it was colder past pluto. the kind of cold that could chill someone through their bones if they weren't careful. it got lonely, too. stars were millions of miles apart from each other, so far that as they were moving away from them, it took hours to notice any differences in the horizon.
stella was surprised that she actually missed the stars taunting laughter. she missed their twinkling and their chimes. she wondered if they missed her. probably not. her asteroid, she imagined, did miss her. she was far from her home, her little home that kept her safe from the mysteries of space for so long. she hated to abandon it but she wasn't sure that she'd ever be able to get back to it.
stella sighed, her breath showing in a cloud of cold vapor.
"stardust." io smiled.
stella rubbed her arms, shivering. io came over next to her.
"are you cold?"
she nodded. they leaned against the inside of a crater for warmth. it didn't help much and stella shivered. io was shivering too but not nearly as much. like someone who had spent a lot of cold nights far from sunlight. stella looked up at the black sky, feeling sad, suddenly.
"io, the planet you're from. how far is it from the sun?" she asked, leaning against her new friend.
"778 million kilometers." io shrugged, casually, "it's a moon, actually."
"oh. so you're used to the cold."
"yeah."
"oh. is it lonely?"
io didn't respond.
YOU ARE READING
star crossing
Adventurewhen stella accidentally falls off her asteroid home, she drifts in orbit around it. she is "saved" by a flying comet where she makes a friend and they travel through space. **disclaimer: scientific facts in this are very much not facts. little re...
