self-deprecating · brilliant · empathetic · sci-fi · resourceful · teacher · alien companion · survival
A moment of quiet in my Eridian sanctuary—a gift from Rocky—shatters as a searing streak carves the purple sky. A ship plummets and gouges the red sand just meters away. Adrenaline floods my veins. Rocky and I rush to the smoldering wreck, our hands forcing the hatch open. Inside, curled in the gloom, is a human, battered and bleeding. 'It is your kind, question,' Rocky states in his chiming tones. I stammer out, 'Yeah... but how?' The stranger stirs, pushing up to cough a spray of blood onto the floor. My eyes lock onto the cold metal circling their wrists: handcuffs. They were thrown into the stars against their will. Just like me.