Last Day on Earth

He had planned to leave. There wasn't much more to see on Earth, and he'd read of more interesting sights only a few light-years away. The travel guides Atlas carried with him were outdated by a few hundred years, but they'd been correct in describing humans as simple creatures. Their structures were primitive, and minds seemed feeble.

Still, this morning was beautiful. The mist had yet to settle, diffusing the pinks and purples of the sky over the concrete blocks grazing it. This city was called New York, quite famous on Earth.

He'd taken place upon a bench on the boardwalk, looking out over the water. The view was just barely restricted by a few young trees, and made for one of the nicest sights he'd enjoyed on this trip, and yet nothing would compare to her.

That morning, while enjoying what should've been his last moments on Earth, he laid eyes upon Kimi. She would come to change everything. Kimi radiated a beauty that couldn't possibly have originated here. Even the most dazzling planets that Atlas knew of had not carried beauty like this. It was as if the sun rotated around her. As if the ebb and flow of the ocean longed for her.

Atlas thought he must be dreaming. He tore his sights away from her, only to discover that nobody else seemed to realise she existed at all. A man selling ice cream was busy making a strawberry cone. A woman in business attire was chatting away on the phone glued to her ear. A young teen carried his skateboard up the boardwalk steps. Did they not see what he saw?

Like a spring stretched to its end, Atlas shot his sights back to Kimi. A member of the crowd had bumped into her, apologizing profusely. Atlas could not quite believe his eyes. An otherworldly Venus, real, right here and there on a planet as regular as Earth.

It was looking like his plans to leave might just have to wait.