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‘Looking Outward’ by Elizabeth Morrell
Eo By A.J. Eddy We set forth to discover new worlds, and just as our forefathers used the stars to guide them across the oceans to new lands, we use them to chart our way to new systems and discover new planets. A few days ago, we found ourselves in a system with no sun. The planets were all lit by the glow of a nearby nebula. We settled into orbit of one of the planets. From above, it was a blur of blues and greens, overgrown with dense jungle and no bodies of water. Half the planet was engulfed in storm clouds, the evaporative cycle providing the flora with the water it needed. There was no sign of animals or people; the planet’s only inhabitants were plants. Curious, we sent a landing party down to investigate. The planet was eerily quiet: the only sound was the rustle of the leaves in the breeze and the distant fall of rain. The jungle was full of flowers in full bloom, filling the foliage with a kaleidoscope of colour. Twisted vines stretched across the forest floor, shifting between shades of azure and deep sapphire as the light broke through the foliage. The waxy leaves of the trees were a deep blue and aqua, nothing like the rich greens of Earth. There were plants similar to pitcher plants on Earth, but they were a vibrant crimson, velvety, and colossal in size.
Bunches of flowers grew in the nebula-lit patches: their long stalks and flowering ends reminiscent of reeds, except they were a deep burgundy. The flowers at the end of the stalks blossomed like lavender, but were as blue as Earth’s sky on a clear summer’s day. Another flower looked like nothing we’d ever seen before. The canaryyellow petals grew upwards, narrow and long – like a bunch of pencils in a cup. Bioluminescent moss glowed in the shadows of the trees, the fuzzy yellow-green growth spread across the grooves and ridges of the tree bark. Purple, blue and orange flowers grew among leaves, but it was the daisies that caught my attention, the tiny white petals encircling a ball of yellow pollen. The trail of daisies led into the forest. I glanced at the rest of the landing party before following the daisies, weaving my way through the overgrown greenery. It wasn’t long before I found myself turned around and lost among the trees.
‘You see what they don’t,’ he said. His lips didn’t move as he spoke, his deep voice echoing in my thoughts.
‘Want Eo.’
I looked at where I’d come from. The daisies were gone.
I had to hide.
My mind raced with questions, but I couldn’t find the words. ‘I Eo.’ I turned back to him. ‘I’m Sam,’ I replied, unsure what to say. ‘You not safe. Hunters come.’ ‘Hunters? But our scans didn’t pick up any signs of animals or people.’ ‘They come from beyond home.’ ‘Another planet,’ I said aloud. Eo looked up, his expression alarmed. ‘They here.’ I reached for my communicator but the receiver crackled with static. The signal was being blocked. ‘You friends gone,’ Eo said.
That’s when I met him: the towering giant with limbs that looked like the twisted vines and ridged bark of the trees and hollow eyes.
I was going to ask him what he meant but the question died in my throat. The landing party. They’d gone back to the ship.
My heart stopped as his figure morphed out of the surroundings.
‘Hunters come,’ Eo said, rising to his feet and stepping back among the trees. ‘No let them see you.’
He stepped forward and crouched down in front of me, tilting his head curiously.
‘What do they want?’ I asked, following Eo as he disappeared among the dense jungle.
Fear gripped my heart.
I sprinted through the jungle, weaving my way through the labyrinth of thick tree trunks and blue vines. My lungs burnt, breathless, and my heart hammered against my ribs. A figure appeared before me, dressed in heavy armour and brandishing a blade made of black metal. A hunter. I slid to a halt. Other hunters appeared, encircling me. ‘Where’s the Guardian?’ the first hunter asked, lifting his blade and pointing it at me threateningly. I swallowed hard but said nothing. There was a loud rumble as the ground below my feet shook. One of the hunters let out a strangled cry as he was thrown aside, hitting a tree with a heavy thud before collapsing to the ground. Another hunter charged at me, but was knocked aside by a towering figure. I looked up. ‘Eo help Sam.’
Adrift By A.J. Eddy The scariest part of training was training for being set adrift. They’d suspended you in zero gravity in a dark room with no way of know which way was up and nothing to grab onto or push off of in order to steady yourself. You’d just drift in the nothingness. It’s like being swept underwater, knocked about by the rolling current and lost among the churning water.
There’s something comforting about that. Once the panic subsides, it’s not scary anymore; it’s rather peaceful.
Your mind screams at you as the subconscious instinct to orient yourself fills you with panic.
I remember the stories my grandfather used to tell me—tales of heroes like Hercules, Achilles, Perseus and Theseus. At any point, they could have given up, but they held on; they kept fighting.
In the silence of space, all you hear is your breath inside the suit and your heart beating in your ears as you try to calm yourself and preserve your oxygen.
Help will come, I tell myself. Someone would come and save me. And if they don’t, then I’ll die among the legends and stories of heroes that are never forgotten.
I used to close my eyes and imagine I was on a boat that swayed on the waves; it was the only way I could keep myself calm. But, out here, it’s all different: I don’t want to close my eyes.
Until then, I won’t give up. I may not be able to orient myself and my oxygen may run out, but that’s not going to stop me from holding on. I will keep fighting.
The panic is still there. I have to fight the urge to scream for help and blink back the tears that well in my eyes. I keep my eyes on the stars that burn bright in the vastness.
‘Looking Outward’ by Elizabeth Morrell
Centuries ago, people would use the stars to tell stories, now I lie among those tales of heroes and gods.
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