Return to Earth

Chapter 1

Kierst had grown up believing in the magic of the domes that protected them from the harsh Martian environment. He, like all the other children, marveled at the sun, moons and sky with its ever-changing colors. There had been no agreement among the children about which part of the magical sky was best, but for him, nothing was like the warming rays on his face as he looked up at the sun.

The domes weren't the only magic he had witnessed, since even the storms that blew in from the lake was something to wonder about in a fearful way. It wasn't the good magic that brought the clouds to hide the sun beneath the endless gray, but the bad kind that also brought rain that kept him inside for hours on end. He was always assured the storms would pass, which they always had, but believed the day would come when they would never leave and deprive him of his precious sun.

Most children claimed something as theirs, from the wind to the stars in the night sky, and knew he wasn't the only one to claim the sun, but believed it shined a little brighter for him than the others. No one else looked up for as long as he did, which meant they didn't deserve to have the precious rays of warmth that coated their bodies as much as his. The sun was his secret friend in the sky bringing him the wonderful colors of the day.

Among all the magic he had witnessed, none was as bad as the dark tunnel that took him from his friends, which included his secret friend in the sky. When his parents told him of the transfer, Kierst had no interest in leaving. He had seen so many others go away to the tunnels and never return that he was left believing it was to a place without light. Going to some dark place terrified him more than the darkest clouds ever could.

He was told there were other domed cities that also had the sun, but believed he was being lied to. Kierst didn't know why they were lying, any more than he could understand why they had to leave home, but knew it must be a lie. If there were other domed cities, why did none of his friends return, and why hadn't he met a single child who had lived in one of those other places.

Kierst would remember various parts of what happened that left him terrified of the dark for years to come. A fear that never really went away, but had learned to live with it as time passed. Even as an adult, he was uncomfortable with darkness, but the shallow breaths and shaking limbs no longer controlled him.

There had been more people than he had ever seen at one time heading towards the ramp that led to the darkness below. From the surface beneath the shining sun overhead, it appeared blacker than the night sky. They had what few possessions they could carry with them with his parents' assurance that everything would be replaced once they got to their new home. A new home meant abandoning his real home as he was forced to leave everything behind.

He couldn't recall how he got down the platform into the dimly lit passageway, but could recall the line they stood in as they waited for their train to arrive. Those around him were excited by the prospect of the future, but he felt only fear terrorize him. His father held him to bring him comfort, but to a child being torn away from everything, there was no comfort to be found.

Kierst would later learn the lights weren't as dim as he remembered them to be. People used them to travel to domed cities for various reasons including those with families. It wouldn't be for many years before he learned the real truth of families with young children being transferred throughout the northern cities, a truth very few people on Mars knew.