the hole, into the suit, seal the suit, and open the remaining oxygen supply. There’s not much oxygen left, but I take my chances. I’ve gotta go see if it’s them, if the Apollo has come back for me.
As I reach the edge of the crater, I see a small vessel make a crash landing on the plain, where the Apollo was. It’s really not very big or impressive, like the Apollo, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a mirage. I run as fast as I can, like a clumsy elephant stampeding towards the small ship.
It looks like a four-seater emergency pod. One of the three legs broke in the crash landing, so now it’s lying face down.
“Hello? Who’s in there?” I knock on the hull of the pod.
There’s no reply.
I manage to roll the pod over, so the door is unblocked. I knock on the door again, but realize that I can’t risk opening it, in case the astronaut pilot hasn’t got a suit on, or the oxygen distribution is damaged.
“Is anybody in there?” I try knocking again.
I brush the red dust off the window, and look inside. There’s only one person in the pod. I can’t see clearly through the window, and don’t recognize the pilot. But I take it as a good sign that the pilot is wearing a suit like mine. Or rather, a white clean suit, looking like my suit used to look. Now, my suit is just dirty green and smudged. I assume that I look like a hobo... an astronaut hobo!
The pilot mumbles and slowly comes alive. It sounds like a man. He’s clearly disoriented, and it takes a while for him to figure out how to release the safety buckle. He moves slowly.
“Hello.” I knock gently on the window so I don’t frighten him.
He still gets startled as he sees me, and instantly pulls back from the window, through which it must appear to him as if a crazy alien is looking in. Me! I wave and smile. I can only guess that my face is as green and smudged as my suit is. What can you do when there’s no water to bathe in? I must look like a green alien to the poor pilot.
“Millie?” the man speaks.
“Yes? Who are you?” I’m surprised and baffled to hear my own name.
“It’s me, Millie. It’s me.” The man sounds fatigued and worn out. “Thank god you’re alive.” He falls to the floor.
“Kurt? Is that you?” I don’t waste a single second, and fling the door open.
With finesse like an elephant, I manage to haul the pilot out of the pod.
Sure enough, it’s Kurt. My hero, my savior... perhaps even my love?
His oxygen is lower than mine is, so he might have passed out on account of low oxygen, or he might have passed out because of the impact of the crash landing. I haul him as fast as I possibly can towards the crater. He’s very heavy. It feels like twice my weight.
“Stay with me, Kurt! Stay with me!”
I feel adrenalin and panic pumping through my body, as I struggle to drag Kurt across the blood red plane.
“You’ve come this far to get me, please don’t leave me already.” I keep talking to him, hoping it’ll somehow help in keeping him alive.
The thought of loosing Kurt forever like this, breaks my heart, makes me want to cry, and makes me feel like giving up. I hit myself in the head to get a grip—just resulting in a loud awkward bang on my helmet.
I set aside all considerations for myself, and summon all my strength to get Kurt into the Diamond Hole. I let unknown strengths rise in my body, along with a deep and fierce growling. I haul like hell. I haul with anger, like I was lifting the entire planet.
Finally, we reach the Diamond Hole. Kurt’s body is lifeless. I pray it’s not too late. I open the safety visor of his helmet and plop him into the hole. I take a deep breath, jump out of my suit and into the hole after him.
“Breathe, Kurt, breathe!” I slap his cheeks, take a deep breath, and do mouth to mouth. I blow air into his lungs a few times, until he finally starts breathing again.
“Millie?”
“Yes, I’m right here.”
“I can’t see.” Kurt sounds weary.
“It’s
As I reach the edge of the crater, I see a small vessel make a crash landing on the plain, where the Apollo was. It’s really not very big or impressive, like the Apollo, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a mirage. I run as fast as I can, like a clumsy elephant stampeding towards the small ship.
It looks like a four-seater emergency pod. One of the three legs broke in the crash landing, so now it’s lying face down.
“Hello? Who’s in there?” I knock on the hull of the pod.
There’s no reply.
I manage to roll the pod over, so the door is unblocked. I knock on the door again, but realize that I can’t risk opening it, in case the astronaut pilot hasn’t got a suit on, or the oxygen distribution is damaged.
“Is anybody in there?” I try knocking again.
I brush the red dust off the window, and look inside. There’s only one person in the pod. I can’t see clearly through the window, and don’t recognize the pilot. But I take it as a good sign that the pilot is wearing a suit like mine. Or rather, a white clean suit, looking like my suit used to look. Now, my suit is just dirty green and smudged. I assume that I look like a hobo... an astronaut hobo!
The pilot mumbles and slowly comes alive. It sounds like a man. He’s clearly disoriented, and it takes a while for him to figure out how to release the safety buckle. He moves slowly.
“Hello.” I knock gently on the window so I don’t frighten him.
He still gets startled as he sees me, and instantly pulls back from the window, through which it must appear to him as if a crazy alien is looking in. Me! I wave and smile. I can only guess that my face is as green and smudged as my suit is. What can you do when there’s no water to bathe in? I must look like a green alien to the poor pilot.
“Millie?” the man speaks.
“Yes? Who are you?” I’m surprised and baffled to hear my own name.
“It’s me, Millie. It’s me.” The man sounds fatigued and worn out. “Thank god you’re alive.” He falls to the floor.
“Kurt? Is that you?” I don’t waste a single second, and fling the door open.
With finesse like an elephant, I manage to haul the pilot out of the pod.
Sure enough, it’s Kurt. My hero, my savior... perhaps even my love?
His oxygen is lower than mine is, so he might have passed out on account of low oxygen, or he might have passed out because of the impact of the crash landing. I haul him as fast as I possibly can towards the crater. He’s very heavy. It feels like twice my weight.
“Stay with me, Kurt! Stay with me!”
I feel adrenalin and panic pumping through my body, as I struggle to drag Kurt across the blood red plane.
“You’ve come this far to get me, please don’t leave me already.” I keep talking to him, hoping it’ll somehow help in keeping him alive.
The thought of loosing Kurt forever like this, breaks my heart, makes me want to cry, and makes me feel like giving up. I hit myself in the head to get a grip—just resulting in a loud awkward bang on my helmet.
I set aside all considerations for myself, and summon all my strength to get Kurt into the Diamond Hole. I let unknown strengths rise in my body, along with a deep and fierce growling. I haul like hell. I haul with anger, like I was lifting the entire planet.
Finally, we reach the Diamond Hole. Kurt’s body is lifeless. I pray it’s not too late. I open the safety visor of his helmet and plop him into the hole. I take a deep breath, jump out of my suit and into the hole after him.
“Breathe, Kurt, breathe!” I slap his cheeks, take a deep breath, and do mouth to mouth. I blow air into his lungs a few times, until he finally starts breathing again.
“Millie?”
“Yes, I’m right here.”
“I can’t see.” Kurt sounds weary.
“It’s
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