The astronaut sits waiting for a different type of spaceship, quietly looking around, but no longer anxious. He was afraid a few days before when the men in black suits told him that he would be off soon, going way beyond. TBC….
He had cut his hair, but he was hoping when he finally made it there, maybe they would still have good music, Hendrix, the Beatles. It was good he hadn’t gotten married, perhaps that’s why the picked him. Less baggage… for even if he did return, if it was possible, what if something went awry and he ended up coming back in 1984 and missing the rest of the 60s altogether? Oh yes, there was something happening here…
When he did get there, he was to learn; learn about the future of nuclear power, scientific tests, the existence of other beings. Was that what the woman was who came to him in a dream? Short, jagged hair, one side purple, a ring in her nose, talking with something in her ear while behind her a razor, thin television blared color graphs and symbols. Where was she from?
No need to worry why he was chosen, no need to worry about his aging parents. His cat, Charlie, though, he would miss. Memories like old school routines, bomb drills, lunch boxes, had the bomb gone off where he was going? Missing people – would Susie Duravitz and Any Smythe show up there – that place of the future. Would mysteries he know be solved?
He wanted to call Francine, but he wouldn’t she was so happy right now – she had gotten a call that the
marcasite necklace she had put into storage and forgot about years ago was now worth 30K…unbelievable…she wouldn’t need him anymore – she could buy her own spaceship now.
“Are you ready?” asked Phillip Teagram of the head crew.
“Yes,” the astronaut answered and looked around once more…