The Haunted Traveler Vol. 1 Issue 1

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just crumbled into millions of little pieces that floated away
into space.
Just like that, Earth was gone.
We stood staring at the sky for an hour. No one spoke.
If we got tired of standing, we sat down. It reminded me of
holding a minute’s silence on memorial days. How unbearable
that minute would be and how you’d always end up
clearing your throat, or coughing, or fidgeting. That day we
stood silent for an hour. Then someone started to cry.
I’m crying now. Tears are leaking into my ears and the
red sky above is blurring. I blink slowly to clear my eyes and
breathe gently. I sigh. I’m not ready yet, I’m expecting a visitor.
I look at the clock on my wall. Little Nicky has been coming
to see me every day. Sometimes he brings a friend. He’s
one of the kids who believe my stories. He asks me about
Earth all the time and I delight in telling him.
I like Nicky. I think he might become a teacher. Then he
could share my stories with other little ones and that makes
me happy. It makes me feel like I’ve made my small contribution
to mankind.
But maybe he won’t come today. Maybe they told him today
is not a good day for visiting.
I close my eyes briefly. I see a blue planet with white
wisps floating around it. I open them. The reddish - orange
sky above me. I close my eyes again and listen to a memory.
I long to hear the soft splashing of waves on sand. I long to
smell sea salt in the air. To look at a blue sky and feel sunrays
stroke my face. I open my eyes again and I am suddenly
afraid.
I sigh again and this time my breath is shallower. I turn
my head slightly to the left. At the point where the curve of
my sky-dome meets the wall I can see the tip of a metal spire
poking the red sky. The rest of it is hidden from my view but
I have seen it a million times already. That’s where Mount
Ararat Cemetery is. The location where both Arks II and III