Originally written April 15th, 2013
Noun
A momentary flash of light; a sparkle
A faint or fleeting indication; a trace
Young boys dreamed of stars. Halden was no exception. He looked at the sparkles in the sky everyday and knew that something was alive beyond what he could see. He just knew it. It never made sense to him that the people on this planet are the only ones in existence. That of all the stars and all the planets that he learned about in school that only one had the right combination of elements to create intelligent life.
Halden asked his mother one day what she knew about the stars and the worlds that had to exist.
"Well Halden we used to travel beyond the stars. Hundreds of years ago we used to send citizens in ships into space. They investigated some of the closest planets to us they even tried to settle there. We even found evidence of life on one, but it was long gone. There are rumors of a planet that still possessed life, but we never got there. Many people went on the journey to it. None ever came back. The researchers never could perfect their ships so they could go far enough without people dying of old age. No one wanted to send children young enough to survive. Our people decided to spend their resources on bettering our own planet instead of seeking one to escape to. There have been rumors that the new resources to harvest the power of the stars and energy could be used to get someone far enough, but because of the wars there is no money."
"But why? Has anyone tried to go without the support of the people's resources? Can I go?"
"Of course son. You can do whatever you set your heart to. But for now it's bed time."
That was what did it. Every parent says it, but Halden never grew out of his dream to find life elsewhere in the universe. He had a pet guinea pig that he talked to everyday about how he and Simon would put on their little space suits and build their own ship to find new life beyond what they could see in the night's sky.
Simon, and Halden's family, didn't live to see him fulfill his dream. He was the only one who escaped. He was the only one who believed that his world wasn't peaceful. He was the one who continued the research that his people did not have the resources for. He was the only one who got out alive.
Halden was still young when his planet crumbled beneath him. But he believed in the stars, so he took to them to save himself. He flew and flew. He was 60 years older when he landed on a strange planet that he was destined to find. Halden knew when he was greeted by the residents of this planet and knew that the planet that his mother said his people never traveled to was a lie. He recognized these people as ones of his own kind. He knew then that this planet came long before the one he flew 60 years to escape. His people were still alive. He lived for 10 years on this planet. Meeting the people and sharing the story of his home planet and the destruction of his people. The story of how he traveled so far to find a planet that was supposed to only be a myth.
Halden died at 104 years old, on Earth.
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