I see so many men like this from my perch amongst the stars, watching the lives of all the mortals that inhabit this tiny universe, that I am never bored
A man wakes up on the moon. He gets up. He’s covered by a suit. A note in his hand says,
“You have 3 hours of oxygen”
The man panics. He curses and screams for help but none comes. He wanders aimlessly on the surface, tearing the note to pieces in frustration. The lunar wastes are cold and desolate. He sobs next to a rock and prays for divine assistance, but his God has abandoned him.
He wanders for an hour, and starts accepting his demise, but some part of him refuses to die, believing that there must be something for his salvation. He begins to thirst for water and food, but there is only wasteland. He sits on a rock and contemplates his life. He is saddened further when he realises he has done nothing with it. He had no family, no love, and no happiness in life. He wasted his life and didn’t enjoy it, and he curses his younger self for being so foolish. He wanders and thinks about what comes after death. Would he be reincarnated as a cockroach or maybe be tossed into an endless nothingness for all eternity. Despair grips his again and he sobs his heart out. He had failed at everything he tried in his life, always quitting at the moment an obstacle appeared. He yearned for his mother, or his sisters, but this only torments him more.
He deserves this, he says to himself. This is his fault. Some higher power punishing him for his lack of drive and passion. He hates that he is forced to play a part in some sick twisted game of an uncaring power. He trips on a rock and almost falls into a crater. His despair is replaced by the part of him that refuses to die, and he begins to sprint across the land, searching for something to save him. Then, he sees something. A building! Maybe this is his salvation! Maybe this is hope!
He reaches the building, and sees plants! If there were plants, there must be oxygen! He sprints to the door and crumbles in dismay. It is locked. No matter how many times he throws himself against it, it will not open. He feels in his pocket and draws out….. a key! Was this with him all along? He puts it into the keyhole and turns
Click
and the door opens! He rushes in, but is again thrown into despair. Another door? But the part of him that fights sees hope! He puts the key into the keyhole and turns, but this time, it does nothing. He falls to the floor and cries, his hope for salvation gone! The part of him that fought is dead now. Only the coward remains. He screams and screams for help from someone inside, but no reply comes. He is as good as dead now, he thinks, and he is right. He becomes lightheaded, and stands. His oxygen has run out. He dies standing, and his corpse falls, his hand brushing against the key still in the keyhole.
Click