This is my first short story for the Story A Day challenge. Stories I post for this month will be a little rough and unedited. These are not polished final works; they're just whatever I can get done each day. Still, I hope you enjoy reading them.
How many years had it been since Andi left earth? She had lost count.
She just hadn’t thought about it in a while. Oh, sure, she would make small talk about it all the time at work, just like everyone else. The locals, the ones who were born here on Aysee and called themselves “natives” even though their parents were all immigrants, always thought it odd how the expats could spend just as much time criticizing earth as they did praising it. Depending on the mood and the topic of conversation, earth was either a mess they were glad to be rid of or an example that the Aysees really ought to learn from.
Twenty-three. It had been twenty-three years, she realized.
They still got messages from their friends and family back there. Andi’s parents had sent frequent mails through the interGal system at first, usually asking her when she would come home for a visit, but they came less and less often over the years. Eventually, they must have resigned themselves to the truth: their daughter wasn’t coming back.
There was always a reason. An excuse, really. It was too expensive. The travel took too long, and she’d have to sell her little house and pack up everything until she could get back. It was a lot faster to send information across space than people. Anyway, she had work to do. She was busy. That one was difficult to argue with. Busy can mean so many things.
She had intended to visit eventually, of course. When things settled down, when she had the time. When she could deal with seeing her family again. When she had built up enough psychological strength to fend off their guilt trips and misguided attempts to “help” her with her life. As though she weren’t an adult, approaching middle age now, fully in charge of her own life.
It wasn’t like they were going anywhere. They were getting older, sure, but not so old that anyone expected them to pass on anytime soon. And they certainly weren’t going to leave that ugly house they loved so much.
Andi remembered the last time she had seen it. It was a cloudy, gray day. Cold. Winter. There was snow here and there, but mostly everything was just gray and wet. Even on sunny days, earth’s sun was never quite bright enough for her. Alpha Centauri had an extra sun. It didn’t snow here. Everyone had to wear extra-strong sunscreen all the time, but seasonal depression just wasn’t much of an issue on Aysee. Earth could keep its snow. And it would, basically forever. Her parents could be happy in their unstable climate, and Andi could enjoy her suns.
She could visit when she was good and ready.
It wasn’t like they were going anywhere.
Andi avoided the earth news, as a rule. It was always sensationalized. There was no way of verifying any of it, not without a very long and very expensive trip through space, and she was absolutely convinced that it was mostly propaganda and sales pitches. Stuff to get the ratings up and sell the Aysees more junk they didn’t need.
Everyone was having the same conversation when she got to work, ready to face another daily grind. She dodged small talk on her way in, but couldn’t help overhearing the same few words again and again. Unbelievable. Tragic. Impossible. Gone. I can’t believe it’s all gone. She heard that whole sentence, verbatim, several times before she finally noticed how many of her coworkers were crying, and how many were obviously trying not to cry.
She tuned in long enough to get the important parts of the shocking news. She turned and walked straight back out the door.
Much to her own surprise, she didn’t cry. It had all been so far away. So far behind her. Another world. Another life. She hadn’t spoken to her parents in months, not even a mail. She booted up her computer and loaded up the interGal comnetwork. It was all still there. All their personal pages, all their photos and inane comments about food and impotent political statements. All of it was stored in the satellite cloud, and would remain there until the machines broke down.
She had planned to go back and visit them eventually. They were always asking her to come home.
She stepped outside into the cool night air. The suns had set and the stars were out. She craned her neck upwards and stared and stared, searching until she found it. Yes, there it was. Sol. The brightest star in the sky, the closest one in the whole universe. That was the funny thing about interGal communication. Faster than light. She’d be able to see it for another… almost four and a half years before it disappeared.
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