Mars, my new home. By the end of this year, people on Earth will be forced to live there. Grandma wanted to get there early to have a better house. “We'll see everyone again. Don’t worry, Ting Ting.” I guess she is right. At her age, she has seen the world change in more ways than I could ever imagine. She always tells us stories about how she has moved from the most desolate places to the most crowded cities. My favorite story of hers is when she would ride her bicycle outside in the open fields in her pj’s, riding into the sunset with her friends. I wonder if it’s possible for me to have that, too.

On Mars, people walk down the streets just like they would in New York City on Earth. But unlike the city, buildings here aren’t lit up and people don’t go outside often. In fact, there are only glimpses of light from the lighthouse, and the rest of Mars is dark and empty. Much like moving into a new space, a lot of us were still quite unfamiliar with this environment. Except for grandma, who lived in the Explorer time period on Earth when everyone was still trying to figure out how to survive. To her, this is second nature. She reassures me that I’ll get used to this place soon enough like how we all got used to Earth. But deep down, grandma longs for community and the sense of belonging she had with her friends and family. She keeps a picture of her family from when she was a child with her everywhere she goes, reminding her of the life she used to know before global warming changed our lives.

“Welcome to The Fire Star!” The guy in the red jumpsuit shouts, excitedly, like he’s our tour guide. He wears a name tag with “Martian No. 3” written in big, wonky letters and a tattoo on his forehead that reads “RED” in, ironically, all red. As a crowd begins to form, I butt in to hear more.

“I am your host, Red. I’ll be accommodating each of the new guests to your capsules, and introducing new names and faces in town. So get comfortable and don’t be a stranger! Mask filters are also given to those who are extra sensitive with our air quality, and you’ll see a fountain down the block with filtered water. That, actually, is our only fountain in town so please be mindful not to spill!” As he guided us to our Capsules, I examined the little details of its architecture and handmade craft--one of which was made by Dad.

Since the year I was born, the Capsules have started to be built on Mars. Dad is one of the first group of scientists who traveled to Mars to build Capsules. He first traveled to this estranged planet about ten years ago with his eight-member team, when it was still too dangerous and worked on establishing shelter for the rest of us. The Capsules are pill-shaped homes, which are much more sustainable than houses. They have solar panels, which generate enough energy for all the water and air filters along with heaters needed to survive Mars’s climate. Our Capsule has a white steel exterior with all the best high end appliances. Dad has made quite the effort to transform his man-cave to be a family home since we announced our move. 

We settled in really fast. We didn’t pack a lot since we knew most of our Earthly possessions would not work on Mars. The only thing I could never leave behind is my clover necklace from my late mother. Mom was always worried about the Earth’s climate and followed every preventive measure the government set forth perfectly. She passed away due to a heat stroke when I was six years old, and Dad hasn’t talked much about her since. She would have been jubilant to see me finally reunite with Dad after all these years. She always believed Dad would make technology to protect his family from the deadly climates. 

“Follow me, kids! It’s time for the first day of school,” said Red. “Since the engineers are still rebuilding the Educational Dome after its collapse last week, we are going to be using the Administrative Dome for the first few days.” 

With the sudden influx of new arrivals, the Domes have been struggling to keep up. Domes are kind of like Capsules except they have more capacity and serve as workplaces for most people. Some of the older Domes have reached their capacity limit and have been worn down by the harsh climate on Mars. When we went over to the Administrative Dome, it was all the same color: white. No matter where I turned, the suit the students were in were white, the walls were white, the school supplies were white. On Earth, I just had to wear a mask on days with bad air quality, but on Mars, I can’t even leave my Capsule without a full suit on. Even though Earth was overfilled with water before we left, there was still more color in my bedroom than on this entire plant. But there was one kid in the corner of the room who added color. Ethan was written in blue on his all black suit. 

“What are you staring at?” yelled Ethan from the other end of the Dome. 

I quickly turned away. Questions started rushing through my head. How did he get color? What are his sources? Is he also from Earth? Being a whole planet away from home has been a bigger adjustment than I thought. Everything is so unpredictable! Maybe Ethan knows something that I don’t.

“Where did you get that color?” I never thought color would be my only attachment to normalcy, but I needed to know.

“I can’t tell you, I’m new around here too. But I’m the only one here with color.” The only one with color? How? I wonder if I can trust him. Or maybe this is a mistake, some kind of a glitch in the universe.

“For our new arrivals, this room is not the best representative of life here on Mars. I promise there are many amazing things here, dare I say Mars is better than Earth!” said Red. 

I guess training brainwashed the Martians into thinking that this man-made world is somehow better than the beauty of nature on Earth. Or maybe Earth has been tainted for too long that Mars has become our final hope. Instead of “no littering” signs, this neighborhood is filled with “no oxygen” warning signs. Forced to wear masks to help us breathe, we have to adapt to survive. Though this felt like a new beginning, somewhere behind all the chaos of this environment, I knew I had felt this before.