Work Text:
After three long, wearisome hours, my travel bag was filled and spilling with various items that I hoped would come in useful; jagged knives, polka-dot napkins and several flasks of velvety hot chocolate.
I was travelling to a planet which I had never before visited, ‘The Planet of the Puddings’.
As I clambered up the steps into my battered, yet well-loved ship, I pictured the planet; covered in peppermint grass, with lakes of tangy orange soda and colossal mountains of marshmallow looming over field of mouth-watering popcorn, while candyfloss sheep relaxed in the sun.
Even I had to admit that it sounded a bit far-fetched, but the travel booklet promised ‘all of this and more’, so I put on my seatbelt and took off for the heavens.
Zooming through the dazzling stars, whizzing past plants and waving at other spaceships filled me with a sense of adventure and anticipation.
I could already see my destination in the distance shining like a beacon of hope, drawing me closer, pushing my foot onto the acceleration. It made me picture my dad - journeys like this always make me feel closer to that wonderful man. Maybe that's why I do it, for the thrill of running into the unknown, seeing what the future holds. Maybe I enjoy this because it makes me feel close to him.
Landing with a thud, I grabbed my bag and pushed open the doors, only to be greeted with a dismal looking sandy desert.
No rolling ice cream hills as far as the eye could see, no trees made from luxuriously tempting chocolate bark and not a single candyfloss sheep. Just lots of sand and an incredible amount of nothing.
I decided that I may as well explore, so I locked my ship, put my bag on my back and was just wondering which direction to start in when the sky darkened.
All of the light had disappeared in an instant, and as I looked up into the vast abyss of inky blackness above me, a vivid light illuminated the sky like an immense firework, coming towards me.
It took a few seconds for me to understand that I should probably run away – so I leapt into action, diving to my left just as the object crash-landed with an ear splitting scrape of metal and a thud, right on top of my ship.
Since the new ship was no longer blocking the suns I was able to assess the damage of mine, even from a distance - my beautiful ship looked like a scene from a village after an earthquake, it was far beyond repair.
It was then that I realised I was stuck on this planet.
My lungs burned, yearning for oxygen - I hadn’t even noticed I’d been holding my breath. Exhaling, I flattened myself against the floor just in time; the door of the other ship was beginning to open.
I’m not even sure you could call it a ship – it looked more like an escape pod. Mostly spherical albeit a few dents, it was black, burnt and even smelled of evil.
Nevertheless, a small spark of optimism remained inside me, so I ignored the nagging in the back of my head – and stayed right where I was, out in the open.
With a hiss of air and the smell of putrid hate, the door rose open revealing a three-legged creature, dripping with a glutinous black oil. Despite the lack of arms, the alien, who had a lime green spherical ball on top of its head which I presumed was the eye, seemed very capable of closing the door and picking up its lethally serrated weapon . Briefly assessing the damage of his own ship, it let out a demonic wail of disapproval.
Sweat was dripping down my face, I needed to move, get away somehow. I told my legs to move but there was no response – I was immobile with terror.
It seemed to sense my dread, and as it looked round at me, I was terrified to see it bare its teeth. There must have been thousands of razor sharp knives, all sticking out at different angles. Bits of flesh clung to the blades, and it reeked of rotting fish.
Something inside of me altered, and my legs jumped up, shakily hastening in the opposite direction - until I stumbled on a ragged pile of rocks. I skidded across the ground, scraping my skin on the harsh, rough ground.
There was a ringing in my skull and I felt the voice of the creature resonate in my brain in a language that sounded familiar, but that I was still unable to translate, 'Vous. Humain. Pourquoi êtes-vous ici . Cette planète ne est pas la vôtre. Cette planète est la mienne. La Planète du désert . Mienne. Je vais vous tuer. I will kill you.'
The voice was excruciating; my head felt blisteringly hot and my eyes struggled to open. When they did I realised it was because the creature was standing over me, brandishing its weapon so close to my neck that I could taste death.
I felt a sharp, hot pain, followed by a tingling sensation in my head. Then nothing. Only darkness and the faint memory of candyfloss sheep.