Adventures

A few hours had passed since everyone boarded the hovercraft. Not that Haley even noticed the time it took to get there. She was too busy admiring the details of the ship. Her eyes traced the seams of the seats and connected the cracks in the walls. She especially loved how the lights looked like they were going to burst out from behind the control board. She also was caught up thinking about Aukai. She knows it was crazy to even feel the way she does, but she could not help it. Her mind got lost in the ideas of him. Who he was, and about his life like growing up. But could she be mistaking his acts of kindness as something else? Haley shrugged her shoulders and tried to snap herself out of her deep ponder. “Looks like we are almost here,” shouted Breshna. The whole clan turned their gaze to the side of the ship to watch the ground as it passed by. Haley thought the ground reminded her of the burnt marshmallows she used to make during the crisp winter nights with her mom at their fireplace. The land out there was dead and frail. The leaves on the trees have crumbled and withered away to a speck of white ashy dust. All that was left standing were chemically burned stumps and dry dusty sand that cracked with the slightest shift of the wind. Up ahead Haley could see what looked like a canyon that went on for miles. It was so deep that she couldn’t even see the bottom. Fear began to creep its way slowly into her mind, like a spider crawling its way to feed on its prey. Her nerves were on edge being out in the ruins. She feared the uncertainty of the unknown. “Can this gas get into our ship,” she nervously asked while glancing back and forth at all the clan members. Braska leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he answered, “Our ship is protected. Like how our space suits protected you when you traveled here.” Aura shouted over the roaring of the engine, “Yeah, we will also wear those suits when we get on the ground.” She could hear the ships rumbling slow down to a deep but quiet growl, as they approached the landing spot of their destination. Their hovercraft came to a stop. The clicking of the safety belts unbuckling chimed in her ears like the bells on her bicycle did when she was a little girl. She seemed to find nostalgia in many of the situations on Elysian. Once again Haley found herself dosing off into her memories.