The Ark - A short descriptive story

It has been four days since we left Earth. Today will be the last day where the blue drop of ink - a dot in the blackness of space - that we call home, will be visible. For the next half a century, the titanium walls of The Ark will be humanity’s home in the cosmos.

Today I had woken up in a rush. I’ve been on this colossal habitat only four days and I was still not used to it. I took a long walk along the length of the ship. It stretched for around thirty kilometers from end to end. The entire tube was encircled by a massive ring which gradually rotated, generating artificial gravity. My room was somewhere near “The Quiet End”, named due to the large open observatory present in it. I reached the circular dome of reinforced glass and gazed into the vast blackness. In the darkness, two points of light hung in silence- The sun and the Earth. I touched the glass while floating at the center of the zero - gravity observatory. Even a tiny particle could penetrate it, but we trusted it with our lives.

I then took the elevator to the other side. I put on my sunglasses as the elevator stopped at the Fusion Core. No one could observe it directly, the light was just too bright. As the iron doors of the elevator slid open, light filled the area. The Fusion Core was a large black sphere connected to an enormous fan. Every second, hydrogen atoms smashed into each other releasing more energy than an atom bomb. This energy sped outwards with a brilliant white light, propelling the gargantuan home that we all lived in.

My eyes felt weak at the sight of the Fusion core. I turned around and sped to the garden in the elevator. Even though we humans live in a habitat as fragile as a bubble compared to the forces of nature, sparks of tradition still flew sometimes. Halloween, New Year’s eve, Onam, and Pongal were celebrated by everyone, irrespective of their original nationality. The feeling of division dissolved soon before the Arks left Earth orbit. Everyone gained a new mentality of not belonging to different countries but to one planet. Humanity for the first time, was united.

As the elevator sped sideways to the garden, I smiled at the thought that the human race can be brought together after all.

The garden was a large spinning cylinder in the middle of the Ark. The outside was hardened carbon reinforced with steel and painted black to absorb heat. The inner surface was covered with lush green grass and several trees. Sprinklers constantly hydrated the green blades as an artificial sun lit up the entire place with warm light. Pools of water reflected this light onto the trees making ever-changing patterns. This engineering marvel was the only place humans could feel as if they were back on Earth until we reached our new home.

I walked around till I found a tree that wasn’t surrounded by people and sat under its shade. Today was a special day as the Ark would start accelerating at maximum speed. So far, its energy was conserved for the main journey. Within two months we would pass by Jupiter and its massive, vibrant clouds before we joined the inky blackness of the universe.

I rested my head against the bark of a maple tree and watched through the green leaves as beams of sunlight shone onto my face. Particles of dust flew around looking like fireflies. I closed my eyes as the ground trembled. The engines turned to maximum power releasing a bright blue tail.

We were going, I thought. We were going.