Brushing Goodbye

Beth slowly stretched her fingers towards the golden locket. When her fingers touched the cool, heart-shaped metal, a soft sound escaped her lips; somewhere between a sob and an exhalation of relief.

In the background of her awareness, Beth could hear the high whistling whine that was getting louder, and the deck beneath her belly rumbled and pitched. It was all surreal; she knew the escape pod was plummeting to Earth. She could hear the scream of metal as it tore from the pod's battered exterior. She could even vaguely feel the pain in bruised and splintered bones every time the pod twisted, throwing her against the next surface. But all she could focus on was the chain twined through her fingers and the soft swell of the gold heart beneath her fingertips.

Had the other pods made it? Was Jaden safe? The pod shuddered again, and the heat from the shields failing was almost like a lover's touch; something different. Beth curled her fingers, closing her fist around the locket. One finger wouldn't quite work right. That didn't seem right. Just moments ago she held the flower Jaden picked from the field beside their house. She remembered lifting it to her nose and breathing deeply, soft yellow pollen tickling her nose as Jaden laughed; their curls bobbing in her vision as they dove back into the whispering grass of the field.

But no, that was months ago. Before the bombs. Before everything changed. Before they tried to run. Beth came back to her body with a sudden gasp, pulling the locket to her heart and twisting her head painfully to look for a window. It was all fire outside now. Fire; they had taken to the skies to escape fire. But she would die in fire anyway.

And Jaden? Beth wracked her scattered brain as consciousness fled; but a memory came roaring back crystalline and clear: a voice over the radio; "Pods one through nineteen made it; catastrophic failure on Pod twenty."

Jaden was on nineteen; she had made sure they went ahead. Beth exhaled again, brushing her fingers against the locket as she opened her bloodied lips to whisper goodbye. The pod gave one last metallic scream, and everything went silent.

Jaden sat on the overly cushioned seat with their knees pulled up to their chest. The large industrial-looking buckle pressed into their chest, the pain barely registering as they stuffed the edge of their shirt sleeve into their mouth and bit down to stifle their sobs. All around them, people were grim and staring. Most had their faces turned from the windows, staring hollowly at anything but the sight of their home planet receding, anything but the fires blooming like flowers across the planet's surface. They didn't look like mushroom clouds from here, but Jaden distinctly remembered that's what their mom called them.

Jaden's eyes were drawn from the growing orange blossoms to a closer, smaller fire. They choked back another sob and whimpered, their eyes locked on the remains of their mom's pod as it disintegrated on its failed ascent.

Jaden jumped as they felt a touch on their arm, head whipping around in surprise. Next to them, another child was sitting with her arms curled around a teddy bear, her mom seated on the other side, head hanging in defeat. The little girl was clutching at Jaden, her eyes wide, almost feral with fear. Jaden felt the yawning bubble of grief growing in their gut, but they reached out and clasped her hand. The children clutched at each other desperately as the pod shuddered and switched from rocket acceleration to a much smoother, gentler propulsion. Soon, the pod swung away from the glittering falling remnants of the pod Jaden's mom was on. Another pod came into view in the distance. Slowly, humanity's life rafts headed towards Luna and the fledgling colony there. Jaden brushed their fingers against a gold locket around their neck, and cried softly into their crossed arms as the little girl beside them clung to their side.