She awoke, frightened and screaming in the pitch darkness. She could see nothing, and she shivered from the cold. “Hello, anyone!” she called out desperately.

A distant voice answered. “Hello?” A man’s voice.

“Hello! Over here!”

“Keep talking!” he replied, growing nearer.

“I’m here!” she reiterated, a tear coming to an eye. “Here!” Seconds later, she felt a warm touch on her bare arm.

“I found you!” the man happily exclaimed.

“Please stay. I don’t want to be alone.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Where were you?”

“I was. . . somewhere else,” he answered, confused, “when I heard you. Now, I’m here.”

“I wish I could see you,” she said, straining her eyes into the darkness. “What’s your name?”

“I can’t recall,” he said, surprised, after some thought. “Isn’t that odd?”

“I don’t know mine either,” she admitted.

“Do you remember anything before now? I don’t.”

“Nor do I.”

“We must have pasts. Our lives couldn’t have begun just a moment ago. We. . .” He was taken by surprise by something he felt. “You’re different from me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your hair. . . it’s long. Mine’s short,” he said, putting one of her dainty hands on his head.

She liked what she felt. “I’ve never known anyone with short hair. I’ve never known anyone but you.”

“Do you think we’re alone here?”

“I hope not,” she answered him. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know, but I think we’re moving.”

“Moving?”

“I can feel a slight vibration under my feet,” he said. “Be still for a moment.” Together, they waited.

“You’re right. We must be going somewhere.”

“Where?” he wondered. “Have you found anything?”

“No.”

“On my way to you, I felt around. No walls, no doors. . . nothing. It’s like we’re in a big, empty space that has a floor and. . . that’s all.”

“There’s air. We can breathe.”

“But who’s giving us the oxygen?” the man inquired, growing exasperated. “We need to learn who we are and why we’re here.”

“But it’s so dark.”

“Hold my hand,” he said, putting a hand in hers.

“That feels. . . nice,” she said shyly, blushing in the darkness.

“It does, doesn’t it?” he agreed. “Keep a firm grip. If we stay together, we’ll be alright.”

* * *

Hand in hand, they walked for what seemed like hours and found nothing. “This place is enormous!” he said.

“The vibration seems stronger,” she added.

“We must be closer to whatever’s causing us to move.”

Suddenly, she stopped walking. “Look there!” she exclaimed, pointing futilely into the darkness with her free hand.

“Where?”

She gently took his other hand and pointed again. “See?”

There was a tiny speck of light in the distance. “Let’s get closer,” he said.

“Is it safe?” she asked him.

“How can we know?”

* * *

The light hovered in the air before them, casting a tiny, flickering glow over their nude bodies. Embarrassed at what was now visible, both of them said nothing about it.

“I want to touch the light,” she said, longingly staring at it.

“I wouldn’t,” he warned, but she already had.

A brief tone sounded, followed by a pleasant female voice: “Earth,” it said.

“It spoke!”

“Earth,” he repeated. “What does that mean?” She reached for the light again. “Careful,” he said, gently grabbing her arm.

“It would have hurt me already if it wanted to.” She touched the light a second time.

The tone sounded, and the voice said, “Planet Earth. Population: Zero.”

“We’re headed toward a planet,” she said.

“Who’s that voice?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Who’s sending us to Earth? What will we do there?”

“I’m not sure,” she answered. She touched the light.

“Planet Earth. Eventual population: Two.”

“It must mean us!” she said.

“We’re going to live there?”

“Just the two of us? How will we survive?”

“We’ll have to learn.”

“What will we learn?”

“Everything,” he said, turning to face her and running the fingers of one hand through her long hair while gazing deeply into her bright eyes. “Maybe starting with. . . each other.”

“Yes,” she agreed, stroking his face, and openly and unashamedly blushing. “I think that might be. . . a good idea.”