The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (38 page)

             
I suddenly wished
that there was some deity that I believed strongly in. I would ask for the bravery this slow forward-march required. But apparently, I didn’t need it because my feet moved one after the other, inching me further and further into that mysterious light.

             
Aft
er releasing my grip on James and Elijah, I reached up to cover my eyes as the light brightened. I could not understand the sudden increase in its intensity but still, I walked forward.

             
The first breath of Pangean air cast an icy spell over my lungs. It w
as a sensation so amazing, it brought tears to my eyes that had nothing to do with the bright light of a second sun. Even when I knew that my eyes had adjusted to that bright stream, I kept them closed for a moment longer, preparing myself for the image I
knew would take my breath away.

             
And take my breath away it did.

             
We had landed in a field covered by deep green grass. The blades reached towards the cerulean sky where overhead, the sun was blazing; it was a dazzling yet gentle ball of light. As I stared
into its incandescence, my eyes did not burn in the slightest. I could stare right into its depth and feel nothing but wonder burrowed deep in my soul. In the distance, the sky darkened to purple and cradled stars inside that twinkled like drops of rain.

             
The air was light and crisp like the first day of autumn. It did not burn as it traveled down into my lungs the way the polluted air of our Earth did. I could not imagine returning to our planet, if it still existed, and having to breathe such toxic fumes
. I believed that it would kill me immediately. It was a privilege to take those steady inhalations of such unimaginable purity.

             
I reached down to touch the grass that rose to my waist. It was not rough or sharp in either the body or the tip. It was as so
ft as silk in its entirety. I wanted to lie down and burrow my face in it. I wanted to use the earth as my pillow forever.

             
It was a truly astounding feeling, to see such untainted beauty.

             
This is what our earth was
, I thought to myself,
And we destroyed
it
.

             
When James and I had killed those giants that morning after our initial meeting, we had seen the world from my balcony the way it had been intended. Through our whitened eyes, we had seen the stolen truth. Now, we were living in a land that possessed
the very beauty we had decimated. We breathed the air that we had forced from our world.

             
All five senses were alive; I could taste the sweet, clean air on my tongue. I could smell it as it
traveled through my nose and down into my lungs. I could see the h
ypnotizing beauty all around me. I listened to the wind swishing the tops of the trees in the forest that surrounded us and felt the grass as it danced against my legs and tickled my bare skin. It was, quite simply, indescribably glorious.

             
After seeing th
at we were still standing, several people were rushing to exit the ship. I snapped out of my mesmerized daze and turned to see Penny, Maura and Violet being shoved forward; they were struggling to stay on their feet. The ship workers were trying to keep or
der but the excitement had boiled over. Though the other survivors had not been able to see this place first, they surely would not wait to be the last.

             
I cleared my throat and took one large, fantastic breath of air. I stunned those who could see me by
shouting in a voice too large and loud for a young woman my size.

             
“Everyone shut up and listen!”

             
Yes, that was graceless. But sure enough, the feet stopped stomping down the ramp and silence replaced the excited chattering that had been deafening only a
moment before.

             
Once all eyes were on me, I felt a familiar fluttering in my chest that turned my stomach. But the thrill of arriving and seeing such splendor was enough to remedy the sudden bout of sickness. I found my voice again.

             
“If you could not tram
ple each other, I’m sure those that would be trampled in this stampede would appreciate it greatly. Try for a little civility.” I paused, wondering if I should add that they were not surprising me with their barbarism. I debated mentally if I should commen
t on their sudden courage when earlier, they had been shoving us out of the ship to spare themselves. I thought better of both snide statements and instead allowed the joyful beating of my heart to overthrow my acidic disdain just for one instance. I finis
hed my call for order with, “Thank you so much.”

             
The chattering resumed at its previous volume but people walked slower and were more mindful of those around them. My eyes found Penny, who was walking between Maura and Violet, grasping both of their hands
. Her eyes were wide in wonder. Her mouth was open, too, but a smile was tugging at the ends. In her face, I saw the amazement that I felt in my heart. It was child-like in its very essence. It was a feeling I had never known but I was thrilled to see it r
eflected in her.

             
“Elijah? Are you okay?” James asked him and I whipped around, feeling a jolt of concern in my heart. Was this peace inside of me a lie? Did being exposed to this immaculate place cause a deadly side-effect that took several minutes to exp
ose its ugly face?

             
No on both accounts.

             
Elijah had his head angled up towards the sky and his eyes closed. He was in a state of amazement that rendered him speechless. This had always been his dream, to travel through space and see another planet. When w
e were kids, he insisted that he was going to live on the moon. Then, he insisted that he was going to live on Pluto because no one gave it any credit. When “they” deemed Pluto too small to be a planet, Elijah vowed to campaign for its status to be reinsta
ted.

             
The boy was a nerd, through and through. His passion for all things involving space rivaled my own passion for literature. He was more apt to show his love for what amazed and befuddled him whereas I kept mine to myself. Now, he was practically in te
ars.

             
I should have made a crack about his masculinity draining before our very eyes. I should have told him that if he cried, I would never respect him again. But an hour or so earlier, we had believed that we were falling out of the sky. Now we were safe
ly on Pangea, our safe haven. I could not fault him for wanting to shed some tears of relief and joy. So many people around us were, as they jumped about, hugging their family members and strangers, alike.

             
I certainly would have wept a little, if I had b
een a stronger person.

             
“He’s totally going to cry right now.” Violet leaned over to Maura and whispered that loudly enough so he could hear.

             
“I’m not going to cry!” He croaked out in shaky indignation. “Stop staring at me!”

             
“You heard the man. Look away
, ladies.” Maura turned Violet and Penny away and paid me no
mind, which had become custom since our disagreement. While Elijah was turned away, struggling to get his emotions in check lest he be viewed by all of us as a pansy, I rushed to James and threw
my arms around his neck before standing up on the tops of my toes to kiss him for one long, scintillating moment. His arms came around my back and he pulled me closer to him. Then, in a quick movement that elicited a yelp of surprise from me, he turned me
sideways and dipped me backwards. I was laughing hysterically, amazed at how graceful the quick maneuver had been.

             
“Yeah, that was a good one, I know.” He bragged jokingly.

             
I laughed at his arrogant proclamation and pulled his face close to mine so I co
uld kiss him passionately again.

             
The tumultuous sounds of the crowd around us faded out in my ears to be replaced by the sound of my heart pounding. That warmth that came with his touch blared to life inside of me. I was spoiled by it now and always
dreading the moment when it died away.

             
It disappeared abruptly that time because I felt a light kick on my leg.

             
“Ow!” I exclaimed, though it was not the kick that was painful. It was having to emerge so quickly from that quiet, comforting place I fell in
to while I was with James that pained me.

             
“He’s going to turn around any second! Control yourself!” Violet hissed at me but I could see the traces of a smile on her lips.

             
James returned me to my feet but I kept my arms around his neck. His hands were sti
ll rested on my face as we pressed our foreheads together and laughed softly in quiet triumph and unfathomable relief. He kissed me for one quick, fleeting second.

             
Five thousand people were saved from whatever had taken our earth and the rest of our race.
Though we had lost some in the journey, the rest had arrived safely with hearts still beating and lungs still breathing precious air. Like every creature ever to walk the earth, our will to survive had flourished and saved us all. It had even beaten the v
ery end of all we knew. In short, it had trumped extinction.

             
Looking around at the faces in that crowd of survivors and listening to their loud shows of joy, I could not help but feel a hope that was as alien to me as the planet we now walked on. Doubt di
d not cast a shadow on my belief that from our arrival onward, we would live in peace until we met our own
individual
, not
collective
, ends.

             
I allowed myself to fall prey to naivety and idealism. That hope was something I never would have tolerated inside
of myself otherwise.

             
It would prove false. It would carry consequences.

             
It shielded my eyes, quite perilously, to the coming events.

Quinn

             
I wanted to shake the hand of the girl who called out for civility because Alice and I would have been trampled
by the over-anxious crowd if she had not.  I couldn’t help but admire the girl's resolution to step out first when the rest of us had been so afraid. I wanted to approach her to give my thanks for her bravery. But she disappeared into the crowd that emerg
ed from the ship. Once she was swallowed in the mass of people, I knew I’d more than likely never see her again.

             
“She’s got a loud voice for such a little person.” Alice said beside me.

             
“Yeah, she does.” I turned to her, grinning widely. “So we’re here!”

             
“I know!” Alice clapped her hands excitedly and bobbed up and down on her feet for a moment of pure joy. “God, the air smells so much different than it did back home, doesn’t it?”

             
My mood dropped at the mention of home. It no longer existed and the thou
ght of it was sure to depress us both. Alice must have read that in my facial expression because she quickly changed the subject.

             
“So now what?”

             
That question didn’t help keep the mood up, either. It was the newest question with unthinkable
gravity behin
d it. We were there and what were we supposed to do first?

             
“We’re all going to sleep on the ship, right?” A man behind me asked.

             
“I guess we could,” A woman replied, “I hope they don’t expect us to sleep out here. You know that I’ve never liked camping,
honey.”

             
“Well, if that’s the only option, then you’re just going to have to deal with it, sweetheart.”

             
“I don’t see why it would be the only option, David. They’ll let us sleep on the ship.”

             
“They’ll let all of us just keep running on and off the ship?
Doubtful. People almost got stomped on a minute ago. Plus, can you imagine how long it will take if everyone decides to go in and out at the same time?”

             
“I don’t want to sleep on the ship, Quinn.” Alice told me after clasping her hands around one of mine.