"It's always been this dream of mine, ya know? To live in the unspoiled wilderness the way man was MEANT to live. Just roughing it. And we can't find that on Earth. There's no calm, no peace. And these forests here, well, they're just so, just so, fake! Yeah! I don't want to walk in some architects IDEA of what a forest look likes. I want the real think."
Tabitha, Tabby to her friends, stared into her glass as she swirled the last remaining bit of liquor around it. Another friend with a romantic idea of Europa. Another friend who grew up on the adventure stories of men conquering the untamed cosmos, living in harmony while killing the hell out of anything not human. And another male filled with testosterone thinking this was somehow exciting to her.
As he talked on and on about the adventure and the excitement and just how classic this all is, she looked through the window behind him. She could see the sun start to rise over the rim of Earth. There's a word for this, she thought, but it doesn't matter. Tabby had been on this cruise for almost a week now for spring break; good looking guys from decent schools and fruity drinks that could knock you on your ass. She started a fling here. It was fun and exciting, and they were both young. They would probably never see each other again, but that's what made it fun. Something to keep her distracted, keep her in vacation mode. Because then it's back to school. Back to some school no one heard of on that fucking boring rock they call the moon. Her and friends laughed at the thought that once upon a time the moon was such a huge fucking deal.
"You know what's on the moon?" She once asked a boy she met from Earth. "A bar, a laundry mat, and nothing but rocks. All we do is just drink and do a ton of drugs to pass the time."
This would-be frontier man, he was kind-of cute. He was studying, 5th dimensional art or some stupid shit like that. Honestly, he could have been a janitor on some lonely space station, he was really just apart of the background at this point. She was feeling edgy, maybe? Buzzed, probably. A little horny. This was something friends had talked about so much.
"Earth is SO fabulous from orbit! Just a bright blue orb! I wanted to take it home with me. And the guys! SO hot. You will love it."
And it was cool, for a bit. And when the newness factor wore off, Tabby got drunk and got a fling. Now, she was counting the minutes before she was off this ship, and back home. Back to counting rocks.
She continued to watch the sun crest the Earth as the would-be frontiers man droned on. "My dad, he does shipping. I built some real muscles helping out on the docks. And I got to see so much of the universe before I was 10! Ever see the red spot up close? I have. And Venus. He's got a distribution center there. Sometimes, I just have to look at the sheer size of the universe and go 'Wow. This is a big Universe'."
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