Now, it had to be now. I knew the risks that came with my dream to travel the stars. But, this opportunity would never come again.
Decades of my life I had poured into this project that I knew would never return to me. I will blaze a trail throughout the stars with this rocket. That is the only thought in my mind at that moment, and it’s the only one that mattered.
I strapped myself into my seat and waited for the countdown for takeoff. Before any numbers are stated, my mind began to drift off to a distant memory. It was fuzzy and vague, but felt so nostalgic, like returning home after traveling the world.
In the dream, there was a young boy stargazing late at night. I seemed to know this boy all too well. He had a dream to travel the cosmos and leave his world behind. The boy turned his head in my direction, but his gaze seemed to be looking through me.
As I reached out to him to tell someone is about to make his dream come true, my body became static. My arms and legs were restricted. I seemingly drifted away from the boy as my mind returned to my body, back in reality.
My eyes jolted open as the bleeding sound of emergency alarms were ringing all around. My co-pilot and I leaped out of our seats, scrummaging around in a panic to try to find the issue. All our systems were shutting down. We had no electricity and no way to contact our command center.
We were on our own.
This couldn’t be happening. I worked my whole life for that very moment, and just as I got within reach, it just got further and further away. I went into a state of hysteria, laughing my head off as I dashed around the control area, trying to find something, anything that could resolve the situation.
I could feel my heart racing, and my vision started to blur. I guess that boy’s dream will only stay a dream.
I heard a slap and felt a sudden burning sensation on my cheek. My vision returned to me as a figure came into view. It’s my co-pilot. Without muttering a sound, he told me all I needed to know. My thoughts were finally back in line. We got back to searching.
I noticed a spark coming from the fuse box. One wrong move, and this rocket would have been burned to ashes. Although I knew what was at stake, I felt calm and my body seemed to be moving on its own. One after the other, I clicked the new wires in. As the last one slotted in, a bright light enveloped the blood-red alarms and left my body senseless.
My mind once again drifted off and I met the boy one last time. This time, my body drifted towards him like flowing down a river. Our fingers touched. I, smiled and he smiled back as he drifted away.
Leaving nothing but a memory.