Leaving Home

Our spaceship touches down atop the highest mountain of my land. The fading whir of the engine creates ripples in the water. The water around us has covered the entire land except for the peak where we've landed, of course. The peak is worn out.

"It is a water-world," Les says.

I hop out and step into a worn-out Bermuda grass. I could feel the grasses beneath my space boots. The last of their kind, I reckon. I look around and hear myself asking, Is this really Culaba? Tears fall off and I choke.

I move to the other side of our ship. The upper part of the colossal sculpture of the cross could be seen above the water level. It was built a century ago. It has managed to stand despite the Great Catastrophe. Submerged under is the Culaba cathedral. I went there every Sunday when I was a kid. My aunt would hold my hand as we walked inside as a real mother does.

I amble to the water, not worried about slipping down.

"Hey, Saes!" Les calls me. I know she worries about me. She knows what I've felt since the time we learned about the Great Catastrophe.

I wish to go down. To see the house that kept me safe, the home that loved me. But, it's obvious, there's nothing left to see but remnants of disaster floating everywhere. The bodies of the dead have decayed and could have been eaten by a horde of janitor fish or other carnivorous amphibians.

I cry for the name of my mother. No echoes. Les embraces me from behind, her arms tucked under my shoulders.

"Enough, Saes. They're gone."

I could feel her voice has a stain of tears.

Had I turned down the lottery prize to go to Mars, I would have been with them. I would have died too.

I feel my life now is worthless. What is the purpose of the history I've made if mother and aunt are already gone?

I look down at the water and I see my gloomy face. My tears fall and create a batch of small ripples. As soon as the ripples vanish, Mother's smiling face appears on the surface. I could hear her say, "That is alright, Saes. We will stay in your heart forever." Beside her is Aunt showing her beautiful dimples. More teardrops fall and the ripples erase their image.

"Enough of that, Saes." I hear Commander Zai.

"The commander is right." Les agrees.

We climb back into the spaceship. Les briefly looks at me and then closes the airlock. I look back one last time. She moves to my side and holds my hand. We watch the water-world as we take off. I'm now leaving home forever.