>>>~~~~<<<
Alan laid back in his bunk and glanced out the window, and a view of endless space filled his vision. The infinite expanse of celestial bodies would be a wonderous sight if he had not seen it every day for the past five years. He longed to see the outline of his home planet in the distance; its vast oceans, monolithic mountains, and boundless cityscapes. In fact, Alan craved to see any similar world up close. It had been far too long since the last time.
Alan sighed and curled up under the thin covers. It was late (not that time had much meaning out in the middle of space), and nobody was going to bother him. He still had work to do, technically, but that could be saved for whenever. It’s not like anyone would notice.
“I wonder what the captain is thinking right now,” he muttered as he looked at his nightstand. Well, it wasn’t exactly “his” nightstand, he was supposed to share it with his bunkmate, but the other man didn’t have much to display anymore. Nobody did. Even Alan only had a single picture frame of him at home with his family and girlfriend. He remembered being so proud to pose for that photo in his uniform. Yet, the memory was foggy. It felt like it occurred over ten years ago, even though it hadn’t been more than six.
“I have my food allocated for the week,” Alan found himself thinking, “but what about the next? No, it’s too soon to think about that.” The man tried to force himself to sleep, but his mind drifted to all his actions and preparations over the previous day (not that there were days in space). After assuring himself that he had done everything that needed to be done, with the only thing left being that one bit of work nobody cared about, Alan finally relaxed.
“How much longer, I wonder?” Alan idly thought. A sound echoed from the hallway as another light fizzled out. Did it break? Was it merely in need of a replacement part? Or did the ship just not have the power to keep it on? Regardless, “Great, more work for me tomorrow,” Alan groaned.
The whole ship creaked and wheezed as though it were a massive beast having taken ill. The startling sounds did little to disturb Alan; he had heard them too many times to care. Instead, he pulled his tiny pillow over his head and tried his best to ignore the noise.
‘Home, maybe one day. If not, maybe a new home,’ Alan thought as he drifted to sleep. ‘As if,’ he added before finally slipping into dreams. The ship continued to creak and groan as it sputtered along. The ancient piece of machinery barely looked sea-worthy, let alone space ready. Yet, Alan didn’t mind, as he needed sleep for tomorrow. The man had work to do, for what little it was worth, for what few people remained to care.
>>>~~~~<<<
To be forever homeward bound, yet without a home to return to...I could imagine few things that could be worse for the soul...
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment