Mission Endurance

1440 Words3 Pages

Within the pod there was barely room to travel. The atmosphere was damp and humid, and only a sort of grayness came through the opaque, windowless orb. She lay there, motionless, tactless, feeling nothing, and then, with overpowering abruptness, fear! Anxiously she whipped around, searching for an escape hatch; but there was none, and her meager strength soon became depleted. Hopeless and exhausted, she lay stationary within her prison. But with indolence, somehow, in a way she could not understand, came an urge, a hope, that began to take control. She knew, or rather felt, what she must do. Endure. She must strive and struggle. She must endure. The inexplicable urge beat through her brain like a bongo. Hustle-hustle .

She propelled a faltering foot against the pod wall. The orb seemed to be made of some sturdy but malleable, leather-like material, which yielded slightly where she was exerting pressure, and pulled in at another point. Conscientiously, she began to explore the entire inner surface of her cell, finding at last, a diminutive spot that seemed more lucent and less elastic than the rest.

She maneuvered herself into a position that gave her leverage with both feet, and with a tremendous effort, she threw all her remaining strength against the defective spot. Her whole body strained and stretched. The blood pounded in her ears, her eyes bulged, and her lungs felt like it was going to burst. Did she really feel the wall give a little? She made one last exploding effort, and forced a tiny fissure in the side of the pod. It was enough. The suffocating, putrid gases rushed out, and in poured a revitalizing fresh, clean air. She filled her lungs greedily, and then resumed her attack on the breach she had made. In a short wh...

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...he began to rush forward keenly, her excitement rising higher and higher, and at last she was There!

Early arrivals were already in the water, swimming and diving in and out of the mild waves. She herself was satisfied to float and drift in the soothing salt water, letting it soak into her dry, tired body. Tomorrow, she would swim and dive with the best of them, but for now she was content to rest, to enjoy the satisfaction of a mission completed, destination reached.

She had done her part to ensure that there would be, as there had been from the beginning of her kind, a new generation of her race in the world. A new generation that in time would trek inland again, across the sandy beach, to leave their eggs in some protected hollow, where the invigorating sun would hatch out another generation of turtles, who would then make their long, tedious march to the sea.

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