The flight from Paris to America lasted for an eternity, at least for Darian. Darian had enough money to spend, so he picked first class, in which he had a small place, even a bed, all for him. He was currently behind closed doors, he should have been asleep, as it was around 9 p.m. and the sun had already set. The plane was silent, and all the people were sleeping, but Darian was looking outside the window, thinking about everything that was about to happen.
'I've written to my parents that I needed to talk to them…' Right before he was about to take a step on the plane, he wrote to his parents that soon he would reach his grandmother's house. The current day was Saturday, Darian knew that they were probably there, but he wanted to be sure that his parents were there and didn't go out. His parents hadn't answered him yet, so Darian began to think about how to tell them about this.
"Fifty years…" Darian, who couldn't sleep, looked out of the window. Behind the plane, there weren't any clouds, and the plane had just begun its ride, as he looked down, he could still see all the Paris lights. For Darian, it would be only 10 years; he would arrive there as a young man of twenty-three and he would return in his thirties. But he would be the only one who aged that amount, the others would all be fifty years older.
His parents were currently in their fifties, if they were still alive, they would be over one hundred years old. But his grandmother… 'She is already eighty-eight…' Darian knew that she couldn't survive for another 50 years, it would be impossible for a human. Once he was back, his grandmother would almost certainly be gone. 'What if I should refuse…' Darian began thinking about the fact that he could become one of the most important scientists in this world, but then he thought that he was being selfish. 'Is this discovery worth the loss of the most important people to me?'
"What if they hate me for this…" whispered Darian while some tears began flowing down his cheek. "What if they tell me that I'm choosing plants over them?" Darian was terrified of his parents' reaction. He knew that both his parents and his grandmother were extremely proud of his career, but it wasn't a simple business trip to another country; it was to another planet.
As he kept thinking about what his parents would tell him, Darian was barely able to close his eyes. For the entire flight, he remained with his eyes turned toward the window, watching the sea under him. He tried to fall asleep, but the moment he tried, bad thoughts immediately returned to his mind. When he landed, he called for a taxi and headed toward his granny's factory.
The moment he was dropped off there, old thoughts returned to Darian's mind, thoughts of when he was just a child and spent his childhood there. His eyes moved toward the swing on the tree right at the entrance of the house, his father had built that for him, and he used to spend most of his time there when he was a child. As he kept walking, multiple smells hit him; these smells here were totally different from the ones he got used to in Paris. It felt like a totally different life.
Darian stopped right in front of the door. Before knocking, he looked down, breathing heavily. 'C'mon Darian…' he thought to himself. Right before he was about to knock, Anny opened the door.
"C'mon Darian, step inside," said Anny as she patiently waited for Darian to enter the house. Darian didn't answer and simply walked inside while looking down. His parents were in the kitchen watching the TV. "Darian!!" shouted his mom the moment she saw him. She immediately hugged him.
"I'm home…" said Darian with a sad face. His father, understanding that something was wrong, his son was never this sad when he returned home, immediately shut off the TV.
"What do you need to tell us, Darian?" asked his mother with a calm voice. She sat down again next to her husband, and Anny entered the room, walking slowly with her stick. She sat in her usual chair. The moment Darian saw his grandmother sitting, he began to speak.
"Okay… everyone, this is really important. Promise you won't get mad, alright?" His parents remained silent, nodding their heads. Anny didn't move her body, she simply remained focused on Darian's speech. "I've been chosen for a mission… soon I might need to go away."
"Really? And where do you have to go, Darian?" asked his father happily. Darian noticed the happiness in his mother's eyes, too. The only one who remained with a serious expression was his grandmother.
"…That is the problem. I won't be on this planet anymore." With that, his parents gasped in surprise. They knew that some people were sent toward other planets, even if it was rare, but usually, in around 5 or 6 years, they would return. "The planet is called XERBAB-7… you've probably already heard of it." XERBAB-7 had been discovered around 2 years ago; some people on television were already calling it the "New Earth."
"Oh yeah, we've heard of it on the television…" said his father before his mother interrupted him.
"That's great, Darian! You're going to become even more important!" His mother was so happy that she jumped to hug her son again, but seeing the look on his face, she stopped.
"Probably you didn't hear about the planet's proximity to a black hole, right?" said Darian as some tears began flowing down his cheek. "Because it is next to a black hole, this means time will move differently…" His father was a physicist, so he knew well how time dilation actually worked.
"Exactly. And 10 years there are equal to 50 years here on Earth… this means that once I return…" he said, as he couldn't hold back his tears anymore and started to cry harder. "N-None of you would probably be there anymore…" Darian couldn't speak further as tears flowed down his cheeks.
"But you really want to go there, right?" Anny spoke for the first time since they had all gathered in the kitchen. Darian slowly wiped away his tears before answering.
"Yes… I want to study the flora there… the soil… and see if humans can live there… I want to do something really helpful," answered Darian. He wiped away more tears, though the moment he stopped speaking, they began flowing again.
"And that would mean that we won't be there anymore…" His mother couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her son was already living abroad and she already saw him rarely, and now she was hearing that she might never see him again?
"I know…" tears kept flowing down his cheek. "I'm sorry, Mom… I don't know what to do. I really want to go there and study the soil… but I don't want to lose you."
As he looked up again at his relatives, he expected anger, but what he saw surprised him. His parents were smiling warmly. Behind his shoulder, Darian felt a warm hand. As he turned around in tears, he saw Anny, who wasn't crying yet.
"Darian…" said the grandmother gently. "Do you remember the first time I taught you how to remove plants from the ground?" Darian, caught by surprise by the sudden question, nodded confusedly.
"I told you then that plants have roots, but they also have seeds that fly in the wind to find new ground. You are my seed, Darian. You have grown so much, and now the wind is calling you to a place no human has ever seen." She squeezed his hand. "I am eighty-eight years old, I have already lived my life. My greatest joy has been watching you become the man you are. Do you think I would be happy knowing I kept you in a cage just so I could see you for a few more years?"
"But Granny… you will probably be gone…" Darian sobbed, trying to wipe away all of his tears.
"That's true…" Suddenly her voice turned proud. "But imagining my grandson, the boy I taught to garden, walking among alien plants and trees… that makes me proud of you, Darian. No one has ever achieved this, and I'll be the happiest grandmother in this world."
With that, his father walked toward his son and his mother. "It's a sacrifice for us, Darian, but as long as this is what you want, we can't stand in your way. We will spend this last year together by having as much fun as we can." The three of them looked over at Darian's mother, who was now walking toward him. She immediately hugged him again. "Remember that even if we aren't there anymore… your mother will always be waiting for you, Darian." With that, his mother burst out in a big cry. Darian, who couldn't resist, did the same.
Darian felt like he had just removed a big weight from his shoulders. They weren't mad, they were supporting him. They were happy for him. Realizing that his parents were supporting his dream this much made him feel truly happy, probably more than any other child in this world. Darian felt like he had become a child again for a moment. He remembered when his parents accepted the fact that he would be studying abroad at the university. Every time there was an important decision to make, he would always consult his parents and his grandmother. And just like 5 years ago, and 10 years ago, they were always there, hugging him when there was a need.
As the night passed, Darian remained with his parents and Anny in the kitchen, all eating and talking together.
Since that moment, five months have passed. Darian had been living together with his parents for all these months. He usually took many walks together with them while he helped everyone on the farm. Darian felt like these 5 months had been the happiest moments in his life. For as long as he could remember, there wasn't any other moment in which he felt this grateful to be alive.
As the date of the departure got closer, Darian began to think about once he returned and everything would be different. He had recently received an email that said all the things that he owned could be sold off during the time that he was away. With that, he realized that his houses might be sold to someone else.
"That means that when I come back in 2135, I won't have any more places to return to…" Darian was walking alone in the field. It was around midnight, and his parents were already asleep. "I might be a stranger that returns here after half a century…" Darian realized that he wouldn't have a place that he belonged to anymore. All his notes about the plants that he had gathered in all these years might be lost forever… and he didn't want that to happen.
"I need a place… a place that won't change even after 50 years." With that, Darian looked up at the sky. There were so many beautiful stars in the sky that night that it was impossible to count them. "A secret base…" Darian started to imagine his secret base, a place that only he would know about and no one else in this world. "A home that will wait for me even after this much time…"
Darian walked around the field and stopped in front of the farmhouse. He knew that soon he would need to leave this place forever, but the idea of building something that would wait for him after all these years gave him a sort of hope. He was preparing for a homecoming that would happen in a future he couldn't yet imagine. Darian returned to the silent house and headed toward his room, imagining his secret base and how beautiful it would be.