Step.

Step.

Something feels different.

Off.

My steps.

They're strange.

Like... I'm being lifted,

Much higher,

Much longer.

Weightlessly.

I turn around.

My tail seems as if it is not a part of me.

Where am I?

There's a strange familiar tinge to my unfamiliar surroundings.

I know this place.

Possibly in a dream?

Photos?

No.

I know where I am.

Yes.

I do.

But it can't be.

Can it?

I would have imagined it... smaller.

Only one man has ever been here.

I wonder if any of my kind has.

I'm not aware of how I arrived here.

Surely, this has happened to others.

But how am I breathing?

This must be a dream.

It can't be reality.

I mean, really.

The Moon?


I glance around.

No other setting would look and feel quite like this.

I bend over and feel the ground.

So, this is the moon.

So many thoughts.

Racing.

My family.

Where are they?

On the moon?

Can they breathe here, too, or is it just me?

My wife just laid that egg, yesterday.

My daughter will finally have a little brother or sister.

Will I be there to father?

Will my wife search elsewhere for her children's father figure?

Are they even alive?

They must be.

They can't die.

No.

I'm supposed to be there for them.

What if they're in trouble?

A tear falls down my rough cheek.

Now's not the time to cry.

I've gotta be strong.

I must get home.

I simply must.

My thoughts are interrupted by...

A Scream.


Multiple screams, really.

All different pitches but they seem as if they were all from the same voice.

I should know to not get lured in by the screams.

It seemed as if I had no other choice.

So, I follow.

Answerless questions, swarming my mind.

The screams grow louder.

I walk toward them.

Faster.

Slow jog.

Full out sprint.

The screams are growing so loud, so fast.

They must be growing nearer.

I'm so close.

I can feel it;

practically taste home.

The screamer will help me to leave, and I'll be with my family in no time.

Home.

The screaming is so loud.

Where is it coming from?!

But then, the screaming

Stops.


All hope falls.

I'm panting.

Every ounce of energy I had was made up of adrenaline and thoughts of home.

I had no idea how exhausted I was until I was no longer moving.

How long have I been here, anyway?

And what was I doing, right before my arrival?

Focus.

What direction was that scream coming from?

That's when I heard it.

One long, high-pitched scream.

Coming from--

I look up.

A large, bird-like creature is only feet above me.

I can barely comprehend what's happening before I am being lifted.

The creature flies.

Not for long before I'm falling

Into an Infinite Nothing.


I wake up.

My family.

I see them!

My wife.

My daughter.

And another.

He hatched?

And I missed it?

I begin to move toward them.

A large, golden gate slowly appears before me.

I look down.

Clouds.

The ground my family is standing on is as gold as the gate in front of me.

Sudden realization.

I didn't do my job.

I didn't protect my family.

They may be where we all end up.

But they arrived

Much Too Soon.