“Will you ever leave me?” I ask, reaching over to play with Wilfred’s cheeks.

She purs, a slight smile on her face. Then rubs against me.

“Isn’t this so beautiful?” I watch the planets slowly turn around, sunlight shining on them, and their pigmented colors becoming adjacent.

Wilfred sits contentedly, staring ahead.

My braids flow in the wind, pushing my front strands in my face.

“Hello,” an angelic voice calls out, startling me.

I look around and see no one. Wilfred does the same. Our eyes lock, and curiosity crosses my mind.

“Don’t be frightened,” I hear the high-pitched voice_. Is it another person? _

In a swift moment, an angel-like creature teleports in front of me. Her skin is paler than I’ve ever seen, her eyes are a soft green, with long, curly, blonde hair. I look at her in awe, I’ve never seen someone like her before.

“Hello, I’m Shemma,” she replies, then lands next to me, hand reached out.

“Wait—I thought there was no one on this planet?”

She smiles, “Nope, I thought so too until I saw you.” Her eyes light up. “Can we be friends?”

I nod, still awestruck. “I’m Aneim, nice to meet you.” I reach my hand out, but she hugs me instead. She looks shy and graceful, but little did I know… she was a _talker_.

She talked for 20 minutes, and I just sat there fidgeting, unsure what was happening. I’d lived independently with my cat for 20 years. “….So I’m so glad I found you! I was so lonely, I didn’t have anyone to talk to. But now I do!” She exclaimed. Then gawked, looking at my cat. “Oh, what’s this cute thing?” Shemma boops Wilfred’s nose, Wilfred leans into her touch.

“It’s a cat, and her name is Wilfred.”

“I love animals!” She sung.

“Oh _really_?” I start laughing, that being obvious.

One thing I knew was, she’d be my best friend for years to come. I just could tell.

** A year later**.

Our world still felt lonely, but having a friend—besides my cat—made a difference.

“Do you think anyone is on this planet?” She asked.

“I’m not sure,” I reply honestly.

That day we made a pact to find people. We wanted to make a community, life was fulfilling but lonely just the three of us. So we set out to explore.

“I hope we find some people. Then maybe we can have a huge found family!”

I laughed at her enthusiasm. That same optimism made we want to believe too.

“I hope so too!”

We skipped, arms locked, singing songs we made. Wilfred followed along, shooting weird looks. “You’re so silly Wilfred,” I laugh, and Shemma joins in.

“Oh, how we find some new people!” She sang on cue.

I added on spontaneously, “Yes we shall! It might take a while but it will be worthwhile!”

Wilfred adds in a pur.

“See even she agrees!” I add.

Laughter filled the golden alleyway and we finally made our way towards the destination.

“We’re here!” She dances. Our eyes caught on a board saying, “Genova”.

“Do you think people will be here?” She asked again.

“I’m not sure, but let’s do this.”

And so we did. We went into an unknown land, not knowing what we would find.