Tears stream down my face as I watch my parents’ bodies leave the ship. They are dead. When anybody dies here, they are spit out of the ship into the darkness of outer spacelike a child spits out their vegetables.I watch as their figures float farther and farther away from me. That’s it. They are gone and I am left with no family.
Sitting in my bunk, I slide my hands through my dark chocolate hair. I had seen dozens of dead people drift out into space. It had never occurred to me that it would ever happen to my own parents. Today has to be the worst day of my life.
It is late but I can’tsleep. I lie awake in bed thinking. I get up and walk to the bathroom to wash my face. Looking in the mirror, I see a fifteen-year-old boy with no hope. No family. No future. Nothing. Dark circles edge the bottoms of his eyes. He has pale skin. His icy blue eyes are topped by bushy eyebrows. Wiping my face, I turn away from the mirror and walk back to my bunk.
I tell myself that everything will go back to normal as I lie in bed. After this I will still go to school. Still eat in the cafeteria. Still tell jokes and have fun with my friends. Life will be normal, just without my parents. Thoughts like this floated in and out of my head as I slowly drift of to sleep.
The piercing sound of my alarm wakes me up. It is time for school. I quickly get changed and make my way down to the schooling side in the ship. Life in aship is simple. The cabins,where everybody lives, are located atthe south endof the ship. The schooling and activity centers are located in the west wing. The cafeteria is on the east wing. And the cockpit,where the pilots live in and work, is on the north side. Each day, students start school at 7:30am. We only have three classes: Mathematics,English, and Science. We start with mathematics, eventually moving on to English, and then on to the cafeteria for our lunch break. Then we finish the day off with science and have the rest of the day to do what ever we choose to do. However, at 10:00pm every night, lights are automatically shut off in all the cabins.
The schedule and schooling material frequently changes, however. The school director is constantly trying to make the schooling system more effective and better. So I’m sure that by next year the system will be completely different.
Throughout the day, I feel lonely. Not even my best friend, Riley, can cheer me up with his stupid humor. Riley Jenkins has been my best friend since…forever. Our parents were family friends. Mr. Jenkins is my science teacher this year. He practically has been my second father and he is the only person around to take care of me now that my father is gone.
Ringggggg Ringggg. As the bell charms for the end of school the students walk out.
“Devin. Devin!” Mr. Jenkins says while waving me over. “I am sorry about your loss. Your parents, specifically your father, helped me tremendously. He was always making me a better person. He was a great man.”
“Yea. He was.” Choking up, I don’t know what else to say.
“If your not busy I would like to show you some stuff that your father gave me before he passed.”
“Sure. I’m not busy.”
Walking in to the Jenkins cabin I see Riley sitting on the couch in their living room playing some sort of video game. “He Dev,” he says. I reply with a simple nod of my head and continue walking with Mr. Jenkins. He leads me to his bedroom where he opens a closet and pulls out a dusty chest.
“Your father was a very secretive man. He kept many things to himself. Just before he died, he gave me this,” he says while handing me a small pocket sized book.
“What is it?”
“It’s a journal. Your father told me not to look inside and to keep it safe. I figured that you would want to see it.”
Taking the book I begin to walk out. While leaving the cabin I hear Riley gabbing out about his game. “Right when I get this game, the newest version comes out! How stupid am I?” I’m not sure if he is talking to me but I don’tcare. I was thinking about what was inside this journal.
Pulling the book out from my back pocket, I sit down on my bunk. “So secretive, huh,Dad? Why couldn’t you ever show this to me?” I open up to the first page. It reads:
Journal Entry 1 –
Earth is over populated. That is why we had to leave. Scientist say that they discovered a planet in a near by galaxy that has the same qualities as Earth. They think that humans can live on this “New Earth.” Scientists don’t know exactly how long it will take to get there but they estimate about 70-90 years. This is possible because of a new technology that engineers made in the space ship. The space ship multiplies its speed the longer it travels. So after traveling certain amounts of years the ship reaches the speed of light and beyond. This is how we are able to reach the planet. Scientist and engineers tinkered with the machinery, constantly making it better and more effective. Finally the space ship with the top technology was complete.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, (NASA), has selected a group of one hundred people, each between the age of twenty-five and thirty-five, to take part on this journey. I am one of the selected people.


I, most likely, will not make it to “New Earth.” However, the next generation will. NASA requires that each couplehave one child while on board the ship. This is the generation that will be guaranteed to make it to the planet.
This journey, entitled “NESP” stands for “New Earth Space Program.” The goal of NESP is to see if this planet could possibly be a place to live. If it isn’t, then over one hundred lives were wasted.
I don’t know what to think. Is this really true? Am I really just apart of a space project to scout out a new planet? And do people really live on earth? These thoughts flutter in my head uncontrollably. I knew about earth because of science class. We studied all the planets in multiple galaxies. Nobody ever told me that there were other humans living on it. I needed proof. I won’t let myself believe it.Flipping through the pages, I look back down at the journal…

I miss the sun beating down on my head. I miss the earth and the dirt under my feet. Living on a space ship is depressing, and I am stuck here for the rest of my life with no way out.
“But why didn’t you tell me?” I say quietly to myself. Setting the book down, I quickly get changed. Grabbing the journal, I begin to race to the Jenkins’s cabin. I knock twice before opening the door myself. I don’t care if I’m rude I just want to find out the truth. I don’t care about anything anymore but this.
“Oh, hey, Devin. What are you doing back here?” asks riley.
“Where is your father?” I say snapping back at him.
“He’s gone to the lounge in the west wing. Why?”
Before he finishes talking I am already out the door. Running to the west lounge I spot Mr. Jenkins.
“Mr. Jenkins! Mr. Jenkins!” I say harshly.
“Hello Devin! Nice to see you again.”
“What is this some kind of joke?” I say setting the book down at the coffee table he is sitting at.
“No, son. What makes you say that?”
“Oh maybe just the fact that it states that this is just a space project to scout a new planet! And that all the rest of the humans live on earth!”
“Quiet! Quiet! Devin,do not speak of this loudly. Come with me.”
He leads me down many halls into a dark room. Inside the room there were multiple capsules lined up.
“Where are we?” I ask.
“It doesn’t matter. “What Iam about to tell you is completely secret. If you tell anyone, it could get us killed.”
“By who?”
“Don’t ask questions.” He snapped. “Everything in the journal is true. Completely true. Your father, just like the rest of the adults, was born on earth. Earth is our real home. That is where we belong. NASA forced a group of us to go on this trip. If we rejected them they would kill us. The reason we are on this ship is to reach this new earth. That’s what all these capsules are for. They are time capsules. To exit the Milky Way, which earth is located in, we all needed to get inside these time capsules because of the gravitational pressure. Inside these capsules it puts you to sleep for whatever amount of years you set it to. To get out of the Milky Way we were asleep for seven years. Your parents were twenty-five when the journey started while I was twenty-eight. I have been on this ship for about forty-five years now. There will come a time, Devin,when all the adults on this ship will die, and the children will be left alone. You will have to reach the new earth and start a new life there.”
I stand listening in silence, not knowing what to do. Finally I muster up enough courage to speak.
“Why didn’t any of us kids know about this?”
“The director of the NESP prevented us from telling you. He said that he didn’t want you to know to prevent you from hating the elders of the trip and from trying to escape.”
“That’s the stupidest thing ever!”
“Yes,” he replies, “I know. But you can’t speak of it to anybody. Not even Riley. Promise?”
“Yea, I promise.
Sitting in my cabin I try to think through what Mr. Jenkins told me. This is all too much to take in. It’s hard to imagine that I was meant to be living on earth, with so much land to explore. I will never know the feeling of sun beating down on my shoulders. The new earth isn’t even for sure livable on. As these thoughts flow through my head the lights shut off. It must be 10:00pm. I make my way to my bunk and lie down. With all of this going through my mind, Iwont be sleeping much tonight.
I wake up to the sound of a ringing noise. What was that? It wasn’t a school day so I didn’t have my alarm set. I got up and opened the door to my cabin only to find others just as curious as I was. Suddenly, a deep voice came over the loud speakers into everybody’s room. “Attention everybody. This is your chief administrator of the ship. I have a very important announcement to make. “
As I scan the crowd of people I spot the Jenkins’s. I rush through the crowd to meet up with them. The voice speaks again. “Everyonemust proceed to the time capsules in room D180 in the north wing. This is an emergency!”
The voice continues. “Because we don’t have enough time capsules, only ages twenty-five and below can use them.” It is a mad dash to room D180. The crowd is roaring with cries of “goodbyes and Ilove yous.” While running, I realize that this could only mean one thing: We are entering the galaxy of the new earth!The voice speaks again. “All time capsules must be set to keep you asleep for fifteen years. I repeat, make sure that all time capsules are set to fifteen years.”
“Do you think we will wake up on the new earth?”I ask Mr. Jenkins.
“You will find out.”
“What about you?” I ask choking up.
“Don’t worry about me or any of the adults. We will be fine”
“This is it.” I say to myself. With the time capsule set in front of me, I exchange a quick glance at Mr. Jenkins. As we make eye contact, he gives me a quick nod of the head. Turning my head forward, I step into the capsule. As I close my eyes, the last thing I hear is the panicking crowd of kids and the sound of sirens. Then, everything goes silent.


Where am I? My mind is numb. Who am I? I try opening my eyes butI am blinded by the light that comes in. Rubbing my eyes, I slowly open them. Then, it all comes back to me. I am on the ship inside the time capsule. I try opening the door but it’s locked. All of a sudden I hear a click, and the door swings open. Stepping out, I get a little dizzy and start to black out. I go into a kneel to gain my consciousness.This is probably because of the fact that I hadn’t walked in fifteen years. Once I gain my awareness, I stand back up only to realize two things: One, I feel taller. And two, all the dozens of capsules next to mine stand open with nobody in them. Then I turn again and see that the door leading out of room D180 is open.

Cautiously, I step through the door, still trying to clear the dizziness in my mind. I turn down some hallways in order to get to the cafeteria in order to find it empty. Where is everyone? “Hello?” I say. No response. I decide to check the south side of the ship. Maybe everyone had gone back to the cabins.

Reaching the Jenkins cabin, I knocked. “Hello? Anybody home?” I get no response. I try the knob only to find that the door is unlocked. Walking in, all the lights are off. There is nobody in here. “Hello?” I say. “Riley? Mr. Jenkins? Hello?” Nobody responded. Then all of a sudden, a voice spoke behind me from the hallway.
“Devin? Is that you?”
I turn and look only to find a man that I didn’t recognize. After staring at him confused, he spoke again.
“Its me. Its me Riley.” he says.
All of a sudden, it hit me. The time capsule had put us to sleep for fifteen years. Riley and I are now thirty years old. I quickly walk towards him to give him a big bear hug.
“Where is your father?” I ask quickly.
He responded by just shaking his head. He was gone.
“None of them survived. All of the adults are dead.”
My second father was dead. I couldn’t let this effect me too much. I had to figure out what was going on with the ship.
“Where is everybody?” I ask.
“The east wing waiting by the door.”
“What door?”
“ In the library. Here come on Ill show you.”

We begin to walk towards the library. As we walk I see scattered bones on the floor. These must be the bones of the adults that died. Every last one of them was dead. And they did it for us. For the children.
“What is everybody waiting for?” I ask.
“Too get out! Don’t you know where we are? We landed at a new planet that was discovered. We are going to explore it.”
So this was it. We had landed at the new earth. None of the kids know why were here. None of them know that we are meant to be at earth. I should probably tell Riley the reason we are here. So I do. I tell him the whole story of what’s in the journal and all the details.And he took it a lot better then I expected him to.

When we reach the east wing I see a mob of people. In front of all the people is a massive black door I had never seen before.
“Where did that door come from” I ask Riley.
“It was behind the bookshelf the whole time! Now come on lets see what’s going on.”
When we reach the crowd there is a man speaking who is probably a little older then I am. “When we open this door we are going to get into three lines to get out. Then walk, not run, but walk down the ramp on to the planets grounds. Nobody knows what this planet is like or if anything lives on it so be cautious of all things.”
Before I know it, the door begins to slide up. “Three lines people! Three lines!” says the man. Shoving past people I make sure I am one of the first in line. I see the planet, and it is beautiful. It is like nothing I had ever imagined. There was actually natural light. Not just light from a fluorescents hanging above me. This was coming from the sky! It is a shame that my parents and Mr. Jenkins never made it to the planet. They sacrificed their life for the next generation. For me. And Riley.
The line begins to move and the excitement in my body is uncontrollable. Walking down the ramp, I feel a breeze blow across my face. Finally, I reach the end of the ramp where it meets the woodsy land. Taking a deep breath, I leap down onto the surface. It is amazing. It is truly an indescribable moment. Standing barefoot, the grass hugs my feet to the ground. Trees fifty feet tall tower over me. Vines hang from each tree swaying back and forth from of the wind. All sorts of wildlife I had never seen before hides in the trees or swinging from the vines. This is the most amazing thing I had ever seen.

Finally when everybody reaches the surface of the new earth, we quickly scatter. We were told to be back at the ship in an hour to report what we have discovered. Me and Riley take off together exploring the wooded land. It isn’t long before we find something strange. About five hundred yards away from us is a shack with what appears to have life in it.
“What should we do?” Riley asks.
“Lets go!” I say quickly while moving forward.

As we move closer to the shack Riley complains on why this isn’t a good idea.
“Shhhh! Just be quiet! We will be fine!” I say sharply.
Once we reach the shack, I start to get a little nervous myself. But curiosity gets the best of me. I stick my hand out, and knock on the door of the shack. It isn’tlong before a woman opens the door saying, “Hello! How can I help you?”

“What the..but…huh?” Riley says to himself.
I quickly cut in to break the awkwardness. “Hi. Ummm, were not from around here. We just landed our ship here from space. Can we come in?” I couldn’t find any other thing to say to her.
“Sure, I suppose.” She says hesitantly. She leads us into the shack into the kitchen where she motioned us to sit at the table.
“My name is Margret. Yours?”
“I’m Devin and this is Riley.” I say, Riley still in shock that there are humans living on the planet.
“Nice to meet you boys.” She says while walking over to wash dishes.“So you say you’re not from around here, aye. What ship number are you?
“What do you mean?” Riley answers.
“What number ship are you from earth. You are from earth aren’t you?” she responds.
Before Riley can answer I cut in. “We are apart of NESP, New Earth Space Program. We have been traveling for years trying to get here from earth. Where did you come from?”
“Earth as well. I was apart of NESP too! All of the people that live here are!
“How is that possible? We were the first ship sent to this planet to see if humans can come here from earth to live here. And what do you mean ship number?
“Devin, several other ships have already landed here from the New Earth Space Program. You must be ship number one. After you left, scientist discovered an even faster and more effective way of traveling. It only took us five years to get here. Almost thirty ships have landed now. Didn’t you already know that we had landed here?”
“No!” I respond harshly. “So your telling me, that while we were on our trip, back at earth you discovered a faster technology and then passed us up?”
After thinking about it, she responds. “Yea, I guess so.”
All of a sudden I feel sick. It took us about seventy years to get here when the other ship only took five. So many lives were wasted on our ship. My parents didn’t have to spend their whole lives on a ship just to die on it. They could have waited just a few years longer and taken a faster ship and gotten here just in five years.
Still washing dishes, Margret chimes back in. “Its amazing the nature of science. Always advancing and improving. That’s just the beauty of technology.”