Fiction: Long Vacation to the Moon

Moona is going on a long vacation - a permanent escape to the moon. No letters of farewell. No ruse to change her mind from the plan. She sits calmly at the wait station. All her belongings surrounds her like a wall of a familiar home - a suitcase full of clothes, an umbrella almost new, a used violin brought at a garage sale and a box of keepsakes with all the things she wants with her for relocation.
    Night has almost set in. Through the tall glass windows, Moona can make out the dark shapes of the trees. While inside, the lights above shine brilliantly down upon her and hundreds of travelers who will join her in the relocation. She is not the only one heading for a far destination but she is the only one wanting to leave this world.    A week before, she has spent mending relationships and ending old ones. There has been just a few friends and neighbors but no one dear to her that she needs to say goodbye to. Not that it makes much difference. Nothing she do can really mend or end anything. She knows she will be forgotten in time. Though she may like leaving, she does not want to leave any grief behind her. All she wants is to start fresh - with the baggages of her past and even the present, behind her.
    It has been luck that Moona was chosen. She has signed her name on the list without really thinking she might have a chance. Good or bad luck, she isn't sure which but it must be good luck after all the years of bad luck. First, she lost her father, then her mother, then her two older brothers. Each time, she has wanted to escape but there is no escaping grief not even if you stand at the top of the tallest building in the world. She has tried that by standing at the top of the fourth tallest building in the world. The wind has been too wild for her to even blink. But it has made her decision a whole lot easier.
    She adjusts her glasses retrofitted into goggles especially made by the people at Planet Moon Air. It lets her see without her wearing too many layers of visual repairments or said the man with the white coat.
    A group of people in dark blue uniforms passes by. Around her, the others turn to watch as the uniformed men and women walk toward an area cornered off by black ropes with 301 on on the double doors. The two guards opened the doors and the uniformed men and women step inside and the grounds shut the doors silently. Soon, Moona will wear a uniform just like them or something similar. There has been many things she has been told to expect and yet, no one has said how the journey will affect them in the long haul. But they have all signed papers that said whatever happens, no one but the volunteer is responsible. But there is a promised future that Moona expects but knows not all things will turn out the way you expect them to.
    She takes out the pocket watch given to her by her father. There is still a five minutes left plus seven minutes. She has mirrored her father's habit of setting her watch ahead. It reminds her to always move forward. He has said, Live in the future that is not yet written, a future that might still be good. It only takes one tick of the watch dial for things to change.
    Time has not been important to Moona, not even after her family was gone. Even now, time is just time and yet, there is a part of her eagerly waiting for time to pass so that she may start her new life.
    Out of 2,500 people, only 1,201 has been selected. Even after having been chosen, it has been a long process to getting here. There has been tests - mental, physical, written such as a gravity test where they checked how long it would take you to throw up in their anti-gravity chamber. Moona lasted four hours, just one hour more than most people. There was also several other tests that has been simple but the one where they played annoying sounds such as children screaming or loud heavy metal music to see which one would last before they surrender. Moona has been used to loud noises growing up in various group homes and has lasted eight hours, three less than the lady with nine children.
    "Unit 701, please gather your belongings toward Entrance 201 and get ready for departure." The announcer's voice is clear but emotionless. The words echo gently through Moona's mind like something she has heard in a dream. Is it real? She half rises to listen as the message is repeated. She grins and begins to gather her things. For a third time, the message is said with a voice almost as loud as her fast beating heart. She is ready for her long vacation to the moon.

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