Before NaNoWrimo officially kicked off, everyone took a challenge from the hat and wrote for 15 minutes. My challenge was “write a flashback in another genre”.
Looking down from the spaceship as it leaves the remains of Earth., Cassidy remembers the first time he saw the sunrise over the horizon. It had been after a long night of writing, and the prospect of seeing Odessa again kept him awake. He rode his bike to her apartment and climbed up her fire escape with flowers. As he sat there on the seventh floor fire escape he saw the sun start over the horizon in downtown Manhattan. The hustle and bustle of New York City melted away when he saw the sun. He always equated the sunrise with Odessa’s face through the kitchen window, so surprise to see him out there.
“I thought you were working late,” she gushed while she opened the window for him to climb through.
“I finished early. You’re worth staying up for.” This ended the conversation with a passionate kiss, and he didn’t see another sunrise for quite some time.
But the last tine he saw Odessa’s face it was a spaceship window separating them. Him on the inside, being whisked away to safety, while her face raged with the plague that eventually killed the Earth itself. The planet was no longer inhabitable and he was one of lucky few that could start a new colony on Mars. Lucky, right, Cassidy thinks. He doesn’t want to go on without her, but there is more on the line than his feelings. The fact that he was able to be saved, especially with Odessa infected, makes him lucky again. What was it about his immune system that kept him from getting the disease after living in such close quarters with O. Is he already part of a superior race? What will they be starting on Mars?
Where Mystery Meets Comedy 