Rocket Man
“Are you good sir?”
“Yes”
“Check all his vitals one more time”
The men looked at the monitors, he double checked all the probes.
“Everything is clear, he’s good for launch”
“One thing, could you give this to my wife?”
It was a letter, tightly folded. He had a hard time explaining all of this. Space. Space was where he wanted to be, where he belonged. Among the stars, weightless. Not forever, just for a time and letter explained it.
Some would say he was selfish. Some would say that he was only doing his best to do what so many do not, to live out his deepest dream.
“You’re all checked sir. I will give the letter to your wife, she’s just inside with your daughters.”
“Thank you” He smiled, he was ready.]
Through the headset his head pounded with the drumming of his nervous heartbeat. He thought his heart would explode, he had waited so long for this.
The dream began when he was a child. Unlike most childhood dreams, he had held on to this one. He held on to it for a long time. Through the jokes. Through the doubts. Not serious jokes and only jealous doubts, but they had always challenged him. His friends always wondered about him. He was nice but he was quiet. The teachers all knew he was smart. Not the smartest at learning “school things”, but certainly the smartest at figuring things out.
He had figured out a way to get himself on that rocket. It was not a new rocket, it was average at best, but it had a new paint job. He was exhilarated that this rocket would finally take him to space. He did not know the rocket was not designed to come back. None of that mattered, he was going to live his dream. He was going to space.
He thought he would return. That is why he wrote the letter. It told his wife he loved her. It told her he loved their kids. It told them all not to worry. It was all true. It did not have much substance to it.
It did not tell her why he loved her. It did not tell her how he felt when they met. It did not tell her how his life grew when she cornered him with their first kiss It did not tell her about his fears of love when it first happened. It did not tell her the depth of the love he felt for her. It did not tell how proud he was of his children. It did not tell about how he loved them with every bit of his soul. It did not mention his fears of being a father. It did not tell them how much he loved them all.
His dreams had shadowed everything for so long, he had forgot to talk about the other things. He had always just wanted to go to the stars. He would stay up late talking to his wife about it.
“What do you think it would be like?”
“Amazing”
“I think I will be great up there, I could be a legend!”
“Then do it”
They had had this conversation a thousand times through their relationship.
“You’re right”
“I have no doubt you can do it”
“It’s hard to sacrifice everything, to leave this”
“It’s your dream, do it”
These conversations would invigorate him deep in his soul. They would also depress him. Then there was the advertisement.
“Do you dream of a challenging career among the stars in space?”
“Do you want to be a part of modern history?”
“Do you want to be a legend?”
“No need for a background in science or engineering needed! Call now or look us up online.”
He never knew why he did, but he called. His wife supported him. She always did. His children did too, he would be famous.
He loved them.
He now sat in the rocket. It had been a longtime waiting for his dream, and it was now here.
“Anything besides the letter sir?”
“No”
“Good luck sir”
The door was shut. It locked. He was alone. He was nervous, but it was his dream.
His wife watched from the tower. Their children were there too. They wanted to see their daddy become a legend. They could see the men lack the capsule on the top of the big rocket. They felt alone. They felt worry. They felt exited for their dad, he was their hero. It was his dream but they were a part of it.
The men entered the room and sat at their stations, looking at the monitors and screens.
“Everybody check?”
“All systems are a go for launch.”
The kids looked at their mommy.
“look at daddy girls”
“When will he be back?”
“Soon, he’ll be home very soon”
She held back tears, it was his dream.
They all smiled. They loved him.
He sat in his seat, plugged in. The men had put wires everywhere. They monitored everything. They monitored his heartrate. They monitored his blood pressure. They monitored his brain waves. They monitored his oxygen, his waste, his sweat. They monitored everything that made him human, but they could not monitor his thoughts. They could not monitor his dreams.
“Good luck sir”
He nodded his head and the men saluted. As the locks on the hatch turned he felt alone. The only thing he could look at onboard was the clock. He watched and counted seconds that felt like hours. He was more exhilarated than ever before. His dream was here.
His wife watched.
“Ten…nine…eight…seven”
She worried. She knew she may never see him again. Her husband had always been a dreamer. She always encouraged him because he always came back. Her husband was very funny. She knew he would have no one to tell his jokes to in space. He would be alone. She did not like the thought of that. She loved to talk to her husband. They would stay up through the night talking about everything they could imagine. They loved each other.
She loved him.
“6…5…4……..”
The alarm sounded.
He sat in his chair, it seemed normal.
She became alert. Something was wrong.
“FIRE!”
“ALERT”
“ALL HANDS READY!”
“EXPLOSION IMMINENT!”
Their children became scared.
Over the radio she heard his voice
“I love you”
I love you too”
Tears began in her eyes, she would be alone. No more talks. No more jokes. No more would he be there to hold his children.
He looked at the clock. It was slow. He knew it might be all over. All of his dreams, everything he had would be gone. He did not panic. He wanted to be back. Back at the beginning. At that moment when the future was infinite. Now it was here, and it would all be gone. He looked at the clock and waited for the end when it would all go black. He waited for the big nothing to come over him. He loved his family.
She waited and watched the panic on the children’s faces. She watched the urgency of the men trying to save him. She wondered if this really was the end. She felt numb. She loved him.
The men raced with their tools. They raced with all the training that had prepared them for this moment. They were exhilarated. They did not know about the love. They did not care about the dreams. They ran as fast as they could.
One man used a torch to open the hatch door. Another man readied the oxygen, and got the gurney ready. They all realized he was probably gone already. This was their job, they had to do it. At the end of the day they would go home to their wives and children. They knew that there would be another man to get into a rocket.
The bolts came off and the hatch door opened. There was no fire, no smoke.
He saw them come in expecting to see a fire on the outside.
There was nothing. Everything was fine. It was a malfunction.
“I need to see her!”
“Hold tight sir, the wires”
The man unplugged the wires, the tubes, all the things he no longer wanted on his body.
“I need to see my children!”
He ran as fast as he could.
She saw him. She cried. He saw her. He cried. He grabbed her and kissed her. He grabbed his children, he held them both as tightly as he could. He cried, she cried, they all cried together.
As he wept he knew what life truly was. He knew what his dreams really were. To have this. It meant everything to him.
His wife held the letter.
“What does this say? Should I read it?”
“No, not at all”
He told her what should have been in the letter. He told her what he felt. He told her he loved her. He told her that he loved his family. He told her he loved his life.
He held her close, kissed her and told her that he was happy.
Short Stories
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This was such a good story! It was so touching. And I love the use of third person; it really suited this story!