it was a dark and stormy night

It's getting late. I'll only write a little bit about today, which was sort of eventful.

This afternoon seemed to drag on longer than a Martian afternoon should. I started to think it was boring - an uneventful summer, that should be so much better than it was.

No sooner had I thought that and gone to get another chocolate chip raisin cookie, when the lights flickered. Okay. Well, as long as it didn't happen again.

It did. This time the lights stayed off for at least five minutes before coming back on. It was completely silent too. The silence was the scariest part. Ever since we left Mars yesterday, there has been the constant hum of the generators. I didn't even notice the humming anymore, except when it stops.

I caught myself holding my breath, waiting for it to start again. If it didn't turn on, I realized, then I should probably breathe now while I had the chance.

In the dark, I felt someone grab my hand. It was Sev, and it was very comforting to have someone there next to me - even though I hadn't really talked with her or anyone else much, and under any other circumstances it would have been awkward.

"We have to find the others," she said urgently, and we went off to try to find them. It was at about that time when the generators sputtered back to life again.

We found the others and there was an unspoken agreement to move a few essentials into the safe room (it was small, but attached to a seperate generator and superfluous solar panel). As soon as we had everything we needed moved in there, the lights went off again.

The ship was drifting through space, just carried by its own momentum. Sev had a flashlight that flickered just like a candle, and it gave enough light so that everyone could get to the room.

And this is where we've been for the past hour and a half.



Bella makes me laugh. She is so pretty, but has never...

[ Continued ]

What did we travel 78 million km for? Bella's been talking about how this reminds her of back home. She's from the US somewhere near Arizona, I think. Don't ask me American geography - I'm fairly ignorant about it. (I don't mind when Americans think Newfoundland is part of Finland or something, because their heads are full of fifty-something states.)

So, this morning we're stuck inside sitting on makeshift couches. Nobody's talking and it's awkward. How many more days of this? (Well, that depends on if you're counting in Earth days or Mars days. They're actually pretty similar but Mars days seem to drag on a lot more than they should.)

"Uh, what if we went and looked around outside?" suggests Sev. I look up from my laptop, relieved that she came up with an idea of something to do.

"I dunno, it might be dangerous," says Aaron.

I roll my eyes, and say a little more harshly than I intend: "Well what else did we plan to do here?" I catch myself and add, "What I mean is, getting here was a lot more risky than just going outside."

"Yeah, that's true," Aaron admits, and sets down his book. He recites off some sort of technical specifications that he's worried about, but agrees to come outside with us.

I'll write more later. I'm bringing my laptop with me (its weight isn't much of a concern).

Paralian means "one who lives by the sea". There is no sea on Mars. Tonight I was sitting alone watching the sunset and it occured to me just how alone I was. It wasn't a stormy night but it was pretty dark.

It's getting to be summer on the Northern Hemisphere of Earth. The days are getting a little warmer (apparently it's foggy and pouring down rain, though).

You know what would be be very pretty? To be sitting on one of Saturn's moons at this moment. Blogging from Saturn's moons. It would be pretty damn lonely though.

There are others here too. A girl named Isabel (Bella), another girl named Severn, and two guys named Dave and Aaron. All of us are between the age of 17 and 23 (I'm 19). I don't know them yet, but being stuck on Mars together might just bring us a little closer over the "summer".

We're not at all alike, and Bella and Sev knew each other when they were younger, and didn't get along very well. They got along mostly by ignoring each other.

Bella is very pretty to begin with, and she also knows exactly how to wear a little bit of makeup so that it somehow makes her look effortlessly pretty. Sev doesn't look bad herself, but she's more of a practical person, and I've seen that she mostly only brought essentials with her.

Aaron is smart. He dresses smart and he's smart enough and doesn't hesitate to fix anything mechanical before most of us could figure out the problem (except that now his best shirt is ruined, but that's a story for later). He doesn't seem to know how to get along with people, though. Dave, on the other hand, will go out of his way to help someone - he'll hold a door for you, share his lunch, and even offer you his coat if you looked cold. He's really easy to talk to.

I'm sort of right in between them. I don't have anything against Sev or Bella, and I'm not as smart as Aaron or as good-natured as Dave. I think a lot, though. Everything from Buddhism to how to more efficiently set up my solar panel...

[ Continued ]

Hi there, world. It's nice to see you.

Let's do something fun. Let's go run with scissors, and slide down railings. Let's go out in the foggy morning and jump off a cliff into the ocean. Let's go stand on Mars and watch the sunset.