Tlalli. Part 1.

A young woman grapples with being one of the first born on a Mars colony.

Tlalli.

She was one of the first to be born on the Red Planet. It was more a burden than a blessing to be brought into this kind of world.

Dry. Barren. Cold. Unforgiving.

Despite that, they chose to come here. Her parents, and countless others, volunteered to leave Earth. The hunger for adventure was too great to stave off. The first arrivals felt a deep longing to reach out into the Universe. That was half the story. World leaders also knew that Earth was not a permanent home. However, the situation was not yet dire. The effects of climate change were only beginning to be felt but humans knew they needed to go a new world willingly before they were forced out.

Tlalli is a first-generation martian. Today is her 12th birthday. She felt like the whole celebration was weird since she doesn't feel like a 12 year old. Probably because she wasn't actually 12. Not according to Earth years, at least. On Earth, she would actually be turning 23. Everyone at the colony kept track of their age by Earth years but they felt it would be disrespectful to ignore their martian birthdays.

"Come on, sweety. Make your wish!"

Tlalli's mom, Ofelia, felt obligated to put on a show for everyone on Earth. Generally, people on Earth had lost interest in martian birthdays. This birthday was special since the colony was celebrating its 30th earth year in existence. Tlalli blew out the candles and gave the cameras what they wanted. She showed some teeth and hoped that the smile was convincing. Ofelia was no fool. Tlalli, after all, was her daughter.

"Gracias, mija." Ofielia said as she kissed Tlalli on the forehead and gave a parting statement to the camera crew that collected in the kitchen.

"Thank you all for coming. Despite this being our 30th year here, it still feels a little funny celebrating martian birthdays. Earth is still fresh in my mind. Please take some tamales home with you!"

Earth. Everyone talked about it. She would receive pictures from thousands of people every day. Pictures of places called Puebla, Los Angeles, New York City, New Delhi, Siruma and Tokyo. The alien landscapes fascinated her. People walked around without spacesuits. So did the people at the colony but that was only once inside a habitat. She would kill for some capris.

She had a cousin that lived in Montebello, California, United States, Earth. She just posted a picture of herself at the beach. They had liquid water! The only liquid water that Tlalli knew came out of a water dispenser or the shower.

"Mars looks so fascinating, Tlalli. Maybe one day I'll be able to visit."

Tlalli knew her cousin meant well but Mars was a world of dust. Even on warm summer days you needed a spacesuit to go outside. They didn't have beaches, a mall or movie theater. It was just the 50 person habitat and more red dust than she cared to think about.

She was a hero on Earth. She became an icon before she was born. Most people would relish the status.

A pioneer. An explorer.

That is great but it didn't absolve her of her regular duties at the colony. She envied people her age back on Earth. She would have loved to go to a regular high school. Fight with a roommate in a college dorm. Fail a driving test twice before being given a license. The first arrivals tried to make the habitat fun for the first-generation martians. But honestly, how fun can a habitat on Mars be? Science games get old.

Everyone was asleep but Tlalli was wide awake with Earth on her mind. She tiptoed her way to the airlock on the far-side of the habitat, away from the sleeping quarters. The airlock lights came on and the system was ready for direction.

"Hello, Tlalli. How may I assist?"

"I'll need one of the scout pods. How quickly can you get one prepped and ready for egress?"

"At this hour? Alone? Should I ping for a companion?"

"Eva, I get enough of this from mom. I really don't need it from you. How long for the pod?"

"Understood. The pod is ready."

Tlalli entered the scout pod and and found the systems already online. Navigation. Check. Life support. Check. Gangsta Rap playlist. Check.

"Tlalli, may I recommend some of classics like Mendelssohn, Kool & The Gang or The Spice Girls?"

"Eva. Look at me. Look at my face. I know you can sense my mood too. Do I feel like disco right now? Seriously."

"Understood. Talli, as you know, you have enough power for 4 hours. I am required to return the pod when it drops down to 20%"

"Eva. Seriously. You tell me the same thing every time. It's fine. I'll be back. Where would I go, anyways?"

"My programmer requi..."

"Bye. Be back later." Tlalli held up a peace sign as the pod rolled out of the airlock. She first saw the gesture in a video from Earth and felt it was the most appropriate way to let Eva know how annoyed she was.

There was a ridge that Talli enjoyed that was only a 40 minute drive from the habitat. She stopped the pod once at the top. The trip only used 17%. "Eva worries too much," she thought to herself. She silenced the music and reclined her seat.

The stars were out in full force. That was the case every night. Most people on Earth would have thought it was an inspiring sight. Do people on Earth gasp at every sunrise and sunset? Does a sense of wonder strike them when they stare out at the Moon? For some, of course. But that romantic take on things fades. It faded for Tlalli a long time ago.

She was looking for Earth. It was hard to spot out among the many points of light. They told her it would have a slight blue tint. Many of them did. As a child, she would pick a random star and declare it Earth for the night. It became a running joke at the colony. The joke got old and in response she became an expert astronomer just to shut everyone up.

She sat there in the pod. Alone. Eva would have tried to chime in a couple of times by now but she muted her upon leaving the habitat. Only 50 other people existed on this planet. Everyone else was 221 million kilometers away. A chill ran through her body. She wasn't sure if it was the loneliness or the temperature of -72 °C outside the pod.

Her mind wandered as she set her gaze upon Earth. She whispered to herself:

"They all keep talking about Earth. If that is our home, what are we doing here?"