A chill rippled across my skin.
The orange-yellow sun hovered over the horizon, straining to break free.
Above me, streaks of the dawning sun stretched to dance among the clouds that marked the surface of the still black sky.
It was beautiful. It was everything we had hoped. Everything we had come so far to find.
This was the moment that we had hoped for. Planned for. Dreamed. A picnic, a laughing race across the meadows, a stroll beneath the moons' light.
I turned away from the vista, and walked back the way I had come. The frost-crusted grass crackled beneath my feet.
I was tired. I was alone.
A pall reached up from where the ship had crashed.
The equipment I had managed to salvage lay to one side, just beyond the scorched scarring that we... I... had left in the wake of the attempted landing.
The one unit I had saved was still running.
I had not yet been honest enough with myself to disconnect the battery unit.
Perhaps it was malfunctioning, and all the zeros and inactive lights were an error...
I wish I knew that you had not believed that this world would be your heaven. That you had faith in a hereafter. You were always so charmingly heathen.
I will never get to hold you again. We had promised each other, hadn't we? Eager, filled with hope. Our plans...
Tears formed as I peered through the glass, and stared. If I leave you like this you will never change.
Even in death you would remain this perfect. Your soft almond eyes, the delicate smile, the gentle shimmer of
your skin - like a teardrop on a popsicle...
Almost before I knew what I had done, the humming eased to silence.
The pack of supplies falls heavily to my back.
I turn back toward the vista, and walk. The frost-crusted grass crackling beneath my feet.
I am tired. And so alone.