There was nothing left to do. Absolutely nothing. He was about to die, and he knew it. He had known the risks when he accepted the job. It was an offer that no one in their right minds would turn down. He had been sent to study the black hole that was nearest Earth – 4 Light-years away – he would be the first human to ever have such close contact with one, and be able to study it with the naked eye.
He was not alone however, he was accompanied by a woman. He had trained with this woman for most of his astronautical career, and trusted her with every fiber in his body. The ship they were in ran off a particular fuel, only recently discovered back on Earth, which allowed a much faster travel through space than was previously possible. The second scientists back on Earth discovered this fuel, plans were immediately put into effect, and Adam and his partner were called right away and offered this once in a lifetime job. They were told that despite the new fuel, travel would probably still last most of their remaining years. Adam had his answer almost instantly, he had no one left to care whether he lived or died. His soon to be partner had a bit longer to decide, she had a family to think about. At last, she decided to go with Adam, as he knew she would. They had been friends for years now.
50 years later on and there they were. They could see the Black Hole. It was ginormous. It was almost enough for Adam to lose his head. You can read about the scale of these objects in space as much as wish, it would still never prepare you for the sheer size of this. His partner calmed him down. They were almost 74 years old now, but they were still the best astronauts of the age and knew that what they were doing now would help generations to come. His partner suggested that they try and get as close as possible before the gravitational pull affected them. They knew that the pull was about 25km beyond the black hole and they wanted to be about 30km away. They flew and flew and they were getting closer and closer towards their stopping mark and then suddenly, everything went wrong. Impossibly wrong. The ship was still only 40km away when they felt a sudden and incredibly strong pull towards the Black Hole. Panic filled Adams heart, and he and his partner instantly began trying to pull themselves out of the literal pull. There was nothing left to do. Absolutely nothing. He was about to die, and he knew it. They were edging closer and closer. Eventually, both Adam and his partner gave up. They just stared into each-others eyes and waited slowly for it to all end. Adam was silent. His partner had begun crying. They had wasted 50 years all for their arduous journey to end so surreptitiously. The closer they got, the more that time seemed to slow down. Nothing escaped a Black Hole. Not even time. Everyone knew that. Even if the gravitation didn’t tear you apart the extreme radiation would kill you in under 2 seconds flat. They moved closer and closer. Everything was become darker and darker. Until
The grass was fresh and the air was some of the cleanest that Adam had ever felt coursing through his lungs. It took a second for Adam to realize that he was lying down on the soft, fresh grass. His other sense began exploring the area. It was quiet… all except for birds chirping somewhere nearby. It was a beautiful sound. He soon realized to that his entire body was touching the grass, telling him that he was naked. But he didn’t mind in the slightest. It would have felt strange to have wanted anything else. He began moving his toes and fingers and soon found he could stand himself up. He couldn’t think why he was here, or how he came to be here, but he didn’t care. He tried thinking what the last thing he could remember was, and all he could think was his name… Adam. He looked around. He was in a beautiful garden. It took his breath away quite literally. He looked around more, and saw a great tree in the center of the garden, with the juiciest red apples Adam could remember ever seeing. He looked around a bit more and saw a beautiful woman lying down on the ground a few paces away from where he was standing. She was naked too, but Adam didn’t feel embarrassed. It felt normal. The woman looked almost familiar to Adam, as if he had known her before. She began to stir as he watched her. She too began to get slowly to her feet. She too began to look around and saw the beautiful tree. She turned more and saw Adam. She scrutinized him for a few seconds and then said:”Who are you?”
“Adam. And you?”
“Eve. Do I know you? I feel like I’ve met you but I can’t remember.”
“I feel the same way. Why do you think we’re here? In a garden with this huge tree?”
“I don’t know. I am feeling quite hungry though, those apples look great. Lets try one.”