Earth and Moon

A short story I wrote from a writing prompt about heartache and new beginnings.

It was dark. That was a very obvious observation to anyone out here with her. But to her, it was a deep, thought out one. It was dark. If you look past the stars, it was dark. Past the moon, it was dark.

Thinking about the moon made her suddenly excited. In just five days, that’s where she would be. On the Stargaze Duster, a ship taking passengers from Earth, to the Moon. It was essentially a vacation for most people, but not for her. No, she was going to stay. There was no coming back. This move was a new beginning for her, and she was going to take advantage of it.

Just then, she felt a tug on her arm. Looking over, she saw her best friend Maddy staring at her.

“Lost in the thought again?” she teased.

“The moon,” Gwen replied.  “Always the moon.”

Maddy shook her head. “You’re really going through with this? I’m going to miss you so much. I know it’s been a hard year but you don’t have to leave. Running away isn’t the answer Gwen. I know you loved Seth, but he’s gone, and it’s no one’s fault.”

Gwen felt tears suddenly sting her eyes. Seth. Red hair and green eyed Seth. The boy she had loved since first grade when he let her borrow his green crayon. Green was her favorite color, and when she saw his eyes, she was his. And they were together all the time until the accident. A tear slipped down her cheek. He was working like many of the men on Earth did, building up another story of a high rise living facility. A chain snapped on one of the machines, and it lashed out, catching him across the chest and knocking him off the building. He fell the 109 stories to the ground, in less than 10 seconds. 

Gravity, what a crappy thing to have. The moon, the moon was different. No gravity. She was looking forward to being in a bubbled community, walking in moon dirt as soft as marshmallows (so she’d heard). She was even looking forward to the heavy shoes you had to wear if you went outside the bubble. They kept you from floating off into the dark...