El Mundo Oscuro by Jordan Bucenec

El Mundo Oscuro

It was the year 2030, and the air was biting. Blinking fluorescent lights blinded my vision. My nylon suit felt taut around my waist and neck. Sweat began to accumulate on my forehead as I 
strapped thick black seat belts across my body to hold me down. The first noticeable thing 
was the lack of motion. It felt like the back of a truck. There were five seats, four lined up on 
the right and one sitting opposite. I glanced around at my fellow teammates. They looked like soldiers, motionless and rigid. Unlike them, my boots were practically vibrating from how nervous I 
felt. Five years of training failed to prepare me for this terrifying feeling. I counted 1,800 
seconds before the final countdown commenced. Panic began to flood my system as the 
seconds ticked by. Axel shouted gleefully, “Let’s go to Mars!” There were only four shouts of excitement that followed. Takeoff.

At first, it was bright. Oranges, reds, and yellows mingled until there was only black remaining. This wasn’t Mars. This planet was dark and barren, filled with misery and sorrow. No one lived on Mars either, but this planet was littered with millions of lost souls. Many were crying, sleeping, or sitting. 
Where had our spaceship taken us? I didn’t like this place, and I yearned to return home. I glanced 
over my shoulder to locate our spaceship. Orange returned to my eyesight as malicious flames 
engulfed the immobile tomb. My face felt wet, and I ran as close as I could to the ship without gettingburned. That stupid rocket was all I had. My only true ticket home. But I suppose this was my new
home. I turned my back to the fire, and my vision flooded with black. All I could hear was screaming. There really was life on Mars.