ARTEMIS

Artemis, a ship of wonder destined to take us to another world, a world beyond our own to start a new life, to build a new world similar to our own, a world that would save us from what we are leaving behind.

As I look at Artemis, I see a wonder we humans built, but I also see a prison that will take me away from everything I have ever known, others see it as our salvation to something better, to a new world that will save us.

To the many others we are leaving behind Artemis offers nothing but death and the lies that everyone will be saved, the truth is only a handful of us will be saved.

I am one of those who will join many thousands others who will board Artemis in the hopes we will survive this journey.

Today I board Artemis and say goodbye to the only home I ever known. Today I say goodbye to friends I will never see again and to a family I will always remember. Today is the beginning of a new life I wish never to have, but I got.

On this journey into the beyond, my parents and may little sister will share with me. I'm glad for that part of my life that is going with me, but I can't help but wonder about what I'm leaving behind.

This journey will take many generations, it will span many lifetimes. What’s to say what will happen. Nobody knows not even me.

Artemis is taking off with thousands of passengers. I can feel the ship roaring to life. I can feel the engines coming to life and up we go.

I stare out the window watching as the home I love grows smaller and smaller, the people waving their last goodbyes to us.

Today on the first day of my journey is also my twenty-first birthday. How do I spend this milestone? waving goodbye to the moon and earth as Artemis hurdles through space.

This is the last time I will ever see earth or her moon at least not without the assistance of a telescope.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't live to see our destination. I'm hoping I'm wrong.

I've settle to life on Artemis. I've come to terms with what life is now, at least my parents and little sister are with me, that I can be grateful for.

Life on Artemis began the moment we enter space. Each passenger has their assignment we will need to do to keep Artemis up and running for the duration of the trip.

Both of my parents are engineers, it's no wonder why they were chosen. They and the rest of the engineering team are task with keeping and maintaining the structure of the ship.

Before I came to Artemis, I was a pre-med student, now I get to finish my studies on board this big ship.

Besides continuing my studies, I get a job as a waitress. This allows me to earn points so I can get food, clothing, shoes, books, basically anything I want.

During my waitressing job I get to meet interesting people. I hear their stories about how they got to be on board Artemis.

Some of the stories are sad. Many of the people didn't want to leave their families, other stories are happy, they are excited to start over, to go on an adventure to a new world.

On of those people I meet who is not happy to be on board Artemis is Dominic.

Dominic is a curious person. Everyday I see him at one of the tables looking at a picture of a young woman.

I never ask who the woman is, it's not my business but every time I look into his eyes all I see is pain, pain that is not going away. His kind of pain may never go away.

I feel his pain. I know how it is to leave those you love behind. I have pictures of friends and family I left behind and when I look at their smiling faces looking back at me I cry.

I want to speak with Dominic to tell him he's not the only one feeling sad, there are others like him, me include.

I wish to tell Dominic to be strong even though I don't feel strong, but I didn't get the chance to speak to him because he spoke to me first.

I finished my studies and now I'm at my job when I see Dominic sitting at the exact same table he always sits.

I go there and take his order, instead of taking his order Dominic asks me to sit with him.

I introduce myself as Adrianna. I tell Dominic I already know his name. He smiles.

Dominic has a beautiful smile. I don't say that to him, instead I ask him, why is he so sad?

Dominic takes out the picture of the woman, he shows it to me and tells me the woman is his girlfriend, Eden.

He tells me Eden is the love of his life and he had to leave her behind. I feel so sad for him.

The pain, the heartache of leaving and being helpless to stop all this is something nobody should go through.

I tell Dominic about the ones I left behind. I miss them so much it hurts to talk about them.

Dominic and myself became fast friends. I find out Dominic is training to become an engineer. I tell him I'm pre-med.

Everyday when we finish our studies I go to my job and find Dominic waiting for me.

I like that I have someone waiting for me to talk with and to laugh with. This is the first time in a long time I'm able to smile and it's all thanks to Dominic.

Six months into our journey and everything has changed some for the better and some for the worse, of the worse that's happened, Artemis was sabotage by those that want to return home. Thankfully my parents and the engineering team fixed the problem.

The better part of the journey is me being with Dominic. It's is easy to talk to him, but sometimes I find him pulling away away from me and I know it has to with Eden.

I finish my rounds when I spot Dominic at his usual table. I walk over to him and sit next to him.

Dominic explains to me why he's been off with me and I was right. Eden is still on his mind. I was heartbroken, then Dominic surprised me by saying he let Eden go because he fell in love with me.

I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. Dominic grabs my hand and start to shake it. I get out of my trance and kissed him. I tell him I love him too.

We share a lot of first on board Artemis, from our first kiss, to our first Halloween, to thanksgiving, Christmas and birthdays.

This goes for the passengers, American and international passengers. Our first are very memorable.

Two years into our journey life on board Artemis has been good. Everyone is working hard to maintain our home.

I finished my pre-med studies, now I'm working on my internship with one of the doctors. Dominic is already working in the engineering department.

Tonight, me and Dominic have special plans. Dominic tells me he has something special for me.

Right on time Dominic picks me up. We walk to the restaurant hand in hand.

Dominic tells me I look beautiful. I smile. We arrive at the restaurant. The hostess leads us to our table. Dominic takes out my seat. I sit and he sits in front me.

I'm looking over the menu when Dominic touches my hand. I put the menu down and look at him.

Dominic looks into my eyes, he tells me these past two years have been the most amazing two years and it's all because of me.

Tears begin to come down my face. I already know what Dominic is going to say next.

Dominic gets down on one knee and ask me to marry him. I say yes. He takes the ring and puts it on my finger. The ring is so beautiful.

Me and Dominic kiss to the cheers of the people.

Three months later me and Dominic get married, the first on board Artemis.

Our parents, siblings and friends we made are witnessing our marriage. I couldn't be any happier considering I never wanted to go.

Nine months later me and Dominic welcomed our baby girl Indie. The first baby to be born on Artemis and not the only one.

The years we spent on Artemis have been met with hardship and happiness.

We watch new generations being born, while we watched the old generation sadly pass away. My parents and Dominic's parents passed, but not before seeing their granddaughters and grandsons being born.

Indie wasn't our only daughter. Me and Dominic had one more daughter and a son.

My sister Aspen had two sons and two daughters. Dominic's brother and sister each had three kids.

We watched our sons and daughters grow to be amazing people.

We watched as they had kids of their own and their kids have kids.

Me, Dominic and my generation watched as Artemis became a beacon of hope for humanity. We watched countless of generations born and raised to carry the torch for us in the world.

The end of our 74 year journey is upon us. Artemis has reached the planet we will call home.

74 years ago, I stood on this very spot looking out this very window as I waved goodbye to earth and now I stand here looking at the planet we will call home.

I am one of the fortunate ones to have made it this far, to have a large and wonderful family and to have the love of my life still with me.

As Artemis comes to a full stop, the generation who left earth 74 years ago and grew up on Artemis will be the first to step foot on the new world.

Me, Dominic, my sister Aspen and Dominic's brother and sister say goodbye to our families and make our way to the shuttles.

We board and takeoff. I look above at Artemis and wave goodbye.

As we descend, I hold on to Dominic's hand. In a matter of minutes, the shuttles land. I unbuckle my seat belt and take a deep breath.

This is it, 74 years in the making. The shuttle doors open. Me, Dominic and our family begin the walk to our new home.

I step out and touch the ground for the first time in 74 years. I look at this new world and I'm reminded of earth.

I breath in the fresh air, it smells like fresh roses.

I look out at his new horizon and see a magnificent sunset.