We’ve all been assigned to temporary rooms in what they call the housing wing, which is funny because these rooms don't feel like any housing I've ever known. This ship is definitely not made for comfort. It's cold, metallic, and smells like a mix of medical building floors and cleaner. The housing is just rooms lined up like compartment rooms on an old train.
Here, let me give you a visual image so you never forget this beautiful moment. Imagine a small room, not cozy, not warm, just bare and practical. There's a bed with red bedsheets as thin as paper, a dim yellow light hanging above a desk to the left of that bed and on the right, a metal wall with a small circular window that shows nothing but pitch-black space. That's it. This is where I'll be for the next 3 days, and it's clearly just meant to hold us in place until we land.
I tried getting some rest but right as I was falling asleep from the low humming of the engine, I heard a distinctive noise.
tap tap tap
It was soft at first, almost easy to ignore. So I did.
But it didn't stop.
The tapping kept going for hours, and by now it wasn't just annoying, it was creepy. It didn't sound like part of the ship, like it wasn't a thing but someone making the noise.
We’re not supposed to leave our rooms, but that sound? Yeah, no. That sound needed to be dealt with.
So I quietly slithered out of my door and tiptoed out. The hall was dimly lit, with a single red emergency light, casting warped shadows that made everything look distorted and haunted.
As I snuck down the corridor, I peeked into a few rooms to see what the others were doing. Some were pacing, others were curled up in bed. Everyone looked so different from the beings I trained with. All my friends got assigned to different missions, different planets. These people were strangers, and not in the unfamiliar sense, they looked off.
Not composed. Not the clean-cut, sharp minded trainees we were trained to be, Some looked exhausted and some anxious. I could feel the fear sitting in the air like a thick cloud of smoke.
The tapping got louder as I reached the last room at the end of the hall. Inside, there was a girl sitting up in her bed, curled up, rocking herself slowly. Her back was hitting the wall repeatedly while she was crying.
I stood there quietly for a moment, just watching with watery eyes. For the first time, I didn't feel alone. Maybe I'm not the only person falling apart.
I didn't say anything. I just went back to my room, laid down and listened to the humming layered with tapping. I couldn't stop thinking about her. I wish I could help her, but I don't even know how to help myself. Still.. Something about it unsettled me. Not her, but the situation. Like we weren't here by chance, like we’re being sent away for being different from the others.
I don't know, I could be trippin, I haven’t slept for 4 days lol.
