After twelve combined hours, we all had homes of our own. Every single one of us was covered in mud, but we didn’t care. We had done it. We were officially ‘homeowners’ on Circadia.
I stood back and looked at my new home. I had never been so proud of something in my life. It was strange how a hut of sticks and mud had given me so much confidence and pride.
Chapter Eleven
AFTER I STARTED THE fire in my hut to bake on the ‘daub’ and made sure it would sustain itself, I decided to go for a run. I had always gone for runs back on Earth to stay in shape. On Circadia, I decided to keep running to not only stay in shape, but also to explore the new world. Glancing around as I ran, I took in the sight of all the small huts. Some people had put no care into their homes, and others had made intricate sculptures out of the mud on the side of the small structures. You could definitely tell what type of person lived in each hut.
A couple of small paths were formed between all of the homes that joined up into something like a main roadway. Walking along the trail, I noticed most of the homes were set up in the teams they were assigned, as ours were, too. Coming across the lane where the TV crew was set up, I could see that their homes had been built, and they were tinkering with a large computer and crazy antennas. I slowed to a walk when I approached.
“What are you all doing?” I asked through heavy breaths.
“Trying to get the news!” one of the cameramen answered.
“Are you serious? That would be great,” I said.
“That’s what we were thinking!” said one of the men.
“Well, cool, glad to see you guys ended up being useful to some degree, even if you are annoying as hell. See ya, guys,” I said.
Some of them gave me dirty looks, but I didn’t care. I continued down the path until I reached one of the fields. Running as far as the field would take me, I came across a large lake. I ran beside it, always watching the water for movement. I had a hard time believing that the ‘Skitters’ were the only thing that survived the trip. Although I never caught any wakes in the lake, no matter how many times I imagined them.
I ran completely around the water and back. My lungs were killing me. The air was much thinner on Circadia. The lower oxygen levels hadn’t hit me until toward the end of my run, which made me think they couldn’t be much lower than Earth’s. Being forced to walk, I made my way back reluctantly. I wanted to go further, explore more, see more sights that had never been seen, but I resisted. The woods called to me. I wanted to visit them before the evening was over, so I took off across the open trail of flower weeds despite my burning lungs.
Upon entering the woods, the sky and sun were blotted out by the purple leaves of the trees. I sat at the base of one of the largest and leaned against the massive trunk. The wind blew through the trees and shook the branches, causing a commotion in the sky. The breeze felt great against my hot skin and I soaked it up. After I’d been sitting for quite some time, the small critters from the night before came out to satisfy their curiosity.
The silence surrounding me was all consuming. I took a moment to appreciate the seclusion. Then I heard footsteps falling softly on the underbrush, slow and quiet. Looking around the tree, I saw Garrett approaching.
Usually I enjoyed being alone. My stomach dropped reflexively when I saw that Garrett was going to intrude on my alone time, but then I felt a bit happy. I liked having the company of people here, which was unexpected for me.
“You told me to come out here. Then I saw you running across the field, so I decided to follow you,” he said. He worked his thumbs together, back and forth, as he looked up at the brightly-colored trees. His face was red and his hair a mess from running to catch up.
“Have a seat.” I patted the ground next to me. “Be very quiet and I'll show you something.”
Garrett sat close to me and looked into my eyes like he always did. His big brown eyes were so intense. “What are we waiting for?” he said.
“Just be quiet.”
Moments passed in silence as we looked up into the trees, until finally the tiny little figures started to crawl out of the trees again. A look of bewildered amazement flooded Garrett’s face, and I felt a smile creep across mine.
“What are they?” he asked.
“I have no idea. I meant to ask Spencer what he thought, but I’ve just been so busy.” I said. “So busy I forgot to ask about an alien race we discovered. Isn’t that crazy?” I couldn’t help but laugh at myself.
“This is amazing.” He stared up at the small creatures. They worked up some courage and began chipping like squirrels and climbing down lower in the trees. We observed and laughed for what seemed like hours. Every funny movement they made caused us to laugh. It felt nice to just relax, completely submerged in Circadia.
My mind floated back to times of Earth. The memory that kept striking me was the driver back in New Zealand. “Someone told me before we left, that we were the lucky ones. I thought it was a joke at the time, but I get it now. I’m so glad we were chosen to do this. We truly are lucky.” Looking up at the stars, I couldn’t help but feel whole.
“Yeah, I mean, you get to sit here with an awesome guy like me,” Garrett said. “How much more lucky could you
