Apollo 0

Every year someone is handpicked from our small society to go to the moon. Ever since I was a little girl it has always been my dream to be picked. I've always been captivated by the stories of what's up there. We're not told much of what happens once someone lands on the moon but I do know one thing for sure: a better life awaits.

You see, Earth is falling apart and it seems like Earth is dying faster these days. We're running out of resources fast and the farmers plowed their lands to ruin. Wildlife is slowly disappearing and what's left are the beasts at the top of the food chain. If we stray too far from our protected village a wolf, a bear, or even a lion will have a good lunch. I can't remember a day when I looked up and saw a glorious blue sky. All the history books have pictures of what Earth looked like before. Brilliant green trees and meadows. The ocean was just as blue as the sky and not polluted with oil. The people even looked healthier. These days, because food is so hard to come by, you can count someone's ribs through their shirt. And my little family is no exception.

It's me, my mom and dad, and my two older brothers, Theo and Frey. For as long as I can remember we've never been lucky. We're always missing something whether it's no food or it's something else like ragged clothes or no heating when winter comes. That's never stopped us from being happy together. Mom always finds something to cook and Dad always keeps a smile on all of our faces. Theo and Frey do what they can to work in the factories to earn as much money they can make for us and once I turn eighteen I'll be old enough to join them. So whenever I'm looking up at the night sky hoping that when the Lunar Cycle comes once more that I'll be picked I feel guilty. Only one person gets to go and if I'm picked, I'll be leaving my family to live in squalor while I live a better life. I couldn't do that to them. It's usually when I start thinking like this I close my ragged curtains and go to bed. If I lose hope I don't know how I could look forward to life.

Today is the day of the Lunar Cycle. I stand in front of our makeshift mirror wearing the best dress I have. It's a simple, green dress that drops to my knees with a yellow ribbon tied around my waist. I never liked the color green on me personally but Mom went through so much trouble getting it for me last week and I didn't want to let her down.

"Do you like it, Lily?" Mom from behind me.

I look at her in the mirror and smile. "Yes, Mom. Thank you." Mom's smile widens, her gray eyes shimmering with joy. She did her best to look good today as well. She threw on a pink blouse that always makes her stick out but not in the bad way. Mom has always been beautiful and even though she's aging with a few smile lines and wrinkles around her eyes, she's still beautiful. A beauty I can never recreate.

"Let's go before all the good spots are taken." Mom locks her arm in mine as we meet father and the boys outside our bleak home. Together, we walk to the Center.

The closer we get to the Center the more people there are. Eventually, we're mixed and mashed in the crowd and we all hold onto each other tighter as to not let each other go. If I were to let go of Mom right now I'd be swept up and lost in the sea of people. Luckily, my family and I find the last bench up front and we sit down waiting for the event to start.

There's a stage in front of us with a single microphone. There's a few guards on stand by with guns in their hands which I always thought was weird. The guards never move either making them look like statues. Maybe they are and they're just there to intimidate us. I don't know why they would feel the need to do that though. Crime is very rare in our village so the guards only protect us from the wilds. A weird feeling grows in my gut but I ignore it as the speaker comes out. It's always the same guy with the beautiful, clean blond hair and bright smile. He looks like he showers everyday and never goes hungry a day in his life.

"Welcome to the forty-third annual Lunar Cycle!" he announces once he's up at the microphone. "It truly is a blessing to be here today and give one you the chance at a better life. Apollo Zero is such a beautiful colony on the moon where we'll build a better community and let humanity thrive despite the adversity we've faced. On Apollo Zero there is no war, no chaos, and no corruption. One of you today will join our Apollo family and learn how to bring about a better generation. Now who's ready?" Everyone in the crowd cheers, even my family, but for some reason, I keep quiet in my seat as I continue watching the lifeless guards.

Finally, I see one of the guards lift his hand to his ear, waits a moment, and then opens his mouth to say something. The man upstage nods his head and I notice that the guards and this man are all wearing the same ear pieces. They're probably communicating with each other which makes sense. No need to feel freaked out, Lily.

"Now it is the time for one of you to be picked." I can feel the anticipation grow in the air as the man walks down from the stage. He lingers in front for a while, his eyes searching the crowd before he eventually begins walking up and down the aisles.

"He's looking for someone," Theo whispers to himself. Mom lightly hits his arm.

"People are picked at random and you know that," she scolds. Theo doesn't look convinced but keeps his mouth shut.

"You."

I was so distracted by Mom and Theo that I didn't see the man make his way here. He stands right before me smelling of sandalwood with his hand extended out to me. My heart pounds in my chest as I look up at him.

"Me?" I ask, my voice breaking. He only smiles.

"Yes, dear. C'mon." I look back at my family who are all smiling at me except for Theo. He looks angry. He looks like he's going to start a scene right here in front of everyone despite Mom's scolding. But he never does.

"Um, okay," I say shakingly.

I place my hand in his and he swiftly stands me up from the bench. He guides me up the steps to the stage and to the microphone where everyone is looking at me. I suddenly feel a burden resting on my shoulders. So many thoughts race through my head but I can't comprehend a single word of what I'm thinking. I just look to my family hoping that maybe Theo will save me from leaving.

"What's your name, dear?" the man asks.

"Lily," I say, my voice echoing throughout the Center.

"Such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Tell me, do you accept my invitation to Apollo Zero?" He looks at me with innocent eyes but do I really have a choice? Can I really stand up here and decline in front of everyone and go back to my seat?

"Yes," I tell him, not wanting to risk anything. The crowd cheers as the man smiles.

The next few minutes is a blur. Or maybe the next hour was a blur. I lost track of time as I was whisked away from the stage, never having the chance to say my final goodbyes to my family as they escorted me into a car. The last thing I saw before they shut the door was Theo rising to his feet and Frey tackling him to the ground. I know that man was talking to me but at some point gave up when I wasn't responding. Not that I wanted to ignore him. Disbelief and fear filled my mind. All this time I hoped to be picked and now that I am, I want to go back. I want to live my life in squalor if it meant I got to be with my family. I don't want to live with people I don't know and be forced to bring better children into this world. That's no way to live. A better life should be defined by the person living it, not defined by society. Why did it take me to be taken away to realize I was happy where I was?

"We're here," the man says.

Held back tears fall onto my cheeks as I look at the man. I wipe them away quickly but he still sees them. He sighs, his eyes growing sad for me.

"I know this is hard but trust me, everything will be okay," he says, placing a comforting touch on my shoulder. I just nod, too choked up to say anything myself.

The driver opens my door and waits for me to step out. The guards who rode with us walk at my side closely and as we enter the building, more join until they form a circle around me. The halls are white and empty except for the few straggling people in lab coats. The weird feeling in my stomach only grows more and more. No one is here to congratulate me on being picked. There's no party. There's nothing. The guards don't say anything. It's just quiet in these halls. Finally, we turn into a room filled with people in military suits and lab coats. They all sit at computers in front of a giant window. On the other side of the class is a small rocketship about the size of a three story building. People are going in and out of it getting it ready for lift off. No one here even bothers to look at me. It's as though they do this everyday and the magic of sending someone to the moon is gone.

I don't stay in this room for that long. One of the commanders gives one of the guards a signal and I'm taken to the door. It's only when I'm out the door and on the small lift do I realize only one guard is with me and the blond man stays behind. Why do I feel even more scared without him here? I look at him but he looks away as the lift brings me down on the platform. Why wouldn't he look at me? Shivers are sent down my spine as the guard walks me to the ship. He opens the small door for me.

"Get in," is all he says in a cold voice. Or maybe that's just his tone. Either way, I climbed inside hoping that my underwear didn't show. Once the door closes it feels like my coffin has been sealed.

"Let me out!" I finally shout, terror growing in the center of my chest. Please, let me out." I bang against the door but it doesn't budge. Through the small window in the door I can see the blond man standing in front of the window in the computer room. His shoulders shake as if he were crying. Wait, he is crying. He covers his mouth as the countdown from ten begins.

This isn't good. This isn't good. This isn't good.

"Let me out!" I scream again through tears. But the countdown reaches zero.

I can feel the rocketship come to life and only a second later it shoots up. The ceiling must've opened up to let the rocketship through because now I'm sailing through the sky. I break through the gray, polluted clouds and see a blue sky for the first time. I would revel in its beauty if I wasn't so terrified. I can feel the sun's gentle warmth on my teary cheeks and it doesn't feel like a welcome. It feels like a trap.

Minutes later, the blue sky is replaced with darkness. I can see the curve of the Earth from up here. It does nothing to ease my terror. It only worsens it. By now, my tears have run dry as I sit in silence. There's no escape from this ship. There's no way home. I'm stuck here. I want to curl up in a ball but there's no room. It's just a tiny space as I share the seat with a helmet. I don't know what to expect when this thing lands but I don't have a good feeling about having only a helmet and no other gear with me. And after what feels like hours, the rocketship finally lands.

No one comes to greet me. From the window I can see that nothing is even here on the moon. It's empty. They lied. A sharp pain strikes me in my chest as I realize that I'm stuck here in this rocketship with nowhere to go. My terror and tears come back as I cry uselessly in this ship.

"Self destruct in one minute," a voice says.

I have no other choice but to leave this ship. I quickly put the helmet on, feeling it squeeze my neck so that my air can stay inside. I build all the strength that I can to open the door and step out. Well, I wouldn't call it a step. I float, having nothing to weigh me down. There really isn't anything here on the moon. No civilization anywhere. I grow colder and colder with nothing to protect my skin from space's icy grasp. Now that I'm out of the ship I can see all the bones and skeletons from the people before me, They all died here but for what? Why do we come here? What's the point? Getting into that ship really was a death trap. It really was the final nail for my coffin and it really was a trap. Somehow Theo knew and that's why he was angry. Now I really wish he would've saved me. I really wish I could just float my way back down to Earth instead of being here, crying into my helmet. I wish I never dreamed of being picked and I wish there was just some way for me to warn Mom that this isn't something to be desired.

But I can't.

From darkness and many shadows of the moon I can see something move. It's withering its way over to me quickly. In seconds it's right in front of me and I finally know why we're sent to the moon. A giant, black creature the size of twelve rocket ships is right in front of me. The sun shines against it, allowing me to see only a bit of its face, otherwise I wouldn't have seen it at all. It's so ugly, so terrifying that I just stop breathing entirely. I forget to think. Forget to blink and forget to hold my pee in. This is it. This is why we're sent to the moon. Not for a better life but as a sacrifice.

And I'm the offering.