His gaze fell on the dark lake, stars reflected perfectly in the resting water, was there any point in waiting any longer? He was not coming, was he? The breeze shook the leaves from the trees, scattering them around him. Tears welled up in his eyes, pushing out like a downpour. 

"I know you won't come…" He looked down at his phone, every message was unread. Another promise broken. 

"I know you've moved on." He placed a flower down on the bench beside him, a single white lily. "I know you don't want me anymore. It hurts… It hurts so much that you simply forgot about me —us." He tried wiping the tears and the hurt away. 

"You've left. You're gone. I'm all alone here, and I need to let you go," he gasped, more tears rolled down his cheeks, dripping to the ground. 

In a swift move he picked the lily up and threw it into the lake, his deep brown eyes gazing into it again as the ripples caused the reflected stars to fade. "I'll never forget you and our time together. I'll cherish our memories forever. I'll miss you. I only wanted to see you one more time." 

Tears flowed even more forcefully, like the monsoon rain. "Ugh. This feels like hell. It hurts. It hurts. My heart hurts." He fell to his knees and sobbed softly, fingers digging into the grass. 

For what seemed like an eternity he wept uncontrollably, trying to ease the pain he felt in his chest, tears hitting the ground. Though the pain didn't ease, the tears did cease. His eyes were swollen with grief. He had so many dreams for the two of them together, of the future they might have had. Now every dream was shattered. What was he to do now? 

He felt the dirt beneath the grass, it was comforting somehow, soil against his tender fingertips. At least the earth was there for him, the plants and trees seemed for a moment like friends who came to comfort him. Some warmth grew in his heart, for he knew he was not truly alone. 

He shifted his gaze, the lake grew even quieter, the park was nearly always empty at this time of the night. A breath of relief escaped his lips and he pushed himself up. It wasn't so bad, was it? Oren had always decided where they went, who they saw, what they ate. Perhaps he was better off now. The reality struck him again, he had to decide where to go on his own now, and all his friends had been Oren's friends. 

He felt the tears welling up again, wallowing in the misery of never seeing Oren again. Why wouldn't he read his messages? The lake twinkled as the moon rose higher, yet it didn't last. The bright twinkle seemed to suddenly fade along with the stars as the sky darkened, a strong gust of wind blew his dark hair out of shape. 

With a sigh he let the words roll off his lips, "I love you, Oren. Always." He felt his tears fall again, the strong wind blowing every single one away. 

He gazed at the sky with worry, the wind only seemed to pick up speed, and the sky grew even darker. It was not just the sky. Everything seemed to grow darker. The wind started lifting things up, swirling it up into the sky, into the darkness above. 

He stepped back, eyes widening in fear. Would the wind take him as well? He saw the darkness swirl down further, like tendrils grabbing for something to take hold of. Did he want the wind to take him away? Life without Oren wasn't life anyway, was it?

"What is going on? Is it a storm? Or aliens?" He mumbled, swallowing hard as he desperately opened his phone. 

In that moment he only thought to call Oren, his eyes fastened on the dark tendrils, now pulling buildings into the darkness. He felt panic rise within, fear telling him to run, terror telling him to stay frozen. All the thoughts in his mind subsided. How could he think in a moment like this? The city was being torn apart and swallowed by darkness. He wanted to see Oren, he wanted to hold him, to tell him how much-

His phone slipped out of his hand, flying up toward the dark. Then he felt his whole body starting to float up. His hands reached out for the trees, trying to grab a hold of something, anything. 

"Help," he shouted, terror gripping him as he floated higher and higher above the city, toward the darkness itself. Was this the end? He closed his eyes shut and pictured Oren in his minds eye. 

Everything became dead quiet. 

He carefully opened one eye, and then another. Everything was pitch black, yet he felt as if he was floating in a sea. 

It felt peaceful. His pain was nothing, it seemed long forgotten. 

Peaceful. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly felt himself being yanked downward. A forceful feeling, like his whole body was being squeezed through a narrow hole. 

Then there was light, bright blinding light hit his eyes. He wanted it to stop, it burnt, it scratched, it made him feel like emptying his stomach. 

His fingers dug into something that felt like sand. Coarse. Grainy. Hot. He felt the bile coming up through his throat onto the sand. He squinted his eyes and tried to look around, everything was all too bright. Sunglasses would have been helpful, he thought to himself.

"Where am I?" He questioned, a little too loudly. His lips felt dry and cracked as he spoke, how long had he been there? 

That's when he noticed how heavy the air felt, breathing in was harder than it should be. Where was he? His eyes slowly adjusted, noticing the rich golden sand beneath him, twinkling and sparkling with what seemed to be tiny crystals. The sky was bluer than it should, and the sun was brighter than it should. 

"Hello there." A cheerful voice resounded behind him. 

He turned around, eyes widening as he saw what appeared to be a woman with the brightest blue hair that seemed to sparkle as much as the sand. Her skin was tanned and her eyes as blue as her hair. She smiled at him and stepped forward, her long, flowing, golden dress dragged along the sand. 

"W-who are you?" He asked. 

"I am Ilo. Welcome. I can see that you are from Earth," she replied with a warm tone in her voice, extending her arms. 

"Y-yes. I am from Earth. Same as you, right?" He chuckled nervously and stared at her. 

She shook her head. "No. I am from Aurum. This is a minor planet under Aurum jurisdiction. What is your name?"

"Planet? Aurum? What? This is a joke, right? Some kind of practical joke…" He started breathing faster, though that made it even harder to breathe properly. 

She shook her head again. "I don't make jokes. It is forbidden to make jokes. You should try to calm down, Earth-inhabitant. Tell me your name. How did you get here?" Her hand extended to his shoulder. 

He felt a cosy warmth emitting from her hand, like a day at the beach. Soothing, calming. "I- I'm Juniper, and- and I don't really know how I got here. I- I was pulled into something dark in the sky and suddenly I was here." He tried to explain, though it felt too jumbled up to even make sense of it. 

Ilo nodded, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. "Yes. There seem to have been certain events happening on Earth which have led some Earth-inhabitants to be thrown around to different places in the Universe. At least from my observations. Your planet is nearly inhabitable at this point. Radiation levels are quite high, and nearly all life has disappeared from the planet. It is quite an anomaly if you ask me." 

"What?" Juniper shouted out all too loudly. "What do you mean? I- I can't wrap my head around this." He tore himself free from her hand and started pacing around. Was Oren gone too? What if something had happened to him? "What do you mean by inhabitable?" Tears violently pushed through.

"These are merely my observations. Calm yourself, Juniper. This planet is not suited to your oxygen needs, it would be much better for you to remain calm." She tried to place her healing hand on him again, though Juniper kept pacing, ignoring her words, only thinking about Oren. Until the air felt so thick he couldn't get it into his lungs. The bright world quickly went dark as he fainted and fell into the shimmering sand.