Biker Mice From Mars - Breaking The Habit

Every Story Has A Beginning

The sun was burning mercilessly on her skin, but she didn't care.
All she knew was that she needed to keep going.
She couldn't go back home.
Her empty house, filled with loneliness.
It was simply no option.
The doctor had advised her to take a walk every day for at least one hour.
And so, she did.
She had to.
She knew what would happen if she didn't.

With her hands in her pockets, she raised her blue eyes and soon, she spotted a bench standing close to the water.
Despite her determination to follow her doctor's orders, she supposed that taking a little break wouldn't hurt anyone.
After all, it was hot.
And she was tired.
Heaving a sigh, she plopped down on the bench and stared at Lake Michigan.
It was a surprisingly pleasant view, with the sun reflecting on the water, making it look as if a million diamonds were floating close to the surface, but frankly, she felt nothing while looking at it.

She didn't care much about anything, actually.
All there was left were questions, repeating themselves in her head on a loop.
Why was she alive?
Why was she here, on Planet Earth?
What was her goal?
What was her purpose?
What was the purpose of life in general?

The most frustrating part was that, apart from listening to that little yet loud voice in her head twenty-four-seven, she didn't know the answers.
But she tried to keep going either way.
For her parents.
A sudden flash of light high in the sky broke her out of her thoughts, and with her eyes narrowed to protect them from the bright sun, she looked up.
What in the world...?
It looked like some kind of fireball, falling down from the sky at the speed of light and her heartbeat increased when she realized what she was looking at.
Oh, shit...
A meteor!

She needed to get the hell out of here, before she...
She was only halfway standing up when she already stopped herself.
Before she what?
Before she got crushed?
Before she got buried under some space debris to never be found again?
As if she cared.
Maybe this was all meant to be.
Maybe this was destiny's plan all along.
To lead her here, after a very long and agonizing journey.
To be at this place, at this time.
All to die.
Maybe this was the answer she was so desperately searching for.

Almost in slow motion, she sat down again and watched the huge ball of flame coming closer.
So close, that she was now even able to hear the loud roaring of the fire.
Perhaps that should frighten her, but it didn't.
She just sat there, not moving a muscle, her eyes glued to the sight in front of her.
Quite frankly, it was beautiful.
And she suddenly realized that for the first time in a while, she was feeling something again.
She was genuinely impressed, completely mesmerized by watching salvation coming closer and closer and it felt like a breath of fresh air after suffocating for so long.

But then, all of a sudden, she saw three black spots flying away from the fireball and a frown appeared on her face.
That's weird...
However, she didn't want to ruin her last moments by racking her brain about something that was probably inexplicable anyway and thus, her blue eyes darted back to the falling meteor.
Which was quite nearby, she saw.
Yet, she still didn't move.
She merely closed her eyes, the heat of the fire now caressing the skin of her face.
It was time.
She was ready, more than ready, even.
Ready to leave this cruel world.
She embraced death, for it would set her free.

Out of nowhere, she felt something coiling around her waist, and without warning, she got yanked away from the bench.
A muffled moan escaped her lips, and her eyes flew open.
Was she... flying?
Was she actually flying?
What the...
Was this how dying felt like?
She could hardly believe that.

Although she had no idea what was happening to her, she did know one thing — she was flying away from the fireball.
From her savior.
That wasn't good.
Gradually, she reached out her hand.
"No..."
It was nothing but a whisper.
A tear left her eye and trickled down her cheek.
Dammit.
She had been so close...

But then, the fireball touched the ground.
The sound that came with it was ear-splitting, and the explosion was like one she had never seen before, not even on TV.
Holy shit.
The shockwave soon followed, one that carried heat and ash.
One that made her fly even faster, which was peculiar, to say the least.
Actually, this whole thing didn't make any sense.
With a high beep in her ears due to the explosion, she stared at the crater.
The bench was gone.
In fact, everything around it within a 500-meter circle was gone.
Including her.
She was also gone.
But not as she'd hoped she would.
However, only one thought occurred to her.

What the actual fuck just happened?