Confused atoms

Here. Nobody here. Always alone. Abdo contemplated his surroundings as he floated upwards. Was he floating upwards? It was hard to tell. All around him, lonely stars flickered with bright beams of silver light. He let himself drift through the eternal skies, forever dark with little patterns of pale blue. He knew beforehand that space was a quiet place, but he never expected this deafening silence. He couldn’t even hear his own tinnitus. That made him unreasonably happy. His spacesuit chose that exact moment to cheerfully remind him that he would run out of oxygen in less than half an hour. --- When his plan had finally come into fruition, he had expected to feel many things. Dread, regret, loneliness and existential fear were all on his bucket list. Euphoria however, wasn’t. And yet, euphoria was the only thing he felt. Unfiltered, pure childlike joy.  He was a child of stars returning.  A mammal, millions of kilometres from its birthplace, finally making ...

Part 1 : Part 2: Part 3: Oh look, another flashback. How very creative. Amina had always prided herself on her ability to give very few fucks. The only thing she enjoyed more than not getting involved in other people’s affairs was people not getting involved in hers. Live and let live. Even so, there are some sights one just can’t ignore. Like an injured kitten looking at you with pleading eyes. Or a scrawny kid sitting on the stairs of your apartment at 11pm. -- He was a skinny, tiny little thing. He was sitting in a corner, his arms around his knees, probably trying to take as little space as possible. His brown, curly hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in months. He had tired grey eyes, a crooked nose, and more notably, a huge knife scar that slashed across his left cheek. His jacket and jeans had tears on them. Teenage boys had a notoriously bad sense of hygiene, but this was just a kid, and Amina could smell him long before she could see him. As she stepp...