To the Stars and Back

Chapter 9

April

I lost count of how long it's been at about 14 hours in. I don't know how long, but I'm 92.3555678492% sure it's been more than 28. Maybe 91.77845%. I have no idea.

My parents are going to the stores and trying to find things, but the stores are mostly raided and empty.

Everything on earth is basically chaos. I'm sitting on my bed having a pity-party for myself, eating all the candy in the house, staring at the wall and pondering the meaning of life.

Also, wondering why I'm not dead.

I've heard that some people are hiding in underground bunkers and storm cellars, or shutting themselves in a basement with all of the food they own. I, personally, have raided my own pantry. I've gotten all of the blankets and pillows in the house and brought them to my room, plus old Halloween candy, Christmas candy, and my secret stash of candy in my closet: two bags of Hershey's kisses, some Twix bars, a share size bag of tootsie rolls, a giant mix bag of skittles, starbursts, candy corn, and Mike/Ike's, and three bags of gummy bears. I have my phone and my iPad in front of me, with my favorite show on the iPad and the book I'm writing on my phone. In the first few hours, I baked cookies, cupcake rolls, and minicakes, but, with the help of my family, I finished them in about a day. I've written 50 pages of a sci-fi book about being in an apocalypse and completely losing your mind. You guessed it- IT'S ABOUT ME.

I just wish mom and dad would come back. It's been, what, three hours since they left? I hope nothing happened.

Alyssa will probably arrive at Awe soon. Will she be okay? Is she worrying about me? Does she think I'm dead?

Because far as I can tell, I'm not. As far as I can tell.

I go downstairs. I still haven't talked to Skye, Wynter, or Cora. But I can now.

I get into my car, clicking on the route to Wynter's, the closest of the three.

When I get there and knock on the door, it's Wynter who answers.

"April!"

She embraces me.

"You're okay!"

"Yeah... so are you." I say.

"Um... and why?"

I look down. "Something's not right. That's for sure. I'm just trying to figure out if that's a good thing or not."

"I mean, we're alive, so it must be." Wynter says.

I look at the sky. I'm just not sure anymore what's good or bad.

"Do you want to come in?" She asks.

"No," I say, "We should go watch the stars together. Maybe get Cora and Skye."

"You're right." She says. "Hey, mom, I'm going stargazing with April!" She shouts up to her mom.

She shuts the door behind her, following me to my car. 

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When we reach the hill a few miles away from the city, we lie down on our backs and stare up at the night sky.

"What do you think Alyssa's doing right now?"

"Probably chilling in a nice spaceship with her family, knowing she's completely fine and alive." Cora says.

"Hey! You know that's not true." I say. "First of all, she's probably worrying her head off about us. Second of all, she's in a lot of danger too. They haven't tested those ships. They could crash, or explode, or-" my voice cracks. "You know. Third, in case you haven't noticed, it's been more than 28 hours. We should be dead by now. We're not. I think we're more lucky than her. I'm glad I got to spend more time with my family. With you. And stay in my own house, my own room... Lyss is probably doing the same thing we are. Sleeping, lying in bed, watching tv, stress-eating candy and junk food, and worrying."

They stare up at the sky.

"I do worry. More than you'd think. It's all I do." Cora says. "About Alyssa. And you guys."

"We all do." I say.

We're silent for a few counts. Five, six, seven-

"Why aren't we dead?"

I almost giggle at Skye's question, then think better of it.

"Well, if you take a look at the sky, we seem to be missing the death rock." Wynter says. By which I mean the absent asteroid that is supposed to be embedded in the earth right now. Why isn't it, though? Could the scientists who found out about this- the SpaceCo scientists- have simply been mistaken?" There's an edge to her voice, though not quite sarcasm.

I realize what she's saying.

"What are you getting at?" Cora asks.

"It's obvious. She thinks this is some kind of trick. Some lie. That they made it up to get money, or attention, or some other twisted reason. But, Wynter, I don't think they would do that. That's messed up. Millions of people terrified for their lives, all because of some stupid government plot-"

"Not the government! Just SpaceCo. And I'm not trying to be some kind of conspiracy theorist or something, but I just think it's possible."

I sigh. "I feel like I'm going crazy. I was alone in my room for hours, trying to enjoy the last 28 hours of my life, but that's impossible."

"Just, pretend that... we're just spending the weekend doing whatever our hearts desire, and that's all there is to it." Wynter suggests. "And- I know that seems impossible, but just think about everything you've done in your life. Things that are normal, things that aren't, vacations, trips, weekends alone at home, spending a week at the cabin with us. Pretend it's another of those."

"Wait! That's another thing! We could go to the cabin!" Skye says.

"You're right! Something that's mainly normal, but slightly special." I say.

"Should we go ask our parents?" Wynter asks.

"No, wait... I want to stay here a few more minutes." I reply.

"Okay. Um... I've been wanting to ask you guys, do you think... maybe, one day, we'll see Lyss again? And everyone who left?" Wynter asks us.

"I don't know. I've thought about it, though. I can't stop thinking about her." I say.

"I've painted her. A hundred times." Cora says. "And I think about what I would say to her."

"She's all I think about." Cora admits.

We're all silent for a few minutes.

"Is this real?" I ask.

"I don't think I could imagine anything like this." Wynter says.

"Me neither. I've had some weird dreams before, but this just feels too real." Skye agrees.

I sit up. "I don't think we'll ever go back to normal, even if we make it through this mess."

"No, I don't think we will. Everyone will remember this. And they'll have to fix all this chaos. With everyone stealing things from stores and everything." Skye says, standing.

"I miss her so much." says Wynter. "I want to be angry at her. For leaving us. For not saying goodbye. But I can't."

"Me neither." I help her up. "Let's just hope she comes back."