We are born free falling into this world. Sooner or later, the final impact must come.   
But for now, so far, so good. (So far, so good.)

Nothing could have prepared me for this. This place I chose of my own free will. Miles of arid, dust-covered, asperous mass. A monochrome landscape of rusty oxidised iron, the arctic char of a subzero atmosphere: absolute nothingness. 

The sky glows a dull red, the sun’s blazing white disc haloed by a strange chemical-blue haze. A sight I’ve seen countless times only inverted, like the negative of a colour image. 

I’m wearing the same clothes that I was wearing yesterday, which suddenly strikes me as odd given where I am and what I’ve left behind.

We cannot stress enough the importance of an applicant’s capacity for self-reflection. Without this essential foundation, the five key characteristics listed below cannot be utilized to the fullest potential: Resiliency. Adaptability. Curiosity. Ability to Trust. Creativity & Resourcefulness.

Strange that you can see the Earth from here.

But there can be nothing salvaged, nothing kept. Least of all regrets. 

There is no choice left but to accept your death, as must all things that have once lived. Your relegation to pages already turned; dog-eared as they might be, full of annotations and underlined passages, there you must stay, the weight of the pages after you ensuring your captivity. At least there is a trace of you, trapped, black on white, indelible. And one day, someone might gaze up to the skies, look back at that forgotten passage, or they might not. Either way, a new chapter must be written. 

My regrets live under my skin, deep in my cells where I cannot extract them.

“Have you ever imagined someone disappearing forever?”

The place had been full of words and strangers and smoke. After the cursory glance, alien faces were blinked away and a path forged, wading through a hot sea of bodies to an empty stool. My final night in Eden. 

I remember the way the liquor had clung, thick and sugary, to the sides of the glass. 

Later, the trains had passed by, one after the other. People in a hurry to get to unknown places, jostling each other to get on and off as if their lives depended on it. Eyes dulled by routine, crumpled clothes, Candy Crush. 

Back home, the letter remained unopened on the table. No need, I already knew what was in it. One of the envelope’s corners was crushed where it had taken a beating from the post office’s sorting bag. Resiliency. Adaptability. Curiosity. Ability to Trust. Creativity & Resourcefulness. All the things that had made human life on earth possible and all the things I’d never had but knew how to fake. On paper at least.

Once I was gone, what difference would it make anyway?

The brakes creaked and groaned under the strain of their load as the trains continued to pull in and pull out, mice scurrying about the tracks in their wake, dodging the empty wrappers and cans. This is the free world, I thought – Paradise on Earth. Paradeiso: royal (enclosed) park. That’s exactly how it had been written when I’d looked it up, the ‘enclosed’ in brackets. I wanted no part of this.  

My local café on the square. Behind the counter, the tobacconist’s stiff fingers count a wad of cash with the kind of speed acquired through habit, never pausing for a second as he watches Mr. Five O’Clock cross the street and push the door open. Just another regular. He says nothing and carries on counting the bills. 

I take a sip of my coffee. Flat black; no frills, no thrills.

Mr. Five O’Clock briefly acknowledges the teller’s presence before glancing down. To his left, the scratch cards and lottery tickets, to his right, cigarettes, rolling tobacco, and other smoking paraphernalia. Countless possibilities and countless outcomes, all neatly arranged in display holders made for that single purpose. Countless possibilities and countless outcomes, any of which could be his for a set sum. All he has to do is take his pick. 

Mr. Five O’clock buys two scratch cards and a lottery ticket. He knows he probably won’t win, but he buys them anyway. 

He collects his change and leaves. Five minutes later, I leave some coins on the table and head for the door. 

Of the two men, one will be dead within six months. Though I don’t know it yet, none of us will ever see each other again.

A few hours later, the tobacconist begins to close up shop. He turns the lights out and pulls the shutter down halfway as usual. He’ll shut it completely when he leaves and that’ll be the last thing he does. Walking towards the metro, he thinks of his wife waiting for him at the apartment they’ve shared for the past 15 years. She’ll probably be at the kitchen table eating alone, and the silence between them will be lined with the dry electric hum of the refrigerator keeping his dinner cold. 

The train pulls into the station and he boards the empty wagon, one foot in front of the other. He’ll be home soon. There is no comfort in the thought.

Once, I’d blurted it out loud. The words parting my lips for me as they climbed out of my mouth. “I want to leave and never come back.” The bastard had smirked at me, waving my words away as if swatting at flies. I’d already done it once. Left what remained of my family and everything I’d ever known for the unknown, hoping for something better, anything. Turned my back on those who’d abandoned me, those who’d demanded submissiveness and obedience in exchange for love. I could do it again, fall into the abyss. But this time would be different. This time would be the last. 

I took one more step over the yellow line. The next train rumbled closer and closer in the tunnel sending vibrations all along the platform. This train was mine. 

Mars could have once harbored life. Some conjecture that life might still exist there today. A number of researchers have even speculated that life on Earth might have seeded Mars, or that life on Mars seeded Earth.

Once here, there are no means to return to Earth. Here is home. A grounded, deep sense of purpose will help each astronaut maintain his or her psychological stability and focus as they work together toward a shared and better future. 

Welcome to Mars One.