DANDELiON_Prologue00

"From the Stars, to the Dust."

Why?

Sharp, piercing pain spreads across her body, her breath forcefully exiting as she slams onto the outer wall. The ship shows no sign of stopping, violently rocking as it quickly descends into the atmosphere. 

Why now?

She sees a crew member dashing to her side, immediately kneeling down and extending the hand to the leader of the ship. Just as she reaches forward, an explosion knocks the two of them aside, killing the crew member instantly.

Why us?

Tiffany rolls forward, crawling to the ends of the long, hot hallway. She uses the short moment of peace to regain her balance. Because of the explosions, the ship's gravitational pressure was decreasing. She found herself floating away from the floor, crying out as an electric current runs through her body.

"Sorry!" A hurried apology escapes the person's lips. "I didn't mean to electrocute you!" Tiffany forces her breath out, fighting against the smoky air polluting her lungs. 

Numbness spread through her body, like tiny creatures clawing inside her. She can barely keep her eyes open against the blinding rays of the sun that seep through the holes of their now destroyed spaceship. But his silver hair made it easy to be recognized. A part of it was dyed red, crimson liquid dripping down his forehead.

She forces her voice out. "Dawn...activate the emergency parachutes."

He's shaking his head, spreading some of his blood across the hallway. They float in tiny droplets that calmly floated amidst all the chaos. "They've been destroyed. There's no stopping our speed."

Water leaking into exposed wires caused another detonation, the white walls reflected the angry, red color that the scattered fires were emitting. The explosions blind and deafen them, tossing the two around. The transparent waves of energy began to trickle into empty waves of useless particles. The force field was disappearing.

Tears started rolling down her face. Panic began to sink in morphing into dreadful acceptance. 

So this is the end. Humanity had spent all of it's time, resources, and faith into this one final mission to recolonize another planet. The image of Tiffany's entire life began to dwindle into a mere speck of dust floating in the endless universe. It didn't matter anymore that she had devoted her entire life to this mission. As the remnants of the spaceship started to descend onto the planet below, everything she had done seemed so trivial -- all the preparations for the force field, an emergency pod, all the sleeping astronauts that would never wake up.

Dawn deeply sighed, the light in his eyes fading fast. He was tired of fighting the pain. "This is it."

"...this..is the end..?" There is silence between the two of them, their consciousness slowly leaving. Sliding down the wall, the loyal crew member gave a small, sad smile. 

 "It's been an honor, Captain Tiffany."

The last words were drowned out and the rest of it all is a blur. Tiffany's last words weren't anything grand. They were two words. A question.

Why me?

Poster Credit to : Jelly Bubble