The other children talk about the Earth, that great big orb that looms in the sky behind them. They talk like it’s some paradise where they’ll run barefoot through the grass with as much fresh air as they want to fill their lungs. But all Murphy sees is the constant reminder of how their ancestors fucked up – a muddled blue and brown mess they couldn’t even clean up. He doesn’t think it’s beautiful at all. He thinks it sucks.
The stars though, like the ones visible through his small window (back before he was locked up, when he had a window), those are something to marvel at. They shine, like white gold against a sea of blacks and blues, smiling and shimmering at him from their distance. Each one a little different, fainter or brighter, larger or smaller, than the next, and each unique, fuzzy orb holding it’s own promise. He looks at them and wonders if there are other planets like theirs, but still thriving and not uselessly spinning through space in a state of permanent decay.
The walls of the Ark are dull and gray and the Earth is a giant, dead rock that keeps them tethered on some death chain. The stars though – they’re alive, shimmering, just out of reach.