"Hey Dad?" The young girl tugged at her father's shirt.
"Yes sweetie?"
"Why is the moon so close to us, yet still so far away?" She pointed up to the full moon shining brightly above them.
"Well you see," he said, looking up at the moon. "It's like our mom, dear. She will always be in our hearts, yet at the same time somewhere far away."
"Is she on the moon?" The child looked up with fascination. When she thought about it, the glimmer from the moon did look like her mother's smile. "When I grow up, I will fly onto the moon and meet mommy!"
"Yes, yes," the man smiled with sorrow, "when you get older."
As they walked away chit-chatting about her explorations onto the moon, the bright moonlight shone above where they were a few minutes ago - a grave, marked with a woman's name.
Twenty years later
An old man lay on the hospital bed, withering away from cancer and sickness. He stared up into the full moon hanging right outside of the window, shining brightly above.
A woman barged into the room despite nurses holding her back. A panicked expression was drawn on her face. She had received the call from the hospital, and immediately drove for hours straight from the NASA headquarters.
"Dad, dad!" She clamped her father's hand that swayed off the bed. It's so cold, too cold, way too cold for a living person. He turned his head with great effort, an admirable feat for someone in a poor state such as his.
"Sally," he said with great effort, words no louder than a whisper or a gasp of air. "I'll be watching over you." Right after he said that, he collapsed on the bed, head tilted to one side.
The machine on the left dutifully recorded his heartbeat, which flatlined not long after. The woman broke down in tears as the doctors and nurses recorded his time of death. Dark clouds draped over the moon, as if it was paying a tribute to the misfortunes on earth.
One year later
The shuttle's shadow loomed over the surface of the moon. As it began its descent, Sally and her partner got ready for landing. If they succeed, it would make history as the first moon landing.
The NASA headquarters cheered in joy as the shuttle landed safely on the moon, blowing up dust and moonstone with the force of the landing. The doors opened without a sound as they made their way out of the shuttle.
Sally was the first one to step foot on the moon. From today onwards, she would be known as the first person to land on the moon. Through the communication devices within the astronaut suit, they confirmed their feat and briefly cheered in joy.
Sally took a deep breath. As the first person to step foot on the moon, fame, wealth, glory - all are within her reach if she returns. "You know what they say," she said to her partner, "one small step for man, one huge leap for humanity." She chuckled to herself, "well, one step for woman, but still a huge leap for humanity."
She looked at Earth. The view was magnificent. Aquatic blue covered the majority of the giant sphere, with green continents being surrounded by the sea. White wisps of cloud and brewing storm floated about, adding colour to the landscape. She could not help but smile, knowing that she could never have made it without the support of her friends and the precious opportunity to become the first astronaut by NASA.
What motivated her the most, however, were her father's words twenty-one years ago. A small joke of how she would venture the moon brewed into unmatched motivation. Now she had fulfilled her promise, to meet her mother and father on the moon. They have always liked the moon.
She thought about how this is her first time on the moon. Yet, it would also be her last-
"Hey mom," she began to tear up, reminiscing in memories that she shared with her parents, "remember what I said that day?"
She took off her helmet and tears immediately froze up. "Sally, what are you doing?" Her partner shouted in shock, but she cannot her him anymore. In space, all voice is null save the ones in her head - the laughter of a family and the crying of a little girl, all left alone.
Her whole body began to freeze as asphyxiation began to kick in. Despite the lack of air, she managed to mutter her final words -
"I'll finally see you both again..."
Disclaimer: I'm neither suicidal nor depressed, this idea just randomly came into my mind, I'm perfectly OK.
Image credits: https://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?illust_id=67861832&mode=medium
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Bad Fiction
ActionA collection of my terrible fiction with no connections with each other whatsoever. Read it if you're bored or something, I do this for fun anyway. Disclaimer: All events in here are pure fiction and fantasy. It is not meant to be reflective of any...
