable. In time only one of us will be left to remember the other.
The fleet of ships that now held what remained of humanity inside their titanium hulls hovered at the edge of space. The mood was somber as everyone waited in a quiet tension pendulating between despair and mind-shattering terror. The powering up of the colossal nuclear engines sent gale force winds ripping across the planet. This was the beginning of their latest exodus, just another jump on their way to the last.
Human civilization's only hope rested with an asteroid that was hurtling in their direction. The appearance of this interstellar ballistic was heralded as a miracle, and indeed it was their only hopes of escaping the world they devoured. When it screamed past the desolated little planet, they would launch themselves at the oncoming cosmic projectile it in a desperate attempt to cling to its jagged surface. It's projected trajectory was set to take it just outside the orbit of a small planet dubbed Toba. An infinitesimal but livable planet.
There wasn't enoug…
Comments
Post a Comment