Jack's Journey

Jack, a young high school boy, takes a journey through the stars, though he soon begins to lament his trip as strange things begin to happen.

Jack's Journey

     Jack laid, back against the cool, moist grass, as he looked up at the stars. He saw them clearly, the black veil of the sky permeated with their bright, glowing countenance. As he looked deeply into the sky he forgot all his worries: Forgot about his parents fighting about something stupid, mere yards away. He forgot about loneliness and the cruel words that the other students at his high school used to describe him. But, most of all he forgot about the world as a whole, after all, what were the problems of an eighteen year-old when he was just a spec, in the scheme of the universe.

      Astronomy was probably his favorite part about school, learning about the mystery and impossibility of the universe as a whole. He enjoyed studying the stars, but more than that, he enjoyed looking at them and loosing himself.

      He had been sitting there for hours when things began to change, in a way that Jack knew was impossible: The stars began to blur, and he felt as if he was moving towards them, with an ever increasing speed. He didn't want to look behind him to see if he was still rooted to the ground, not when he could see the stars' beauty so clearly. He must have fallen asleep he told himself, this was a dream, and one that he would enjoy to the fullest.

      He watched as he left Earth's atmosphere and began soaring outwards, at a faster pace. The stars were beginning to blur, just as they did in television, when they showed a ship entering higher speeds, in space. Eventually he became alarmed, when he could no longer see the stars, but it still felt as if his body was moving at an amazing speed. After several minutes of nothing but the vast black nothingness, he began to slow and see the elongated lines the stars made as he moved past them.

      Once slowing down, he began to see things that he had only read about; He watched as a planet came into view, though it was quite different from anything he had ever seen before. It was a planet made of what looked to be diamond, with seas of liquified diamond, that seemed to reflect the light of the sun, casting beautifully colored rays of light in every direction. He only slowed long enough to see the planet for a couple seconds. Whatever was causing this dream, Jack was grateful, for showing him something so fantastic.

      After another increase in speed, he watched as a sun exploded and the nearby planets began to freeze over. He gaped, it had happened so fast that he could barely follow it before he began to move forward, through space again. He was beginning to have his doubts about this being a dream, he felt every aspect of this trip, from the movement, to the drop in temperature when he watched the sun explode.

      Eventually, he reached another slowing point, though this time there was a lone planet spinning rapidly right in front of him. It was far larger than Earth and it spun fast enough that every color that showed from the surface blended together into something new; A color that Jack had never seen before. It was as marvelous, as it was indescribable. He watched as it spun, blurring the light around it, yet he felt melancholy for some unknown reason.

      As he watched, he realized that there were no stars to look at beyond this amazing new planet. Was he at the edge of space? Or was it simply that he was too far away from the other parts to see them, he would never know. He began to hope that if this was a dream, he would never be cursed to wake up from it.

      Then, he watched as a tragedy occurred right in front of his eyes, as the color seemed to dim. Part of the planet began to disappear as it was absorbed by the black nothingness that surrounded it. Slowly, piece by piece it disintegrated until there was nothing left but the superb colors that had surrounded it. Eventually, even those disappeared, and Jack was left, starring into nothingness. He didn't see a solar system surrounding this planet, it was simply there, a self lit beacon in a sea of blackness.

      He soon felt himself moving backwards, reversing the progress that he had made, following his own path. Though this time, there didn't seem to be any trace of the stars to blur as he began to move faster. He passed through the areas that he had when moving in the opposite direction, though it seemed far more empty and black, as he observed the stars beginning to fade out of existence.

      He reached the diamond planet, once again marveling at its luminous beauty, though it was also soon absorbed by the ever moving, debilitating blackness. He felt a tear roll down his cheek, mourning the loss of the fantastical planet. Once again he felt himself begrudgingly moving backwards.

      After several minutes of the depressing, all encompassing blackness, he recognized his own solar system. With a sigh of relief he watched as he closed in on the blue and brown pearl that he recognized as the Earth.

      He felt the cool moist grass once again, supporting him comfortably starring up at the stars. He must have just woken up, he told himself, though he soon realized otherwise. He stood up, gaping in complete terror as he realized that there were no stars left in the sky. He thought it was impossible, that they had all gone out. After all, due to the light having to travel back to Earth, which he knew would've taken years, he would've had to travel back in time in order for them to have all gone out in front of him.

      He watched the black sky, looking for any beacon of hope in the terrifying mass of nothingness that seemed to cover everything except for the moon. How could this be happening? How could the stars have all simply disappeared, right in front of him. He prayed that he was wrong and that this whole thing was just a combination of his falling asleep and the clouds being shrouded by invisible stars.

      He looked desperately at the moon, the last beacon of hope and light that seemed to rebel against the rest of the night sky. After a minute or so, he gasped, as that too began to disappear into the night sky, as it became a black, hopeless void. Now the only light was coming from Earth and man made lights, stationed on its surface. Then, even those began to lose their luster, people began screaming around him, and Jack knew that he was witnessing the final day of the Earth, and possibly life.