The Ark Diary of Dylan De Rovia Book One of De Rovia Diaries

You and Me? Seriously?

Saturday August 19th, 2149

This ship is a bubble. We all live in it, work, live, love and die. Few of us very few ever leave it the astro corp but regular people like me stay in this bubble. We will until Gillespie, which confused me. From the time I could understand I knew this was the whole world. But, in ten years this world will be small compared to the whole planet that's ours.

Some of us want to leave. I've heard some older people talk about it. This is their home, not some planet they're too old, they say. It's okay too, for them to stay behind and make their choice. With me it's different. I want to see it to step foot on our new home even if the thought scares me,more than I want to admit.Thinking about it I'm scared of a lot of things. I want to see the horizon. I want my children to know more than this metal bubble.

I'm looking out my window, it's the size of a pie plate. Small and rare, it was originally a maintenance hatch for when the ship was built. This little window was something my parents uncovered when they first moved here. Of course they called maintenance in. The glass is missile proof and had withstood the test of space for this long. It's one of a very few number of windows that show the spaceview. Most homes have inside views, not outside. In a couple months we'll enter the solar system but it will be ten years before we get there.

Closing my tablet I grab my clothes shoving them into my school bag, I can change into them at the maintenance station. I leave a message for Dad on the screen of the fridge, leaving him part of dinner. As I left the floor I met Jule, she's our newest neighbor, her and her husband Benji moved in last year.

"Going to work already?" She asks, her hands cradling her pointed belly. Mom says it's a tell tale sign of a girl with all the weight on her stomach.

"No, but it's too quiet at my house."

Jule nods. "I'll miss the quiet I think."

I laugh that there isn't really a quiet place here. "Your first right."

Stroking her belly she smiles that special mother smile. "Yeah. Benji is so excited to be a father. We both want kids right away."

"Do you love him?" I ask as we enter the elevator.

She points to her belly. "I did at least once."

"No, I mean really love like in love."

"I am now when we first were paired and we didn't know each other. So, we went out on dates and talked. We would sit in our apartment and just talk all night sometimes. Pairing is about genetics but it's also about personalities too. Who will work well together and how likely will both of you be attracted to each other."

"You think so?"

"Your parents love each other in some way don't they?"

"Yeah but not in love like old earth movies make it out to be."

She scofs. "Those movies are a dream too. Look, you're fourteen, you have a couple of years left before you're even Pair. Ohh." She touches her belly. "And if you're lucky enough you might be in my place one with a little guy or girl dancing on your bladder."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm back on the train again. Sitting in the very back just watching people come and go. It's odd to think that here we're in a modern landscape then when we get to our planet it's going to be or hopefull going to be pure wilderness. We'll have to build everything on our own. Building the first a city or even a house on a new world its epic to think about. I have drawings on my tablet of cities.