I live on a planet that is constantly barraged by forces outside of our thin atmosphere. The atmosphere is made of atoms from the surface that have been blown away by solar winds. It is in this way that our atmosphere is always being replenished. If not for this cycle we would not even have an atmosphere, due to the intensity of the sun's heat and radiation. The usual amount of solar radiation is not a problem; the people of Mercury are adapted to live in these conditions. Meteor showers, however, are often dangerous. We cannot predict when a meteor will break through the weak magnetic field and atmosphere and crash to the ground. Most do, so it is very important to always keep an eye on the sky. This is also the reason our planet is pockmarked with craters. 

The gravity is not strong here, either. Moving limbs quickly can be hard, but it takes less time to travel great distances. 

Seasons here are non-existent. We are tilted on a very small axis.

 Mercury is almost tidally locked in orbit around the sun, which means that one side of the planet is always facing the sun. Well, since we are almost tidally locked, we go for years without darkness, and then years without sun. I was born into the generation of light, where our skin is almost constantly exposed to ultraviolet radiation. People of the light generation have darker skin than those of the dark generation, but we all have dark skin all the same. Often times people live through parts of both generations, and experience the hardships of the differences and adaptation. 

~~~~~~

"Kaya!" I hear mother call. "Come in, now. The solar storm is due to begin soon." I stand up and wipe sweat from my brow. I've been digging for days and still have found no water beneath the surface. I bend backwards to crack my stiff back, then straighten up. I scan the horizon, wondering with mild curiosity if I will be able to see solar radiation, the solar flare due to strike soon. But as I'm looking, I see a shadow. I squint, wondering if I'm seeing correctly. It looks like a human figure. Whoever it is, they are far from any civilization in that direction. If that person stays out here any longer, they will surely be killed by the radiation. I can tell even from this distance that they are struggling. I glance back at my home, then make a decision.

I run toward the silhouette, bounding through the air then landing, taking long strides. When I reach the person, they are on the ground,unconscious. I move closer. It's a boy, about my age, and from the looks of him I'd say he's not from around here. My heart is now racing. A boy, and he's from the dark side of the planet. That would explain his lighter skin, slighter body, and his inability to cope with the heat. Still, it doesn't explain what he's doing here. Most people do not travel away from their city or township, much less around half the planet. I glance around quickly. My sense of danger is growing. I hesitate, but only for a second. I pick him up and sling him across my back. I grunt. He's not too heavy, but still heavier than I expected. My bounds become shorter with his added weight, but I work myself harder to reach home. 

I finally come to the crater where my city rests in. It is the largest crater on all of Mercury, Caloris Basin. The city is named Caloris after it. I rush through the empty, quiet streets until I reach home, which is on the outskirts of the city at the east side. I rush inside and shut the door behind me, then drop the boy on the sofa. Mom rounds the corner from the kitchen and stares at me, hands on her hips. "What took you so long? I told you to-" she cuts off abruptly when she finally notices the boy lying on the couch, still unconscious. She gasps and puts a hand to her chest. "What is he doing here?" 

"Mom, I was about to come home, but then I saw him, and I couldn't leave him outside. It would be cruel to leave him. You see him, you know where he's from, he can barely even handle the heat. Whatever the reason he came here, he needs help now." I blurt all this out before mom can yell at me, hoping she'll take sympathy. 

She won't stop staring at him. I fidget nervously with my shirt. Finally, she says, "Fine, he can stay. But once he wakes up, we have to find out why he's here." Before I can say thank you, she leaves the room. I hear the door to her bedroom close. I settle down in a chair across from the couch and watch the boy. He is beautiful, really, in all his strangeness. His features are long and fine, with a sharp chin and strong jaw. His skin looks soft, almost, but I bet he can withstand freezing temperatures. His eyelids flutter, and for a moment I think he will wake, but he doesn't. When I look out the window I can barely see outside. Mom has already set up the solar guard around the house, which is a screen made of material from beneath the crust that is strong enough to withstand strong solar radiation after undergoing a machine process. But I can already hear the solar winds starting up. Soon we will hear the flare itself. I have only lived through one solar storm before this one, and I was so scared. Scared because dad had not yet come home from work. He did not return before, during, or after the storm. When we went outside, we went to the factory where he worked. Outside the building were hundreds of people, workers, but they were merely ash figures now, frozen in place. People came out from their homes, and wailing filled the streets as they saw the horrible scene. I remember reaching out to touch one. I could still see the look of horror stuck permanently on the woman's face. When my fingers brushed the figure, it crumbled away and the remains lay on the ground. I screamed and tried desperately to find mom, but she was nowhere to be seen. Then I heard her voice calling to me. I followed it, and she stood frozen in front of an achingly familiar ash person. It was dad. I shake the memory away and wipe my eyes, wishing there was a way I could forget the great disaster of Solar Flare Zoey. The flare this year has been named Solar Flare Akonth. 

I look over at the boy again and start when I notice light blue eyes staring directly at me. "Hello," the boys says. 

"Y-you're awake," I stammer. I hope to death he didn't see me cry. 

"Yes. I was waiting for you to notice." He blinks, and I'm struck again by his beautiful eyes. But I won't let him think he's caught me off guard. 

"Why did you come here? To the light side, I mean. You realize you could have died. You're body is not accustomed to the heat and radiation here. Plus, there's a solar storm going on as we speak."

"I know," he responds calmly. "But I had nowhere else to go. See, I was banished from my city, and every time I tried to live in a different one, I was rejected and thrown to the streets. I couldn't survive there, so I came here, hoping the people on the light side would show mercy." 

I shiver in the light of his eyes. "What did you do that would cause your banishment?" I sit forward in my chair. 

The boy finally sits up. "I don't think it's something you should know."

My stomach flips and my internal alarm goes off. I ignore it. "Why, because then I wouldn't let you stay?"

"Well, yes. But mostly because it's not for ladies to know. It would be terribly impolite of me to tell you."

I glare at him. "No. You're just hiding it so that you can find a life here on the light side. You're not doing it for my sake, you're hiding your past to save your butt." 

He glares back. "You are correct again, but not entirely. See, there are some things people would rather forget, don't you think?" He cocks his head challengingly. 

I think of my father, of hundreds of workers dead. I clench my fists, then unclench them. "Fine, keep your secrets. I suppose you're entitled to them. And anyway, it would be cruel to make you leave in the middle of this storm." As if one cue, the solar blast thunders across the land. I squeeze my eyes shut. I can feel the ground beneath the house shaking. 

"Thank you," the boy says. "By the way, what is your name?" 

I look at him again. "Kaya," I say. "And yours?" 

"Nigel. Nice to meet you." He smiles, and it stretches the skin on his thin cheeks. I smile back. 

"Are you hungry?" I ask. 

"Actually, I'm really thirsty." 

"Sure." I stand up and return with a cup of water. He downs it quickly and looks at me expectantly. "You want more? I'm sorry, but that's all we can spare."

"What? You mean you have to ration water here?" He looks surprised.

"Well, yes. It's so hot here, we have power plants that draw water from the air. Then it's distributed to the citizens," I explain. "Why? What's it like on the dark side?"

"Cold," he responds. "We have ice. It's collected and melted in factories and sold. Most families also scavenge their own. You can drink all the water you need."

My eyes widen. "Wow. This must be even harder for you than I thought. You aren't used to having so little water, especially in this heat."

Nigel nods. "Exactly." 

I sit down next to him this time. We don't say anything else, just wait for the storm to end. Eventually I fall asleep.  

When I wake, I hear mom in the kitchen. Nigel is in the chair. "Good, you're up," he says. "The storm's past. Let's go outside." 

"No," I say, sitting up. "The level of radiation will still be higher than usual, and the is atmosphere damaged. You'll have to wait a while to go outside." 

He frowns as if he hadn't thought of this before. "But you can help me with dinner!" mom says from the kitchen. Nigel rolls his eyes, but is smiling. I see they've met. 

"I'll be back in a while," I say to Nigel. 

"What are you gonna do out there?" he asks.

"Dig."

"For what?"

"Water." And then I'm out the door. It's boiling hot, stiflingly so, but I get to work anyway.

~~~~~~

It's been a month since I rescued Nigel. Mom is already in bed and asleep. "C'mon," I whisper to Nigel and take his hand. We're both giggling like giddy little kids, and that's how we feel. I pull him into my room and close the door. We flop onto my bed, so close. I feel his skin against mine. It has gotten darker already, and rougher under the sun's brilliant rays. Finally he turns his head and stares at me. He is pure beauty. 

"I love you," he whispers. 

I stare at him, still taking in all his perfect features. "I love you too," I say, knowing it's true. 

He gets on top of me and starts kissing me, and I kiss back. His lips are soft but press hard, and his hands are in my hair, then down my neck and back and then up again under my shirt. I love how soft his hands still are, how even though he is passionate, he is still gentle. 

We are in my room together through all the sleeping hours, making love for the first time. 

~~~~~~

It's been another month since that magical first time together in my room, and now we are digging, digging, digging. I'm losing hope that we will find water beneath our surface. After all, the crust is inactive. If there was water, we'd know it. Still, Nigel is optimistic. He's still getting used to the water shortage here on the light side. 

Suddenly we feel a breeze unlike any we've felt before. It stirs the air and makes my hair whip around. There is a loud, humming, buzzing, thundery noise. We look up and Nigel holds me close. It looks like a spacecraft. We watch as it lands not far away and then the hatch opens. Out steps a human shape, but when it moves closer I see that the person is wearing a suit. Is this person from another planet? The person is still walking closer, and I now see that she is a woman. She stops in front of Nigel and me. "My name is Doctor Lawrence. I've come for you, Kaya." 

Her hair is long and silvery. She's got a scar on her cheek. Nigel pulls me closer. "What do you want from her?" he demands. 

Doctor Lawrence turns to Nigel as if noticing him for the first time. "How interesting. You've developed a relationship with a boy from the dark side." She turns to me again. "You have been chosen for the Alien Administration Program. You will come with me to Earth." 

"What if I don't want to go?" I ask.

"Then I will have to take forceful action."

I shiver, but hold my ground. "You can try." I grip Nigel. He kisses my forehead.

"So be it," says Doctor Lawrence. She reaches out and grabs my arms. She yanks. Hard. And keeps pulling. I screech, but won't let go of Nigel. 

"Nigel!" I shriek. "Don't let her take me! Don't let go!" 

"I won't!" He yells, and pulls on my other arm with all his strength. 

Doctor Lawrence is annoyed. She pulls out something that looks like a weapon, and when she presses the trigger, a beam shoots out and hits Nigel. He lets out a grunt and falls backward, stunned. "Nigel!!!" I scream, tears streaming down my face. Doctor Lawrence is pulling me toward the ship now, and I struggle. She is stronger than I am, though, and drags my body across the ground. I see Nigel stir, then struggle to get up. 

"Kaya!" he screams. "No!" He starts bounding across the ground, but it's too late. I'm already inside of the ship, and as I watch him run, the hatch shuts. The last I see is is his face, mouth wide open in a scream. 

Something sharp plunges into my thigh, and darkness takes over. 

~~~~~~

When I wake, Doctor Lawrence is standing over me. Her hair tickles my face. "Get up," she says. "We've arrived." She helps me up, and holds my arm as we walk to the hatch. When it opens, sunlight streams in, but it is weaker than I am used to. I feel wind and see fluffy white things in a blue sky. And the ground...is covered with green. A wide expanse of natural colors that do not exist on Mercury except on synthetic materials. 

"It's beautiful," I breathe. 

"Welcome to Earth," Doctor Lawrence says. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MERCURY - Sleeping At Last

"Rows of houses

Sound asleep

Only street lights

Notice me

~

I am desperate

If nothing else

In a holding pattern

To find myself

~

I talk in circles

I talk in circles

I watch for signals

For a clue

How to feel different

How to feel new

Like science fiction

Bending truth

~

No one can unring this bell

Unsound this alarm, unbreak my heart new

God knows, I am dissonance

Waiting to be swiftly pulled into tune

~

I’ll go anywhere you want

Anywhere you want

Anywhere you want me

I’ll go anywhere you want

Anywhere you want

Anywhere you want me

I’ll go anywhere you want

Anywhere you want

Anywhere you want me

I’ll go anywhere you want

Anywhere you want me

~

I know the further I go

The harder I try, only keeps my eyes closed

And somehow I’ve fallen in love

With this middle ground at the cost of my soul

~

Yet I know, if I stepped aside

Released the controls, you would open my eyes

That somehow, all of this mess

Is just my attempt to know the worth of my life…

~

Made of precious metals

Precious metals

Precious metals inside

Made of precious metals

Precious metals

Precious metals inside

Made of precious metals

Precious metals

Precious metals

~

I’ll go anywhere you want

Anywhere you want

Anywhere you want me

I’ll go anywhere you want

Anywhere you want me"