3075

Chapter 6: Time Flies By When You Are Oblivious

I abruptly awoke from my bed, feeling better than I had ever felt. My head felt blank, and I thought nothing of it as I changed out of my pyjamas. While I was sliding my jeans on, I noticed that there was a strange bruise on my ankle. I rubbed it and winced when it began to throb. Not remembering how I got this bruise, I furrowed my eyebrows and tried to remember what happened. Nothing.

I checked the clock as looking outside was no use to tell the time, and I realised that it was quite early in the morning. Imara and Gertrude were tucked under their blankets, sleeping soundly under the faint, purple light of distant galaxies that stretched in from the windows.

I made my way to the community room, hoping to get some time to think, as I sensed something was off; I just couldn't put my finger on it. The bruise on my ankle was troubling me, not because it hurt, but because I couldn't remember how I got such a nasty injury. I was not one to be forgetful, however, ever since I got selected to leave Earth, everything had been so overwhelming, I must have been in over my head. I sat down on one of the chairs and sighed.

"Can't sleep?" Kai asked unexpectedly, making me fall off my seat.

"You scared me!" I shouted, stumbling to my feet.

"I'm sorry," he apologised. His voice sounded like an upset puppy.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked.

"It's just," he paused and furrowed his eyebrows, "I left my mum back on Earth, and I miss her so much." Kai burst into tears, and I stood there blankly, unsure what to do.

"It's okay, I'm sure she misses you too. I bet that she's proud of her son," I stated while I tried to wipe away his tears with my sleeve.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to cry. It was childish of me," he muttered, blood gathering in his cheeks. Kai was a lot older than the rest of us, and it caught me by surprise to witness him break down that.

"Everyone cries, Kai, and sometimes you just need to let it all out," I reassured. After living on my own for a while, back on Earth, I thought I had forgotten what it meant to be there for someone, and I realised that people needed each other.

Kai wiped away his tears and sat across from me on the table.

"Enya, can I ask you something?" he muttered, half cowering behind the table.

"Yeah, anything," I replied, keeping my voice calm and neutral.

"What do you think Gaia will be like?" he asked. I hadn't had time to think about Gaia, and I furrowed my eyebrows in thought.

"I heard that it's beautiful and covered with life. Did you know that the skies are often blue there?" I said, smiling at the thought of falling asleep under an ocean-blue sky and watching the sunset in a field of flowers.

"That sounds lovely," Kai replied. His eyes lit up at the thought. Like a warm blanket, silence fell over us, but this time, it wasn't because something bad had happened. It was because of something good.

A few hours later, Kai and I were joined by the others as we sat and ate breakfast together. I was still being bugged by the bruise on my ankle, and I had just recently noticed that there was another small bruise on my arm. I suspected that I might have hurt myself whilst asleep.

"Enya. Are you even listening?" Azazel interrupted my thoughts. He sighed, "You've been distracted all morning. Get a grip."

"Azazel! Be nice to your friend," Gertrude commented, rolling her eyeballs at her brother.

"Fine. Just chill out, Dirt-rude," Azazel argued. A grin fell on his face as he saw her sister's face turn stone-cold. The two of them began to argue, sending my head buzzing and my vision blurry.