Into Abyss

"Heather Carson."

The name echoed around the living room. Our cheap television blared white noise. On it was a middle-aged woman in a yellow suit holding a piece of paper. She looked expectantly around.

I gulped. Me? Did she really just say my name? I looked down and realised my hands were shaking. No. It couldn't be. There could be a thousand Heather Carsons. But somehow I knew it was me. My dad was staring at me in shock.

The woman on the TV proceeded to read from her paper. "Heather Carson, 14 Quentin Street, South Regions?"

It was me. Why me? I was leaving. I was going to go to the moon.

Why me? That was what I asked myself for the following few hours. I wouldn't cry, I couldn't. If I cried, my dad might as well. He was shocked, but also angry. When the squad of men in a helicopter came to fetch me, he yelled and protested. "You can't take her!" he had shouted. But they did. They took me all the way to the Eastern Regions, where the woman on the TV stood. But this time she was real.

"You lucky girl" she chirped, though she didn't sound like she meant it. "You have been selected to uphold a sacred duty. You will travel all the way up into outer space to the moon." She sounded robotic. I almost asked "why?" That would have caught her off guard. No one ever asked why we went. We just did. She then continued to tell me about the moon and gravity and the rocket. The rocket. I was going in a rocket. This finally felt real. I was really going up there, into the abyss. Into oblivion.

"Good luck!" squealed the woman in the yellow suit. "Be careful of aliens." She giggled and winked, but her tone sounded warning. Aliens. Ten years ago, the existence of another race was confirmed, but we hadn't seen them in ages. I chuckled. Going up in a rocket, I think the last thing I would be worrying about is aliens...

One week later, I was standing on a platform. Above me, a towering object cast a shadow over my small self. The rocket. This moment wouldn't be filmed, so I couldn't embarrass myself. Only the takeoff would be on TV. A tear rolled down my cheek. Space. I was going to space.

I stepped inside the tiny door of the rocket. It was hot and clammy. I took another step. I couldn't do this. It was a deathwish. The people before me had never come back. Whether they died or were still on the moon, I didn't care. This was stupid. I wouldn't do it.

I ran back, towards the huge building that I had come from. Two tall, burly men stood in the doorway. Maybe I could outrun them. I dashed past, but one caught my stomach. The air was forced from my lungs and I was on back. The two men grabbed at my arms. "No! No! I won't go! I won't!"

I screamed and flailed on the ground. This wasn't fair! I scratched at one of the men when they took my hand. They flinched, then stood up. With one mighty kick, his boot came down on the side of my head. The world went dim, and started to fade into oblivion.

Then I was floating. Floating through oblivion. Oblivion scared me. I had always hated space, even as a kid. While other kids wished to be an astronaut, I preferred to have my feet on the ground. And now I was going to the moon; my biggest fear. I kept asking myself, "Why me? Why me? Why me...

When I awoke, there was no sound. I was sitting again, in a comfortable white chair. There was a screen in front of me. There were swirls of black and purple, and dots like little stars. Only, it wasn't a screen. It was a window. They were stars, and way past them, shining bright and huge, was the moon. I was already in the rocket. In space.

My hands shook again. My breath came out in short puffs. I was really here. Going to the moon. No, not going to the moon. Going to my death. Surely, I was going to die. My head spun, and I gasped for air. I couldn't stand; my legs wobbled like jelly when I tried. I closed my eyes and counted to Twenteen and back again. I sighed and opened my eyes again.

The moon glimmered mysteriously at me. But so did something else. Far off in the abyss of space, a glittering object grew ever closer. It zoomed straight for the rocket until it was right in front of me before stopping short. I suddenly knew in that moment that I not reach the moon.

I knew who these people were. Aliens. They were here to kill me. I could see them through a small window in their ship. They looked so like us. But, of course, they were nothing like us. They were evil. I would die, blown to pieces by aliens. I knew I would die. The woman in the yellow suit's words came to my mind. "Be careful of aliens..." Had she known? No. Impossible. The people inside the other ship pressed some buttons hurriedly. One of them grinned through the glass at me. It was a terrible, bloodthirsty grin. I shuddered. A tear rolled down my cheek.

I barely had time to do anything before my rocket was engulfed in flames. They had fired a missile. The explosion threw me back, but I clearly saw the vile look on the alien's face. He savoured the look on my face, I could tell.

If I ever go to heaven, I'll be sure to tell God just what happened here. How those monsters blew me up and killed me in cold blood. I would tell God to damn th all to hell and never let a single one throught the holy gates. They were killers. Beasts. My people's sworn enemy. The human race...