New World

• Rowan Hey, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2016

Prologue
In the year 3016, scientists had found something extraordinary. A cluster of asteroids had welded together in the heat of the sun to form a desolate, unexplored planet. A team of 4 astronauts had been sent on a mission to document life, minerals and information of this desolate planet, but they never returned. It is now 3020, and I am being sent on my own to find the mystery of the Unknown.

Crash,Bang,Thud! The ship slowly halts to a stop. “Could have been better.” I explain in my loudspeaker. “That was one heck of a landing.”
I unseal the airlock of the ship to see a barren wasteland. Large craters the size of football fields surround my ship.
As I take my first step on the padded earth, my body weighs a tonne. “Must have high gravity for an asteroid”. I scoop a handful of rock and watch as it crumples to dust before my eyes. I solemnly walk towards a crater and look downwards. My mouth drops open. A giant crevasse leads downwards into massive connections, some even going as deep as the mantle!
Suddenly, a noise echo's from a crater behind me. I turn to find a giant creature that seems like an oversized ant. It takes one look at my ship, and rips a chunk off with ease. "Looks like this creature doesn't take any notice of humans.” Uh oh. Spoke too soon. The creature charges at me, my only escape being the network of caves behind me. With a bounding leap, I fall into the deep caverns below.

With my arms outstretched, I manage to grasp onto the side of a cave and hurl myself inside. I scramble to the wall of the cave and slowly calm myself down.
As my eyes adjust to the dark, I see a peculiar sight. A mountain of scrap metal covers the far end of the room.
Suddenly, my mind has an interesting thought. “If this is a room for old scrap, then all these caverns must be for the ants storage, food and dwellings. Genius!”. Instantly, I see a light flickering from beneath the rubble. After what seems like hours of hard labour digging, I find my objective.
“A fully functional spaceship! I can't believe my luck!”. After taking my first step aboard the starship, my face turns to a grin. I rush towards the cockpit, start the engine and with a deafening roar, blast back up the shaft and into outer space.

After what seems like a few long days, I finally put the ship to a stop. After opening up the hatch to the environment, my brain is struck. I see a battlefield of robots and humans, bullets flying and flames reaching out to the sky. Broken glass and metal covers the dead, burnt grass.
Oh no. How long have I been away? I stagger towards a bunker and ask a battered elderly man.
“Where have you been? It's been 50 years since your disappearance!”.