Maggie

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​Beep, beep, beep, the constant rhythm of the life support system echoed in the suit. Bay doors opened to the vast expanse of an endless night. One step was all it took to travel the length of the tether tying her to the safety of her ship. Stars glittered in her visor and as the orbit of her ship pulled her along, a vast glowing sphere came into view.

​"It's going to be okay." A voice called to her over the radio. The transmission was fading in and out of static. Occasionally it would pick up the memory of song she had long forgotten. A melody that would bring her back to Earth, to home where she was safe with her family. She hadn't been home in what seemed like an eternity.

"We'll get you through this." The voiced called to her again, but this time it came in clear, as if he was standing right next to her. This voice would talk to her sometimes during her travels. Sometimes it was the voice of woman reassuring her that today will be better than yesterday. Other times the voice was her mother's singing her lullaby before bedtime back on Earth. These messages kept her moving on her journey and at times she didn't feel alone, completely isolated millions of miles away from home.

​The sphere was in full view and the radiance it emitted contrasted against the dark night dotted with hundreds of stars. They reminded her of fireflies on a summer's night. She reminisced for a moment of a time when she was younger, chasing after the glowing green bugs and putting a few in a jar. Some nights she would sleep under the night sky and watch the bugs dance in a field of grass for endless hours. The sting of the memories ached like a needle in the arm.

​Beep, beep... beep. Her life support system skipped a beat and panic flooded over her. Beep beep beepbeepbeep... Her system sped up as it tried to fix the problem by itself. Suddenly she was able to relax, and a sense of calm replaced the fear. She looked up to the light. It was hope. Hope for tomorrow. Hope that she could go back to her home and see her family again. The chance to get to make friends. She was only 12.

​The sphere of light was moving out of sight as the rotation of her ship pulled her back around to stare at the endless expanse of the everlasting night.

"Honey." Her mother's voiced called out to her but the transmission was faded past the point of cognitive understanding. The power cells in her suit were running low and her life support system slowed.

Beep... beep...
​The slowing system caused her to cling to her tether and pull herself back to her ship. Her oxygen was running low and it became increasingly harder to breathe. Struggling to pull herself back, she felt her muscles begin to fail as fought for air.

Beeeeeeeeeeeep. The cold began to engulf her, and as the star she was orbiting fell completely out of vision, she felt strangely liberated. In a way, she was free, free from the machines that kept her tied down on Earth. The constant tone of the heart rate monitor echoed through the cold, white hospital room.

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