Cosmic Courage: A Love Story in Space

The alarm set on my watch sounded, and I groaned as I flicked the switch to turn it off.

"So much for a nice early morning walk," I murmered.

The desert night was still and quiet, with not even the sound of a coyote howling or an owl hooting. It was too damn hot and dry for them to be active but at least they were out there somewhere.

I stood and stretched, surveying my surroundings as I did so.

My boots sank into the fine sand and it slipped between my toes as I crossed the dunes to reach the water container.

I unscrewed the cap and lifted up the bottle to my lips, feeling the cool water quench down into me.

I finished drinking and screwed the cap back on before placing it back down in its indentation in the sand.

I looked around again, scanning the horizon in all directions.

The sun was beginning to peek up over the dunes, lighting up the sky in shades of pink and orange.

It was truly beautiful out here, and I couldn't help but feel sad that we had come out here for work rather than pleasure.

A small tear rolled down my cheek as I turned and walked back across the dunes towards our camp.

"Hey John! We've got bigger problems than lack of food now!" Marcelle's voice carried through the thin canvas walls of our tent.

"What is it?" I called out from inside my sleeping bag as I sat up, rubbing my eyes and trying to shake off my sleepiness. "Did you find something?"

"Oh man... you have no idea..." her voice trailed off in a sigh.

I unzipped myself out of the sleeping bag and pushed open the tent flap, stepping outside into the cool morning air. The sun was peaking above the horizon now, casting long shadows across our campsite as I scanned around looking for Marcelle.

I caught sight of her bent over what looked like a pile of rocks near our launch vehicle but when she straightened up I could see it wasn't just a pile of rocks - it was actually a person's body covered by rocks!