Where Galaxies Meet

New Earth, Purple Grass

I gazed out at the foggy world around me. I couldn't believe what I saw.

My family was part of an exploration to the "new Earth" when I was five and we'd been launched into space with 17 other families crammed into six space shuttles. We shared a space shuttle with the Barnabies and Finchers. It has been the longest 9 years of my life. Finally, we found our new Earth and after three months of testing had found it suitable for life.

Today was the day we got to land.

As the smoke from the engines cleared and I could see my surroundings I gasped and surprised of what I saw. I couldn't remember much about Earth, since I've been five when we left, but from what I'd heard the grass was green.  

Here, the grass-like plant was purple.

I looked out at the vast miles of purple grass, that was only punctured buy a few trees of varying color, and tried to take it all in. This was my new home after all.

I stepped down from the shuttle and removed my shoes. I sighed at the feeling of the soft grass. Purple or not, it felt like heaven.

"Put those shoes back on little missy", Mrs. Flincher said, coming up behind me, "New world means new allergies. Who knows what reactions will have to be as plants?"

I groaned, she was right, but that didn't make me want to leave the grass anymore. I sighed and reluctantly slipped my shoes back on. I was wearing a jumpsuit-like outfit with a large clumpy boots. It wasn't my favorite attire but it works for space travel.

"Elora dear! Come help with the luggage!" My dad called from the ship.

I rushed back in and started carrying the belongings out.

I didn't have many things that were just "mine", on the ship we shared everything. All the food, clothes, and objects. It took teamwork to survive in a shuttle, so there wasn't much room for personal belongings.

However, I did have one item for myself and that was my necklace.

When I was little and my parents had told the rest of our family that we were going to go on the space mission to find "new Earth" they'd known it was very unlikely for us to ever see each other again.

My grandfather, who I'd always been fond of gave me my necklace.

I'd been so young that I didn't know my left from my right, let alone that I was never going to see Earth again, but I did know that this goodbye would be more important then any goodbye I'd ever had.

The necklace had an angel on it and I remember to this day what my grandfather said as he placed it around my neck.

"This angel," he'd said, "will protect you for the many years that we'll be separated. However, it also symbolizes that one day we'll see each other in the best galaxy of all and your angels job will be complete."

I now knew that he'd been talking about heaven and how one day we'd be dead. Dead but together. For all I knew he was already in that galaxy... waiting for me.

"Hey! Back to work! These boxes won't move themselves!" Mr. Barnabie said, pulling me out of my trance.

I picked up a box and kept working.