Ally Carlin

The Final Voyage

Ally Carlin

Space exists as an endless void. To die there is to die in complete and utter solitude. He flounders, grasping for something, anything, but he can’t even hold onto his life. Gasping for air, he inhales only stardust, suffocating himself more. Orbits of orange, red and green dance around him and he forgets about dying for just a moment. These colors are the most astonishing works of art he’s ever witnessed. He reaches for them, wants to be submerged into them, but they stay just out of reach and begin to dissipate. He’s engulfed by darkness.

I

Aliya Talbani

Away

Mell Finefrock

Inhale.

Eyes closed.

There are nights when the stars shine the brightest, when the usual light of the night would touch the skin of every being in a gentle caress. And the being, unaware of this touch, would shudder pleasantly.

It was on these nights that the boy all in white and the boy all in black would meet.

It was on these nights that two parts of a soul would find each other and create a harmony in the chaos of an unbalanced world. The boy in black rested in the bed of an old pick-up truck, flat on his back and looking to the never changing story in the skies as he thought on how he would never have the same feelings as those that he saw expressed in the stars.

“Stars don’t feel, you know?” The weight of another person caused the truck to shift momentarily as the boy in white lowered himself beside the boy in black. After a second, the bed of the truck came to a standstill.

“Yes, but we feel, you and I know that. Human beings will always feel, even if they do not want to,” a sigh passed his lips as eyelids closed over dark eyes. “I want to believe that the cosmos are dreams that have made an impression. Every star is a reflection of a feeling so powerful, it was left behind in the form of light. The universe is so large, my friend, such things are possible.”

“They’re just stars,” besides him, the boy in white exhaled shakily, and then there was nothing. Above them, one could make out the constellations, shapes in the sky that were infinitely beautiful and equally as mysterious to the curious boy in black. Orion’s belt, the boy in white observed, was not visible this time of year.

A breeze caused them both to shiver, and the sound of laughter was carried away on that gentle gust, leaving just as fast.

Again, the boy in white gave an audible exhale, a soft breath. A lot could sit on a young boys mind. The former looked to his companion, light eyes meeting with the dark pits of another.

“We’re stuck here. No matter how large the universe is.” His nails tapped against the bed of the truck, a hollow sound echoed around them. Tap. Tap. Tap.

A hand pressed over the one tapping to make the sound cease. The boy in black broke their eye contact as he lifted his hand away from the one that had since gone still.

“So run away with me. A journey is something that we have always wanted. Nothing can stop us, parents or friends, and we have this truck. Come with me, take advantage of the infinite space, all the opportunities waiting for us!” Sitting up, he looked around with wild eyes, pupils blown as he gestured around to the empty field. The boy in white stayed down.

“Something troubles you.” A paper rested between light hands. How did it get there? The paper was unfolded and the word “accepted” glared at the two boys who stared down at it in silence until the boy in black tore it from his hands and ripped it to shreds. Despite this, it appeared

once more in the boy in white’s hands.

“College.” One word. One word that all but shook the earth between them and the once serene setting crumbled away until they were sitting in the bed of a truck in an empty void. The stars above them flickered out and the boy in black sobbed.

“You’re afraid of being stuck, Ryan.” A name. A taboo in this world because it broke the illusion. The boy in black was fading away into the void, the other continued, “you dream of running away. But a part of you wants to pursue something.”

He continued to fade. The boy in white placed a hand on him, the essence from his disappearing friend passing to him.

“So study abroad.”

No longer was there a boy in white and a boy in black, and sitting in the space that had once been occupied by two, was one. The boy in gray. The world shifted. Through a tunnel of light a scene came to life. A woman and a man sat on a couch, looking down at a paper in the hand of a boy that was shaking with a fear he did not know he could possess.

Exhale. Eyes open.

“Ryan? Sweetheart?” The woman, his mother, had spoken.

“I’ve been accepted to a school in— “