One way ticket to Gala

"I am Jenna, sixteen years of age. My hair is currently blue, but it was naturally black. I'm 5'5". The reason for my trip is to attend the Ouroboros". I said in a tone as neutral as I could manage to the attendant when she required some basic information before onboarding the rocket to Gala. The place where the Ouroboros games are taking place. The attendant looked shocked for a brief moment when I mentioned the games. Still, she snapped out of it quickly, dismissing me before calling the next traveler on the line.

I'm looking through the window next to my seat inside the rocket. It has a circular shape and is not big or small. I guess it is the same size as my head. But what cough my attention was that the window happened to have the Ouroboros snake carved into it. I appreciated the details of the snake when I noticed how peaceful Earth looks from out here. It is impossible to hear the screams from here. You cannot smell the smoke or decay; so far, I haven't struggled to get a piece of bread or a glass of water; on the contrary, I've been asked if I want something to eat and drink several times by now.

Out there, everything is so hard. Days can pass without drinking a single drop of water. You depend on the scavengers to bring whatever they can find on the trash launched from Gala to Earth. The humans remaining on Earth have been reduced to rats.

I cannot spot my parents from here. John and Ana are not my biological parents; they just found me one day and decided to keep me. An odd decision if you consider how horrible things are outside this rocket. I'm about to close the window cause I cannot take it anymore. It is unnerving to enjoy the peaceful view, especially knowing the horrors lurking underneath the smoke. Some of the other passengers might pretend it isn't smoke but Fog instead. I know it is the smoke from the constant riots, the ashes from the burning dead bodies (Due to both lacks of space to bury them and to avoid spreading any diseases). We keep polluting our already dying planet only because we cannot understand each other. In the end, the rule of "the strongest survives" prevails, so we don't care about others. The bottom line is we need to decide if we want to live another day; John though me that.

"It makes sense that Gala was created."- I exhaled, lost in thoughts, looking through the window, resting my head on my arms, and pushing my forehead on the cristal. I looked up, searching for a way to close the window, when I spotted Gala. "Wow, it looks stunning from here" I am closer to Gala inside the rocket than I was from the land below. It makes sense that the rich and powerful decided to build the Gala station above Earth. The higher class (As they call themselves) started to notice the pollution and anarchy taking over every atom of the planet. That is when they decided to build a floating city (no, not a city, a floating Continent) to keep the Rich and the brightest minds, including their families, safe. They knew chaos was about to grow; they foresaw overpopulation, hunger, and water pollution (predicted the apocalypse), so they acted according to their best interests and left most humans (meaning media and lower classes) behind.

From here, I cannot see the cities and futuristic designs that are supposed to be there. I only see the bottom of the vast floating structure clearer than how I could see it from outside this ship. I can see it without the smoke from below, and it is covered with nature, a mix of greens, browns, and grays. I'll never have guessed that the massive floating continent was human-made. It looks as if the last piece of pure nature was extracted from the core of the Earth's surface and was floating there, looking down at the deserted and corrupted land under it. It was marvelous and sad at the same time.

Then I noticed the Glums, those almost infinite tubes of aluminum that connected Gala with Earth. The gums are used by the citizens of the floating city to dispose of their trash on our land. The high class treated our terrain as a massive garbage dump, not a place habited by other humans. Those humans were indeed rotten and dying, sick and mean, ruthless... but humans nonetheless.

So many had tried to climb from Earth to Gala using the Glums and lost their lives. It's a suicidal attempt. Only the desperate try it, those who are sick, those who are unwilling to keep fighting, and those who go nuts after days without food or water.

I glance one last time toward Earth, then I look again at Gala. If I want to escape from that tortuous faith on Earth, I just need to win the Ouroboros tournament. By doing so, I'll be able to escape from the horrors I've seen and experienced across my sixteen years. If I win, I'll be granted a place as a new citizen at Gala, a dream come true. I started to feel the injectors rumbling at the bottom of the rocket; at that sign, I peeled my eyes from the windows, closed them, and tried to sleep. I'll need it if I'm willing to be the last one standing!