Why Does Death Look So Pretty

Jessica Gonzalez

There's nothing worse than being three hours early for a flight. The feeling of existentialism sits next to you in the most uncomfortably designed chairs some idiot in Venus thought up in his head I haven't even mentioned that this spaceport is also one of the first models ever built, so the ship’s quality is not good I would rather be in an airport grounded on Earth instead of this spaceship that can barely stay afloat I glanced at the bulky coal-colored watch on my left arm. ‘At least ten minutes have passed,’ I naively thought before seeing that only two had gone by. I made a mindful conversation with myself, to pass the time.

‘Maybe I should grow out my black hair so that I can have a sleek man bun, ditch the glasses… nah. I like my glasses, even though my wife tells me that I look better without them because she can see my aquamarine eyes better ’

What I should do is sit up straight instead of making my posture worse than it already is This whole time, my eyes haven’t left the spaceport’s clear walls, revealing the spectacle we call The Solar System Earth absorbed the spotlight, almost outshining other stars and planets on set. I haven’t been on my planet in such a long time, but she looked beautiful. I would call Earth the loveliest rock in the solar system, but that would be a lie, it's Callisto. Saturn is always praised for its accessorized rings but if you take them away then people would find Pluto interesting again.

I can talk about Callisto for days: she’s Jupiter’s icy moon, powdered with freckle-like craters all over her surface Everyone calls Callisto Jupiter's dead moon, but she’s very much alive in my heart spaceport’s announcer is digging her own casket with the husky voice she has.

I pulled my navy blue backpack from under the stiff chair and slid its leather straps on my shoulders. This bag looks and weighs like a cinder block. My watch’s alarm to board vibrated. The screen lit up:

13:20

August 30

3037

Today is the three-year anniversary that Earth and Mars engaged in the “Resource War” I'm an active soldier for Earth and being deployed today for the third time

Humans from Earth made a living on Mars in 3003, but would not share any resources they found useful. Earth threatened to attack Mars for years, but Mars attacked first, using one 38RJ, a bomb that wiped out Japan in seconds. That started the war. Ever since, both planets have been fighting and abusing weapons nonstop.

In July of this year, I fled to Jupiter, an ally planet Once all troops from Earth entered a flight to Mars, I boarded another landing on Jupiter It disgusted me that I had gotten so used to murdering humans My fellow troops beheaded innocent people and complained about getting “Mars blood” on their skin Jupiter found me eight hours ago at a hotel and is now sending me back to Earth. It’s kind of my fault they found me because I paid with a credit card saying I was in Earth’s space force.

“Now Boarding craft 383 for Earth at section 1 ” If anything in this solar system is dead, this

“Hey, can you move up?” a woman's voice asked. I twitch after feeling the heat of her breath tickle my ear. Up ahead, there’s a sizable gap between me and the next person. I quickly fill in the space.

“My bad,” I apologized.

The woman who whispered in my ear was wearing a black jumpsuit that hugged her curved features, cherry red boots and a thick belt in that same sweet shade Her best feature is the softlooking hair bursting from her scalp The cotton candy hair was licorice black, the same color as her upturned eyes but darker than her tootsieroll skin There was so much candy goodness, the sweetness hid her shoulders entirely

“What plans do you have on Earth?” she asked.

“Visiting some friends, not much.”

Even though this woman is insanely beautiful, I can't tell her I'm fighting for Earth. Many undercover spies are sent from Mars, so I can’t disclose any information to anyone regarding Earth.

“Oh that's nice I had a friend from Earth as well,” she added

“Really? Which country do they live in?”

“She’s dead ”

“That sucks. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“You’re fine.”

The woman looked to her left where passengers were boarding, creating a silence between the two of us.

When saying this, the lady grinned, almost as if we never brought up her friend’s passing.

“Nice! Which ” BAM

My body was hurled to the other side of the ship and my head made direct contact A dog whistle pitch infested my ears while falling on the ground Sight and sound became hazy, my limbs were glued to the ground Lights flashed, sirens screamed, yet I wanted to sleep more than anything

A burning itch struck my left cheek. My senses and energy rebounded, bringing me to my feet. Crouched down where I laid was the lady. The smoke covering my eyes cleared, allowing me to see the thick blood rolling down her surprised face.

Crowds circled around the glass walls, dropping to their knees and pounding the floor with emotion My toes rushed over to an empty spot I lightly embraced the glass with my hands, feeling a slimy consistency when contacting its surface My hands retreated, what remained was two hand marks painted with blood A cream colored rock gently tapped against the glass in between my handprints. When figuring out the source of this rock, I wanted to drop to my knees too.

Earth had just exploded.

‘I must have hit a soft spot’ went through my mind after enduring this awkward silence for one minute That minute felt like ten, but my watch proved me wrong again

“Why are you going to Earth?” came out of my mouth The lady’s Hershey’s eyes met mine

“I'm going to a concert.”

The planet was there a second ago, now she’s been dispersed into millions of pieces. I faintly heard people all over screaming from the bottom of their intestines. A woman next to me was hysterically sobbing and didn’t have the strength to hold herself up

Everyone I love is dead, my home is dead, a part of me is dead But why does death look pretty?

Earth looked so far away a moment ago, but pieces of my planet were now so close. I could see every part of Earth.

I could see parts of buildings waltz with the stars.

I could see pieces of wood swaying together in the lively banquet

I could see layers of rocks twirling by the window

I reached for a piece of rock through the glass to join in on the soiree, but my bloodstained hands couldn't make contact. I wish I could.

I wish I could hold death in my hands, smell it, taste it.

More and more people shrieked and cried once realizing Earth had passed. I surveyed my reflection in between the bloody hand marks. The grandest smile was smeared across my face.

That's all I remember The room I’m in is black and I feel my left hand handcuffed to a pole I can move my arm up and down but can't pull away From the distant whirring and scent of metal, I imagine I'm on a spaceship I have definitely been kidnapped.

The ship roughly swerved to the left, throwing my head against the pole so aggressively I almost passed out.

“Whoever is steering this, you are a terrible pilot,” I yelled once my senses stabilized.

“Shut up!” A woman ’ s voice yelled back.

Thump

From how rigorous the ship's movement was, this woman ran into a rock The perfect timing brought a laugh out of me

“I’m just stating the obvious, no need to be rude,” I added on. Angry footsteps were coming my way.

A door swung open, pure brightness struck my eyes. As it turns out, I was stuck in a closet. Beside my foot, a dead rat lay on its back. Seeing the dead rodent made me throw up in my mouth My vision was still adjusting, but I recognized the silhouette of the woman appearing from the light

“Hey, you ’ re the lady from the airport!”

I was excited to see her face again, but she gave me a look of disgust saying the complete opposite.

“Please clean your ship if you plan on having guests over, that's disgusting,” I said, pointing out the rat. The lady looked down, and then at me.

“It’s not that hard. Just pick it up by the tail and ”

Before I could finish that sentence, the lady kicked me in between my legs I clenched my teeth and squinted my eyes from the pain After a couple seconds, my eyes watered

“Mr. Beck, you are now on my ship, so I'm not going to let you bad-mouth or disrespect me any more than you already have,” she yelled before pushing against my right cheek with her heels.

“Who are you?” I muttered underneath her shoe. She scoffed before moving her boot away from my face.

“You truly don’t know who I am?”

“If I knew who you were I wouldn’t have asked the damn question!” She dug her heel into my untouched cheek

“I am Nova, a proud representative of Mars On September 26, 3036 you and your men infiltrated the north region of CHI578, my home. You murdered everyone that I loved mercilessly and dare to call yourself a hero. I watched on television as you and your men were given medals for murdering my people. Today, I rejoice because your planet is dead and none of your people are here to praise you anymore. I am taking you to where you killed our people and executing you on my planet ” I can see her take a huge breath of air after delivering that speech She pulled her leg away from my face and stared at me, expecting an answer

“Nova, I am so sorry about your family, but I am even more sorry for what's about to happen to you. ”

With that out of the way, I broke the handcuff off my arm by pulling fast and hard against the pole. Using my right leg, I pushed Nova out of the way and ran to the left of her ship. The second she opened the door, I spotted an escape pod in that direction. That’s my only way out of here, and I don’t even know if it works

Nova kicked me in the back, but my hands stopped me from hitting the ground My hands bounced back, then were used to punch her in the stomach and throw her on the floor I never hurt women, but she started it My legs ran as fast as they could towards the escape pod, but I was hit in the head with something before going in.

Both my head and body turned cold before falling on the metal floor. Nova began walking back to the closet, aggressively grabbing me by my arms. Looking back, she had hit me with a glass panel used for a ship windshield. Blood was raining out my nose. Despite being hurt and tired, there’s no way I'm going in that ratinfested closet

“NO!” Nova screamed through the drifting escape pod.

My accomplishment left me with a look of satisfaction, but I wasn’t done yet. By using the ship’s control panel, I was able to fly away. Then, I activated the weapons and exploded the escape pod, but it looked disgusting A sea of red invaded the privacy of space ’ s blue hues A waterfall of blood was gushing down my face and entered my mouth, so I plugged it with my shirt

That’s when something cold pierced my back. A man with a black mask menacingly stood behind me, so my left foot was used to push him back. The man fell to the ground but bounced back to his feet and ran towards me, grasping a knife. My instinct told me to go where Nova had dropped the glass panel and use it for defense. I sprinted to the glass panel, picked it up, and propped my new shield in front of my body. As the masked man struck the window with violence, my eyes scattered across the ship, looking for some sort of weapon I could use I spotted a fire extinguisher behind me

Perfect!

I pushed the window against the man to drive him towards the ground, then turned to the glass container holding the extinguisher. My right hand shot through the glass and reached for the red can. As the man stood up, he never expected to be sprayed with chemicals inside a fire extinguisher. After nothing was left inside, I struck his head with the fire extinguisher, even when he stopped moving. After my arms dropped the extinguisher out of exhaustion, I stopped beating the man. My worn-out legs made their way towards the controls

Then I noticed it

I grounded my feet and used my arms to swing Nova into the ground After doing this, I had returned to my senses ‘Why would I want an escape pod if I can take the entire ship?’ Lifting Nova by her waist, I ran towards the escape pod, and threw her inside.

A silver knife sat lodged in the center of my chest

As my hands caught the blood dripping under the knife, more flooded out the edges of my mouth. Even though the controls were right in front of me and I could call for help, my body told me to lie down on the floor. The ship had a window ceiling, stars distracted me as I bled out.

At this point, the pain associated with the knife presented itself. Breathing turned into wheezing My limbs weakened because of how quickly blood was leaving my body

I know I’m dying, yet death is so beautiful Death welcomes me with open arms and distracts me with its colorful hues and immense stories. I see a rock float towards me. When reaching me, I noticed that the rock smelled like sand. I reached out for the piece of space, but the rock disappeared in my palm, as if it never existed.

Out of nowhere, Callisto appeared in the center of the window Maybe it was me imagining that she was there because Callisto is actually 390 4 million miles away, but I could see the craters inches away, and it was lovely

A singular glow of light

That brightens any room

Standing tall and proud

Its brightness illuminates our lives

Festive and alive

She is the light in the darkness of life