dream walker | AVATAR [1]

one

✰

When I was lying there in the VA hospital, with a big hole blown through the middle of my life, I started having these dreams of flying. Sooner or later though, you always have to wake up... They can fix a spinal, if you've got the money. But not on vet benefits, not in this economy. I became a Marine for the hardship. To be hammered on the anvil of life. I told myself I could pass any test a man can pass. 

Let's get it straight up front. I don't want your pity. I know the world's a cold-ass bitch. You want a fair deal, you're on the wrong planet. The strong prey on the weak. It's just the way things are. And nobody does a damn thing. All I ever wanted in my sorry-ass life was a single thing worth fighting for. The strong prey on the weak. A guy with a knife took all Tommy would ever be, for the paper in his wallet. The suits' concern was touching. 

The egghead and the jarhead. Tommy was the scientist, not me. He was the one who wanted to get shot light years out into space. to find the answers. Me - was just another dumb grunt gettin' sent someplace I was gonna regret. That was until, a few days before the ship out I met the girl my brother had been crazy for and she didn't even know it. I could see the appeal, a happy attitude in a beautiful woman who was crazy smart and didn't brag but I had to remind myself,  you couldn't protect anyone where we were going. But I was sure was hell gonna try.

✰

It had been a while since the zoologist had heard anything genuinely shocking, the last thing being her mother and father had died. A reason that cemented her going into the Avatar programme, there was nothing left for her here, not anymore. Her brother and her hadn't spoken since the incident happened five years ago. It used to bother her but as they say - time heals all wounds. 

Besides, he had his own family now, there was no reason to contact him and dig up old wounds. He would be notified as her next of kin if anything happened to her but Kit didn't think it was likely he would care. He thought she was crazy for studying another world when she could've been helping their own. Perhaps he was in a state of denial because she could see Earth could no longer be saved. And eco-maniacs like her brother needed to wake up and prepare for the harsh reality. 

Kit had been studying the wildlife of Pandora since she was an undergraduate, and now just as she'd completed her PHD the time had arrived, shocking news landed on her apartment doorstep. Twenty-six years old and on her way to Pandora. She'd been in culture and language lessons for a while, meeting two other scientists named Thomas -  Tommy for short - Sully and Norm Spellman. They were funny, in that quirky nerdy way and always seemed to make the lessons less dull. 

It was exciting, the idea of going to another planet and starting a new life. She was expecting the unexpected and couldn't wait to see the wildlife there, it was positively alien. However just as her life was looking up, shocking news came again. Tommy had been one his way home when he was mugged, his life ended over the money in his pocket. It was sad news, she and Tommy hadn't been so close that they would keep in touch post work hours but she had definitely considered him a friend.