Pablo's Space Odyssey

The last of their words had been spoken, the last of their bodies, the final of their souls.

“It’s a shame that someone so special has to go. You will be missed” said the King.

Pablo looked at him with a smile on his face. He walked to the centre of the room and gazed across the crowd as they whispered amongst themselves. The King was right; he was special, but not how they thought. Pablo had always been different from the rest, never fitting in with the village children and villagers alike. His parents were poor, working hard day after day just to fill their stomachs and pay for a place to sleep in this small and uneventful town. They didn’t have time for anything else, no time for Pablo either. They would leave early in the morning and only return late in the evening when everyone else was already asleep. It wasn’t always like this; his mother used to tell him stories about her childhood when she was free to do as she pleased, playing with other children all day long until it was time for bed and an early wake up call tomorrow morning. She would tell him how glorious space travel was back then and how wondrous it would be if people were still allowed to explore the universe freely without all these restrictions that had been placed on them by society years ago. She told him how lucky he was to be born in this age where people were finally able to realise their dreams again but also how sad it made her that she couldn’t do it herself anymore because her life had lost its splendour long ago. Pablo never understood why she couldn’t do it now, or even why she didn’t want to go back into space if she truly loved it so much but he listened anyway because he knew nothing about space or astronauts for that matter so he didn’t know what else he should say. They stopped talking about space travel one day and Pablo could never understand why; maybe his father didn’t want him listening to such nonsense or maybe his mother simply wanted to forget about everything that happened during her younger days because every time she spoke about it, tears welled up in her eyes and eventually flowed down her cheeks like waterfalls. No matter what happened though he knew one thing for certain; his mother loved him more than anyone else in this world and if there was something he could do that would make her happy, he would do it without a second thought or any hesitation whatsoever.

And so here he stood now, staring across at this gathering of people while they stared back at him with confused expressions on their faces not knowing how or why he had ended up here today let alone what exactly was going on around them. Everyone had been gathered in order to witness the execution of Pablo who had supposedly committed a crime against society by refusing to abide by its laws. People were still not sure if this news was true or not; some believed that perhaps someone had framed him for whatever reason while others thought that perhaps his family may have convinced him into doing something against his will which is why they were standing next to him now as well, tied up just like Pablo himself and looking scared out of their mind while they awaited judgement from those who represented justice within this world. Their faces showed fear because they were probably wondering the same thing as everyone else in this room: What would happen to them once their son or brother left? How would they survive without his help? And what would happen when word spread throughout the kingdom that Pablo had broken one of society's rules? Would people blame them or hold them responsible for their son's “crime”? Either way it seemed as if everyone present had begun hating them for some reason despite having known them for several decades now because no one offered them a single word of support when they needed it most nor did anyone offer them help during these stressful times which made Pablo feel bad knowing that these people were supposed to be their friends because regardless of what happened next, he believed it would be best for both parties if everyone worked together instead of separately towards a common goal instead of letting themselves be controlled by fear which leads to hatred which leads to destruction which...

The sound of stone hitting flesh echoed through the large room along with screams from women and men alike while chaos ensued between these two groups who merely moments ago remained silent as they awaited judgement being announced over Pablo's head before everything went downhill and chaos took over everything around them as fists started flying through thin air as legs flew through thick heads where blood could be seen spewing out everywhere like red rivers running through valleys formed by bruised bodies crying out loud in pain while coughing up blood onto white outfits covered in red spots telling tales of fearful deeds committed by desperate men acting upon instincts long forgotten while trying desperately hard not let themselves drown within their own fears causing waves that wash away everything surrounding them expanding further and further until darkness consumes everything leaving nothing behind except destruction and nothingness taking over everything once more...