Story One (Prompt Two)

Sacrifices

The rules have changed a lot lately. The ​world ​had changed a lot lately. The government

decided to try something new. If a couple gets divorced, they have to move to two separate

planets entirely. It’s not our fault this happened. I didn’t mean to fall out of love, and I’m pretty

sure he didn’t either. It just kind of happens sometimes. Yes, you guessed, I’m in the middle of

getting a divorce. My husband (soon to be ex-husband) and I were working on getting divorced

when the law was passed.

It’s not like anything crazy happened between us. There was no cheating or serious

fighting or anything ridiculous. We just kind of… fell out of love with each other, and we didn’t

want to put each other through being in a relationship without true love. So, now, here we are, in

our soon to be old bedroom, packing our things. We were preparing to leave to separate planets.

My husband, Shawn, would be heading to Mars by the end of the night tonight, while I’ll be on

Saturn by noon tomorrow. It was kind of sad, the idea that I would probably never see Shawn

again. Even though I was no longer ​in​ love with him, I still loved him. I felt love for him. He was

still like my best friend. But, when you’re married, you want someone to be your best friend ​and

your true love. Not just one or the other. And Shawn and I weren’t each other’s true loves

anymore.

“I have to go now.” Shawn smiled sadly at me.

“Oh… okay. Yeah, I guess you do.” I suddenly felt myself getting really sad. I couldn’t

imagine my life without Shawn in it.

“Okay, well-”
 “What if you don’t?” I blurted out.

“What? I have to, you know that, it’s the law-”

“Forget the law. What do you ​want​ to do?”

“I mean, you know I don’t want to leave. It’s the law. I have to.”

“Shawn,” I began to tear up, “You’re my best friend. We might not be in love anymore

but I still love you. I can’t imagine my life without you. I can’t do this.”

“Well- I don’t know. I love you too and I can’t imagine my life without you either but…

what are we supposed to do about it?”

“Let’s run away. Let’s both go get on a flight to the same planet and hide away from

everyone else.”

And that we did. While it was dark, and Shawn was supposed to be getting on a flight to

Mars, we both got on a flight to Jupiter. We stood in different spots in line and pretended we had

never met before. When we arrived at the new planet, we immediately began working on getting

a place to live, and we wound up with apartments right next to each other. Sometimes, you need

to make sacrifices for the people you love.

Story Two (Prompt One)

Camera for Your Travels?

It’s not easy being an orphan. You’re considered weird; different; lonely. Okay, maybe

the last one is true, but I wouldn’t admit it out loud. I just don’t understand why people pick that

as something to make fun of me for. It’s not my fault my parents are gone. It’s not my fault I’m

all alone in this world. It’s not my fault that I have to live in an orphanage with the most evil kids
you’ll ever meet. None of it is my fault. So, why, when others my age feel the need to make fun

of someone, they choose me and my blatant lack of parents.

One day, the other orphanage kids were being insufferable and I really needed to get out.

I was 15, going on 16, which meant that in less than three years, I could get out of here and live

on my own. It also meant I was allowed to leave unsupervised for a few hours a day. I quickly

informed an adult that I was leaving and got out of there. I took a breath of fresh air and smiled,

before running to my favorite place- the water. I love being outside, and I love the water, because

it feels like, for once, I’m free. Like nothing can hurt me. The orphanage sits a little ways away

from the beautiful beach. I came to a stop at the beginning of the beach, feeling the soft sand

between my toes. I closed my eyes and tilted my head up, basking in the warm light of the sun.

It wasn’t until I tilted my head back down and opened my eyes that I realized something

was wrong. I saw wood chunks everywhere that hadn’t been there just yesterday. I ran to it and it

appeared to be a wrecked ship. It took me only a minute of looking to realize that it was an old

shipwreck that had washed up. It wasn’t the first time it had happened. Although, this time, I saw

a glint of something in the wreckage. I quickly ambled to it and found a camera. I inspected it

and it miraculously seemed to be working still. Then I doubled back. This ship was wrecked, and

nothing inside it was decipherable. I couldn’t tell what any of it was. Except… the camera.

I powered the camera on. A tourist must have just left it in the wreckage, I reasoned.

But… the shipwreck wasn’t even here yesterday. I brushed it off and decided to look at the

pictures. The first one was a beautiful picture of a mansion. I thought I saw someone in the

picture that looked a lot like me, so I leaned in closer to see. As I did, I felt as if I was falling. I
snapped my head up and looked around. I wasn’t on the beach anymore. The mansion towered

before me.

No.​ I thought. ​That’s not possible.​

There was no way. I ran up the steps and knocked on the door. A man dressed in a suit

answered and immediately looked confused.

“Ma’am, why are you knocking on your own house door? Did you lose your key again?

Your father is not going to be happy.”

The man ushered me inside and brought me up to what I assumed would be my room…

you know, if I actually lived here. But I didn’t. I had never seen this place before. But… there

was something familiar about it. A different man came into the room; I saw his feet while I was

looking at the floor. I looked up and was met with… no way. This man looked exactly like my

father. I’ve seen many pictures of him and my mom before… the accident. I froze, as my mom

came into the room behind them. I felt young again. Everything around me seemed to get bigger.

I was in a child’s room.

“Come on, honey, we’re getting ready to board the ship. You’ll be okay here with the

babysitter.” My mom smiled warmly at me.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The ocean was in my ears. My body went cold. This is the

past. This was my house. That shipwreck was the ship my parents were on. I didn’t understand

how I could be here. This wasn’t possible. I looked down at the camera again and flipped

pictures. I saw a picture of the ship they were on. This had to have been right before it all

happened.
 I felt myself falling again and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath as I looked up and

around me. My parents were sitting next to me. I was on the ship. Suddenly, it started to rock

wildly. Someone screamed. My parents looked scared. I held my breath. Maybe, all along, it was

meant to be this way.