Fade

Part 5

-- -- Unknown planet, time not known

    When Julia awoke, she was surprised she wasn't stepped on, missing any limbs, and that she even awoke. 
Her gladness was short-lived.
All that remained of the other passengers was multiple searchlights scattered around.
What happened?  How did I survive?
But, Julia knew why.  She had been safe in her hole.  That still, though, left one question:
What happened?
She looked at the ground, and found giant -similar to stork- prints leading away.
One good thing following many bad, Julia thought.  Not necessarily Yin and Yang.  But then again, my life has always been this way.
Julia's mind flashed back ten years.

"Where's my mommy?" Julia asked.
"Dead," a police officer had said.  "You'll be staying with your dad.  He just got out of jail."  He grinned maniacally.
Julia noticed how bad her situation really was.
Then, her mind skipped three years ahead.

The same officer walked up to Julia.
"Hey, kid.  Look─you're going to be staying with a foster parent."
"Why?"
"Your daddy is back in jail," he said, this time with sympathy in his eyes.
"When will he be out?" young Julia said innocently.
The officer sighed then said, "Never."
Her mind skipped ahead four more years.

Julia, now a thirteen-year-old, was running away from a house.
Julia remembered this.  This was when she had run away from her foster home; the beginning of her lonely life.  Her life had been that way until she had gotten a job, and was able to begin a life for herself. 

The only other person she had known was her grandma, but she faded along with the earth.