I remember reading books about Earth, seeing pictures and always wishing I could visit Earth. I had always wanted to feel the grass underneath my feet and the feeling of the sun on my skin. I wanted to feel rain fall on me.
I wanted to swim in a lake and play in the snow. I wanted to see everything Earth had to offer, but I never thought it would happen in my lifetime. I thought that I would be long gone, long since passed and my child's children would be the ones to do everything. Not me.
I remember when I was just a child, I would talk to my mother about Earth. I would tell her everything I would do if I were on Earth. She would pull me into her lap and tell me stories her parents had told her. Stories that got passed down, fairy tales they called them. Stories of princesses and princes, tales from Earth.
"Can you tell me the story about the girl and the wolf?" My mother looked at me and pulled me closer to her. Her arms would wrap around my tiny waist and she would hold me as she told me stories, often enough lulling me into sleep.
"Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest. Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Riding Hood. One morning, Little Red Riding Hood asked her mother if she could go to visit her grandmother as it had been awhile since they'd seen each other." I leaned back and listened to my mother's soft voice in my ear. I closed my eyes and imagined everything she was saying, a little girl with a red cloak, a big mean wolf.
I cuddled up in my mother lap and as she was telling the story, I drifted off to sleep.
I remember the first time my mother told me about Finn. She had sat me down, after one of her long coughing fits and told me that I had a half-brother. She had said that we had the same father and that he had known about me, but I hadn't know about him. I wondered why my mother hadn't told me, and why I wasn't allowed to know.
She said it was because my father, my biological father was an important member of the engineering team. She said that he was not an honorable man and would often force women to give themselves to him, and in return he would give them something.
"What did he give you?" I looked at my mother. She was sick and she wouldn't get help. I begged her to, I cried and pleaded with her to get help, but she said she was fine.
"I know you have a kind heart, Gracelynn. I know that you care for others before yourself and I know that you wish to study medicine. I have gotten you a position helping Dr. Griffin." I looked at my mother and got a huge grin on my face.
"Thank you mother! I have always wanted to take up medicine! I'm so excited!" I gave my mother a tight hug and pulled away, still having a bold smile on my face.
It was this connection to Dr. Griffin that allowed me to study medicine and gain access to it. I had gained a lot of knowledge and I had worked with her, gaining the skills to save lives. I could help save lives. And I did.
But I could not save my mothers. I tried to. I watched her getting sicker and sicker and I stole medicine for her. I stole rations that were not mine or hers in order to help her get better. I did everything I could to save her, but I couldn't.
I wasn't even able to say goodbye. My mother was dying, and I got arrested before I could say goodbye. The last time I saw my mother, she was lying on her bed, coughing and hacking. I was being pulled away as she watched me go. I never got to say goodbye. I was arrested and put into lock up. I never saw my mother again.