Leo Albin
Earth
Uncle's place
3300 AD
"Wait, no, please! You can pull this on me, but your niece? She's only 17." Mom stood tall against my uncle James. She was easily the strongest person I knew, no matter her 4'1 height. "Look, there's not much I can do for you two. I have to worry about my own, but listen before you go off. I know someone who could get you two off the planet in time." He dropped his suitcase and dove his hand into his pocket before shoving his wallet into my mother's hands. "What's this for?" He ignored her question as he picked up his suitcase. "There's enough in there to afford a one-way ticket for both of you, but do not under any circumstances tell anyone you have this." My mother looked inside the wallet, pulling out a business card and a stack of hundreds.
Unlike the colony planets, we still used money.
"When you call that number, ask for a reserve at bulls. If bulls is full, take whatever offer you get. They'll give you a location and a time. Whatever you do, do not be late." Uncle Jason said as he rushed out of the door. My Mom never looked up as he left us in his home, or what used to be his home.
I stood and looked out the window for what, I assume, would be the last time I'd ever see him in person.
Mom grabbed my hand to get my attention. "Honey, grab the phone. We're leaving."
Leo Albin
T22386-Human Junkyard Planet
Z013's place
3303 AD
"Sorry to interrupt your story, but you should tell me what happened to Earth first. Then get back around to yourself." Z013 said leaning forward to rest her head on her hands. " No problem, I remember my mom telling me how the Earth was dying when I was around 17. I remember it like it was yesterday. Well, actually, it was three or four years ago." Z013 yawned, looking unamused.
"I remember my mom explaining that Earth's death was a slow process that started way before my time, or hers. She said that It dated back to when they first started making ships for space travel."
"Hold up, what about Global warming? Wasn't that killing the Earth?" Z013 interrupted. "Oh, ya. I'm a little too young to know all about that, but what I do know is that Global warming was taken care of way before I was born." I can't imagine how she feels about hearing all of this. "Oh." Z013 said, scratching the back of her head.
"Anyway, It takes a lot of toxic fumes, chemicals, and radioactivity to build one ship to withstand space. Thousands were built each day. The last few years I remember on Earth was filled with ugly dark clouds, storms, and heavy rain that killed off plants and made people sick. Resources quickly became scarce, drinking water drastically dropped and there was next to no vegetation. Clouds only cleared up once or twice a day, allowing the people of Earth about an hour of sun a day. Most animals were extinct, like elephants only existed in books and kangaroos are a thing of the past."
Z013 stared, mouth agape, so I just continued "Earth, and all of the people who were unfortunate enough to be stuck on Earth, died."
"How'd you get off?" Z013 asked in a shaky voice.
"I was getting to that."
Leo Albin
Earth
Rooftop of some building
3300 AD
Harsh winds blew as heavy rains hit us with no mercy.
Mom huddled next to me as she whispered encouraging words. Stuck outside, shivering with the rest. All of us were waiting on our reservation to get here. We were told to wait here, on the top of this building with no cover. We were surely going to become ill soon if we stand here any longer.
We stood here in the middle of the night, in the freezing winds and painful rain, for a smuggler to take us off of this dying planet we all called home.
"Hey, is that? It's them!" The person next to me shouted as they pointed up at the sky. My mother held onto me tighter, smiling as we were put into the ship's spotlight.
When it landed, every minute seemed like an hour. We all stood in front of the ship's doors, eager for them to open. Eager to be somewhere warm, somewhere safe.
"We're finally leaving hun. We're safe now." Mom whispered as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek.
Then the doors opened.