Black in Time • Part 1

by Ryan Hsu, 10

A March 2025 Monthly Story Challenge Winner

“Today marks an incredible milestone for humanity. We’ve successfully landed on Mars, a testament to human creativity, determination, and the pursuit of something greater. We’ve proven that interplanetary travel is not just a dream – it’s a reality,” announced the SpaceX CEO on live broadcast.

Chuck and Barley, the two astronauts aboard the spaceship Beyond, were beaming at each other as they floated back toward Earth. They had completed the most important mission of their lives, traveling to Mars, gathering data, and collecting knowledge that could possibly change the course of human future.

Chuck grinned wide, his voice full of excitement. “I cannot believe that everything went as planned! We collected so much data, Barley. We’ve made history. This has truly been an experience of a lifetime.” His eyes sparkled with a kind of joy, thinking of his family waiting for him back home, the hugs and smiles he’d soon return to. “I can’t wait to go back and see my family.”

Barley, who was carefully monitoring the ship's systems, gave a slight chuckle. “I know, Chuck. Me too. It feels surreal. All that time up there, and we’re on our way back home. I can’t believe we made it. The entire world will be welcoming us when we return.”

Suddenly, the ship trembled. The soft hum of the engines shifted into a frantic rattle. The alarms blared, their shrill tones slicing through the air like knives.

“What the heck is happening?” Barley shouted, his hands flying over the control panel as he desperately tried to stabilize the ship.

Chuck clutched the armrests, his heart pounding as the ship jolted again. The walls seemed to vibrate, and the flashing lights felt like a warning, but from what? His eyes darted between the readouts. “We’re being pulled off course!” he wailed, panic creeping into his voice. “We’re losing control!”

Barley’s face went pale, sweat dripping down his forehead as he struggled to send a message to Mission Control. “I’m trying to send a communication, but the systems are going haywire! I don’t know what’s going on!”

“I can’t hear anything anymore... It’s just me and you, Barley,” Chuck muttered, fear creeping into his chest like ice. The quiet between them felt heavier than any words.

“Chuck… What’s happening?” Barley asked, his voice trembling. “The only way this could be happening is…”

Chuck took a deep breath, his mind working overtime to process the impossible situation. “Is… we’re being pulled into a black hole,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. His skin went cold as the weight of the words settled into his bones. “It’s spaghettification… that’s what it’s called. We’re going to get torn apart. We’ll be stretched until we’re nothing but a string of atoms.” He said it like a grim prophecy. He’d studied this in school. They had all studied black holes, but no one had ever expected to experience one firsthand.

Barley’s face twisted in disbelief. “No, Chuck, you can’t be serious. We’re not—we can’t—”

But the ship shuddered again, and this time, Chuck could feel it deep in his chest. The gravitational pull was real. He could already feel his body being tugged in all directions. A sickening sensation gripped his stomach. It wasn’t just theory anymore.

“Thanks for the reminder, Chuck. But right now, all I need to know is how to survive!” Barley shouted over the blaring alarms. His voice was a mixture of anger and terror. “I can already feel the gravitational force pulling me apart! I’m—I’m not ready to die like this!”

Both men braced themselves for the end, their eyes shut tight, as if the mere act of closing them could somehow shield them from the inevitable.

Then everything went still. The alarms ceased. The tremors stopped. The lights flickered out. It was like being submerged in water. Time itself stretched, and for a moment, Chuck felt his heart racing without a beat, suspended in complete, terrifying stillness.

And then, as quickly as it had started, the pulling released. A sensation of weightlessness was replaced with an intense thud. Chuck’s eyes snapped open, his chest heaving, heart racing, sweat beading on his forehead. His gaze swung wildly around the room, but everything seemed… wrong.

“What the—?” Barley began, his voice shaky, but before he could finish his sentence, Chuck pushed himself up from the floor. He wiped his hands against his jumpsuit, not sure what to make of it. His thoughts scrambled in confusion.

He looked out the nearest window, expecting the vast emptiness of space. But what he saw made his stomach lurch. The Great Wall of China stretched across the landscape below them. Thousands of people worked, building the wall. The scene before him felt like something straight out of a history book.

I must be dreaming, Chuck thought. This can’t be real. We’re still in space. We’re still in that black hole, aren’t we?

He pinched himself hard, wincing at the sudden pain. No, he wasn’t dreaming. This was real. But how? Why?

“I am not dead,” Chuck muttered, a mixture of relief and disbelief in his voice. “Barley… are you there?”

Barley’s voice came back, strained and panicked. “Chuck—run—RUN! They’re after us!” His words were frantic. “I had no idea who they were at first, but—bandits! We’re being attacked by bandits!”

Chuck blinked, still trying to make sense of the situation. But before he could react, Barley yanked on his sleeve, dragging him toward the hatch. “Hurry!”

Before they could even take a step, a harsh shout came from behind them. Two figures emerged from the trees, dressed in tattered clothes and wielding swords, sticks, and crude weapons. More followed, their eyes intense, armed with bows and arrows. Barley and Chuck froze, caught in their tracks, unable to move as the bandits surrounded them.

One of the bandits shouted something, but Chuck didn’t understand. The language was completely foreign, its cadence sharp and rough, but he could sense the aggression in every word. The bandits didn’t need language to make their intentions clear.

The tension in the air was suffocating, thick with danger. Chuck’s chest tightened. This is it. We’re going to die here. His mind flashed back to the black hole, and the thought that he might be trapped in some twisted version of time.

Barley leaned close, his voice barely more than a whisper. “Chuck… They must be speaking old Chinese. We’re in Ancient China. Do you—do you know how to say it?”

Chuck’s mind raced, and the words came out in a rush, a mixture of disbelief and dread. “No…of course not.  Nobody knows how to. This is bad. We don’t belong here. We’re trapped Barley.”

Barley’s thoughts must have been racing just as fast. He shook his head frantically. “This can’t be real. We can’t be here. We’re not meant to be here.”

Chuck stared at the bandits, their weapons drawn, their faces painted with a cold fury. He swallowed hard, his mouth dry. “We might be already dead,” he whispered, the reality of their situation sinking in. Maybe this is all just a nightmare. Maybe this is where we die and then wake up.

For a moment, neither man moved, both paralyzed by the weight of their fate. Their bodies were frozen, caught in the gravitational pull of something far greater than any black hole.

Barley swallowed, the fear in his voice stark. “No. We can’t give up. We can't die here.”

As the bandits stepped closer, the world seemed to slow down. The air felt thick, almost suffocating. Each step they took felt like a drumbeat, growing louder and louder in Chuck’s ears. The weight of time, of history, pressed in on him. His heart thundered in his chest. His thoughts raced, every scenario flashing in his mind, all of them ending in bloodshed.

We have to do something, Chuck thought, a surge of desperation flooding his veins. But what? What can we do in this place, at this time, with these people?

The bandits closed in, and the world felt like it was ending, or perhaps had already ended. But Chuck couldn’t give up. Not yet. Not until they’d figured out what was happening. What they had to do to survive this horror.

The sound of the bowstring tightening, the cold metal of an arrow aimed straight at his chest—it was the final warning. Time seemed to slow, and Chuck and Barley stood frozen, trapped between the pull of fate and the uncertainty of the past.

Photo by: Timothy Chan on Unsplash