Fallen Stars

Ashes, Ashes

My last day on earth wasn't supposed to end like this. I was supposed to go out peacefully, like the fading notes of a lullaby and the end of a long, successful life surrounded my loved ones. Or, I was supposed to go out like a super nova – blinding and brilliant in the line of duty fighting for the EMU. I knew what my life was supposed to entail. How I was supposed to die.

But I suppose dying in the place of someone I loved could come a close second.

***

This story properly begins earlier that same morning, just as the suns first rays kissed the skyline outside the window. Nightmares had plagued my mind the previous night – leaving me restless and unable to reclaim the bliss of unconsciousness. The all-too-familiar demons that twisted themselves into my mind were not a new development. They had always been there – burrowing deeper and deeper – and so subtle at first that I could not determine a time when they werent latched at the back of my thoughts. But no matter how long theyd roosted in mind, I could never truly conquer them – hence my state of consciousness at such an unseemly hour.

But then, I had never minded rising with the sun. There had always a sense of peace I had associated with it when Id risen before my comrades. A sense of accomplishment as I watched the pink fade to periwinkle, fade to the crisp blue of daylight. It was a sliver of my old life I could integrate into my new one – a routine that gave it an air of normalcy.

I had been on leave for 6 blazing months. With no indication of when I would be called back. I knew it was only a matter of time. It always was. You never really left the blazing EMU once you enlisted. So when I had received a notice of release through Comm – declaring me fit for indefinite leave – Id snorted and returned to my bare, standard-issued flat, waiting for the Comm announcing my return to service.

I sighed, turning from the window and pinching the bridge of my nose. I had come to love the quiet hours of nothingness and the stillness of a peaceful morning. I came to realize that peace was a beautiful thing, and I promised never again would I harm another. I dreaded now, the contact of my old Captain. I dreaded strapping back on the uniform and picking up my well-oiled weapons – the ones I had called friends. All I wanted to do now was grow old, maybe marry and have kids. I wanted to have my own slice of the peace I had worked so hard to create. And burn everything if I wasnt going to get it!

A light flashed in the corner of my vision as I made my way through the kitchen and into the main room. A Comm. Shaking my head, I blink and decline the call. Not today. A smile plays at my lips as I skip through the main room and up the stairs. The bathroom. Turning on the hot water, I hummed the old nursery rhyme:

Ring around the Rosie,

Pocket full of Posie.

Ashes, ashes

We all fall down.

The light flashed, and I blinked. Not blazin today! I sang lightly and stepped into the shower. I wouldnt go back in. For that is what the Comm was for right? To take me back into the EMU? No. I would not give up my tranquility.

Comm override. The cool female voice sounded in my ear. Connecting to caller in 3 2 1...

Static filled my head, and my eyebrows creased in confusion. Static? Where was this Comm coming from? Static was almost completely unheard of these days, almost the kind of tale youd tell kids to frighten them into behaving.

Send me the burning location. I muttered aloud – against my better judgement. A whirring sound could be heard in the back of my skull as the Processor followed orders.

Unable to trace Comm. The closest GPS location I could get is Miami, Florida. Irritated, I tried to shut the Comm off – determined to pursue the matter no further.