The View From Mars

by Jennifer Stephan Kapral

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Texas A&M/Cornell

The red dust of Mars is under my nails as I claw at damp bed sheets, nightmares forcing me awake. Priscilla’s bright green bicycle is in flames. Michael’s wedding ring melts into a puddle of liquid gold.

I throw the sheets back, moving to the mock window. It’s set to home, the single Earth moon shining over my street. Our flowerbed is covered in weeds, grass…