Space Jumper

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. But they also say you can’t breathe in space, yet here she is breathing just fine. So if she screamed right now, while being chased through galaxies, would anybody hear her? More importantly, who would hear her? She did know one person who she met quite frequently when exploring different galaxies, but that was always by chance. Who knows where he is now. He could be asleep on his home planet earth for all she knew. It's not like they had space phones to call each other, though that would be cool and she should definitely look into that. But even if he showed up, what could he do? She would be in the same position, just another person to look after, she didn't need that right now. She only needed herself, she was better on her own anyways.

She still wasn't even sure if this was fully real or just her really imaginative subconscious in dream state, but this time it felt more real than it ever has and that scared her. She couldn't just wake up now, not without a plan.

Thoughts flowed through her mind as she zipped through space, running for her life while trying to save the universe from what? She still wasn't quite sure.

She knew she was being chased because of something that she had in her bag. The thing chasing her, Karmana, had never gotten this close, never even in the same galaxy. Now it was on her tail as she zigzagged through the meteor shower in hopes of gaining some space to jump without it catching a ride. For the first time ever, she felt this fear inside of her, an emotion she had not yet felt while on these missions. They had just been fun explorations in the past, finding different crystals all over the galaxy and exploring different planets, one which was all her own where she kept all her treasures that she found. But this time it was different, this time it felt really real.

Instinctively she knew what she had to do. It was putting earth and herself at risk, but it was her only choice. Karmana couldn't find her planet, or the world and the universe would forever be changed for the worst.

She quickly turned around, jumped on the closest shooting star, holding her breath while giving Karmana a sassy smirk and with a bright flash, she was gone.

Katalina awoke from her dream, sweating, frantically searching her room for something that was fading from her memory faster than she could recall. It felt too important yet she couldn't quite grasp the details. It was like her subconscious mind was fighting her consciousness for space in her awakened state. She was trying to remember where she was as flashes of meteors and galaxies flooded her mind's eye. She felt like she was being chased, like she had something yet that something was now in her room and she must find it NOW! But what WAS IT?

She scanned her room, her mind still half asleep while her body was full of adrenaline. Then a shimmer caught her eye. Something that hadn’t been there when she went to sleep. She hopped out of bed and raced towards it. As she approached, the light got brighter and brighter till it was blinding, too bright to see what it was yet she couldn't take her eyes off it. She felt herself reaching toward it as if someone was in control of her arm. She touched the light and with a flash she vanished.

Standing on a planet that she knew very well, Katalina felt herself put the crystal on its designated spot in the mountain as if she had known to do this all along. She quickly looked around at her planet to make sure no one had followed her there and then with another flash she was back in her room.

She patted herself down, feeling the ground beneath her feet, bringing herself back to the reality that she was sitting in her bed, staring at a clock that read 3:33am as it always did when she awakened from these dreams. Looking around her room she once again started to question if what she had just experienced was real. If it was only in her dreams or was she “space jumping”. A term she came up with to try to explain to her best friend what was going on in her mind and to try to understand the dreams she had been having for the past few years. But still, no matter how many times she has space jumped and entered the universal atmosphere or stepped onto her planet, she still doubted her inner knowing. There was no evidence in her physical world on earth that it had happened except flashes of memories that only she could see and feel. She could never remember the whole detailed experience except when she wrote it down right after awakening when she was still half asleep. This dream was different though, she could feel it. There was more urgency and a little bit of fear which she had never felt before. She also had never come back to earth to “collect” something and then go back to space. What was familiar to her was Olminexk, her planet and she knew whatever she had was safe for now.

She looked out her window staring at a different sky than the one she had fallen asleep to. It still fascinated her to think that the world was continuously moving while floating in this space we call the universe. A concept so beautiful and magical at the same time. As a shooting star skipped across the night sky she closed her eyes to make a wish.

“To whoever is listening up there, please show me that I'm not crazy. Can you please bring my subconscious life into my physical world? Show me that the life I live in my head is as real as this physical world I live in. Show me I’m really space jumping or show me that it's all just made up in my head. I just need to know either way. I’m ready to know. Thanks for always being so beautiful and filling me with love and thanks for listening.”

And just like that her wish was sent up into the stars, Katalina not realizing what she had just asked for. Her worlds were about to change in ways she never thought possible.

She closed her eyes tight, breathed deep into her heart and then opened up her eyes. Nothing had changed, at least not in the physical, yet the night sky now felt different to her, more clear than before. She felt like she could see beyond the stars and into deep space. Something inside of her had changed but she wasn’t fully aware of it quite yet. She was only aware that the stars were now shining brighter and she could feel the movement of the earth as it turned. Exhausted from the night, she lay her head down on her pillow and within seconds was fast asleep.