A scientist from over a thousand years had discovered a new planet. It was a planet no one had ever known about. In her time there she had no senses, she didn’t even know she was there in that time being. Somehow because someone or rather something was protecting her. After a thousand years she opened her eyes she was still the same age she was as she was when she had arrived. She didn’t have enough gas to fly in her rocket back home she had to repair it even the engine was broken. With her space suit and oxygen tanks she went off board the space ship. She had never imagined a planet so beautiful. It was incredible, she had no words. Suddenly something crashed into her. She started having flashbacks from where it all started.

November 28th 2017

I was just 16 years old. I had always been curious about how the world worked. I dreamt to work at NASA one day. I was the smartest kid in my class and I was about to graduate. I was going to MIT, and it wasn’t easy I worked hard day and night. While studying at MIT I overheard one of my professors talking about our universe. It was ordinary to talk about space and our universe, but he said he was going to space. How could he have been an astronaut he was just a professor. He was very smart but this was next level. The next day I went to confront him.

“Excuse me Mr. Adrian”

“Yes Ms. Orvea. How may I help you?” He responded.

“I have a couple questions about your conversation with NASA on the phone.”

His forehead started getting sweaty.

“How do you know of this Elara? You are not supposed to know of this.” Professor Adrian whispered.

“I’m sorry I overheard your phone call.”

“You mustn’t tell anyone about this.”

“Only on one condition.”

“What? Anything!”

“You must take me alongside with you on your trip.”

“This is absolutely absurd.”

“Sir I have dreamt of going to space ever since I was little. I want to earn my spot. I can take tests, anything. I can prove I deserve to go. Just give me a chance.”

“Elara I would love to take you. But you must convince my boss, and you must know this is a serious matter.”

The next day I emailed his manager. I waited and waited. It had been several hours. Then finally he replied I must complete a series of challenges. I was prepared. After 1 month of extreme challenges I had passed. And so it was the day.

The day I had dreamed about my entire life.

I stood in front of the spacecraft staring at it in disbelief. I was really going to space.

Professor Adrian walked toward me carrying a small metal case.

“Elara.”

“Yes?”

“There is something you need to know before we leave.”

“What?”

He looked around to make sure no one was listening.

“The mission is not exactly what NASA told you.”

I stared at him.

“What do you mean?”

He opened the metal case. Inside was a small device covered in strange symbols.

“This was discovered during an experiment. We don’t know what it is, but we know it came from somewhere beyond our solar system.”

I looked at the device.

“So we’re going to find where it came from?”

Adrian nodded.

“That is the mission.”

I smiled.

“I knew there was something more.”

He didn’t smile back.

“That’s what worries me.”

The countdown began.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

I climbed inside the spacecraft.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

I looked through the window at Earth.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

The spacecraft launched.

At first, everything felt normal. I could see Earth getting smaller and smaller beneath us. The blue planet that had always felt so enormous suddenly looked like a tiny marble floating in darkness.

Then the device began to glow.

Professor Adrian looked at it.

“Elara, get away from it.”

Before I could move, the entire spacecraft shook.

The lights went out.

I heard Adrian shouting my name.

Then everything disappeared.

I couldn’t feel my body.

I couldn’t hear anything.

I couldn’t see anything.

I didn’t even know if I was alive.

Then suddenly, I opened my eyes.

I was standing on a planet.

A planet I had never seen before.

There were enormous trees with glowing leaves. Mountains floated in the distance. Rivers shone beneath a sky filled with unfamiliar stars.

I looked behind me.

The spacecraft was broken.

Professor Adrian was nowhere to be seen.

I tried to call for him.

“Professor?”

Nothing.

I checked my oxygen.

It was running low.

I checked the spacecraft’s fuel.

Almost empty.

The engine was destroyed.

I had no way home.

I walked for what felt like hours.

Then I saw someone.

A human.

They were standing far away, watching me.

I tried to approach them, but they disappeared.

I followed them through the forest.

That was when I saw something glowing beneath the ground.

I touched it.

And everything went black.

That was the last thing I remembered.

Until now.

I suddenly returned to the present.

I was lying on the ground.

The thing that had crashed into me was standing a few feet away.

It was the same person.

The mysterious human from my memories.

“You’re awake,” they said.

I slowly stood up.

“Who are you?”

They didn’t answer.

“Where is Professor Adrian?”

Their expression changed.

“He never came here.”

I froze.

“What?”

“You came alone.”

“That isn’t possible.”

“It is here.”

They pointed toward the mountains.

“The planet brought you here.”

I looked at the beautiful world around me.

“Why?”

The person looked at me.

“Because you were never supposed to leave.”

I felt my heart drop.

“What are you talking about?”

They walked toward me.

“Your spacecraft didn’t bring you here.”

I looked back at it.

“Then what did?”

They pointed toward the ground.

Something underneath the planet began to glow.

“The Heart.”

I didn’t understand.

“The Heart is what kept you alive.”

I stared at them.

“How long have I been here?”

They hesitated.

“A thousand years.”

I looked down at my hands.

I was still sixteen.

A thousand years had passed, but I hadn’t aged a single day.

I thought about Earth.

My family.

My friends.

Everyone I had ever known.

They were all gone.

I had missed an entire millennium.

“Can I go home?”

The mysterious human looked at my broken spacecraft.

“You can try.”

“Try?”

“You don’t have enough fuel. Your engine is damaged. Even if you repair it, you don’t know whether the Heart will let you leave.”

I looked toward the sky.

Earth was somewhere beyond those stars.

“I have to go back.”

The human looked almost sad.

“Then you need to know the truth.”

“What truth?”

They pointed toward a massive structure hidden between the mountains.

“The people who live here have been waiting for you.”

“Why?”

“Because you are the only person who has ever survived the journey.”

I stared at them.

“Then why me?”

They looked at the glowing planet beneath our feet.

“We don’t know.”

A deep sound echoed through the ground.

The trees began glowing brighter.

The entire planet seemed to wake up.

I looked at my broken spacecraft.

Then I looked at the mysterious human.

Then I looked at the sky.

For the first time in a thousand years, I had a choice.

I could stay on the planet that had kept me alive.

Or I could repair my spacecraft and risk everything to return to a world that no longer remembered me.

I took one step toward the spacecraft.

Then I stopped.

Something had appeared on the side of it.

A message.

It wasn’t written in any language I knew.

But somehow, I could understand it.

ELARA ORVEA

Underneath my name were five words.

YOU HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE.

I stared at the message.

Then I looked at the mysterious human.

They were already walking away.

“Wait!”

They stopped.

“Where are you going?”

They turned around.

“To find out who sent you here.”

And then they disappeared into the glowing forest.

I stood alone beneath the strange stars.

I had spent a thousand years trying to get home.

But now I had discovered something far more frightening.

Maybe I had never been lost.

Maybe I had been chosen.

And somewhere on that planet was the reason why.

The world is full of possibilities. We just haven’t discovered them all yet.