Page 5 of The Mating Games

Then, in the blink of an eye, the surface neared until I could almost make out each individual leaf.

And would have… if I wasn’t hurtling downward so fast.

The last thing I recall was clenching the capsule’s sides, my knuckles pale, as the land neared.

A thunderous crash, an intense burst of light, followed by…

Blackness.

* * *

The echo of my crash-landing seemed to linger in my ears for an eternity, the stillness that followed it heavy and suffocating.

My entire body ached, and my thoughts were a jumbled mess.

The last memory I clung to was the blazing descent, the ground racing toward me, and the death grip I had on the sides of my capsule.

Then there was nothingness.

The silence in the pod was abruptly broken by the hiss and whir of machinery.

I felt a rush of cool, damp air as the door started to inch open.

I took a deep breath, expecting the atmosphere to not be congruent with the needs of a human.

Hell, it might even suck my insides out!

Although, why I thought living an extra handful of seconds on an alien planet would be a good thing, I didn’t know.

When I couldn’t hold my breath any longer, I exhaled and immediately breathed in another deep lungful of cool air.

My eyes remained boggled and wide, still expecting something terrible to happen.

But it didn’t.

I let my breath out with a rasp and breathed normally.

Huh, so I guess Icanbreathe okay on this planet.

Blinking against the sudden bright light outside, I squinted at my surroundings.

Outside, a world unlike any I had ever seen unfurled.

Towering trees with iridescent leaves reached up toward a bright blue sky.

The trunks of the trees appeared to shimmer and pulse with life, and the air smelled sweet, with a hint of a tangy undertone I couldn’t quite place.

All around, there were sounds of chirping, growling, and buzzing.

I hesitated at the edge of the capsule, unsure if I should step out of it.

Every instinct screamed at me to stay inside the protective bubble that I had, until a few moments ago, thought of as a prison.

But I couldn’t stay inside it forever.

So, swallowing hard, I stepped into the alien world.

The ground beneath my feet was spongy, each step making it bounce ever so slightly.

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