Short Stories Galore

Planet Earth (Spiritual)

It was silent out here as I drifted along, aimlessly. There was a strange sense of beauty in the nothingness and I wondered how long I’d been here. Days? Months? Years? The last thing I could remember was the satellite that we were working on being punctured by shooting debris. It had been total chaos; killing objects hurtling towards us at thousands of kilometres per hour, the silent screams of my partners, my friends as they died or were forced into deep space, like I had been.

There had been so much blood and…I got lost. Stranded. And now I had no way of getting back.

My breath was coming out in short gasps and I forced myself to stay calm, to reserve the limited oxygen that I clung to.

Once I had control over my breathing, I observed my surroundings. There was nothing in my immediate vicinity, but there was an odd ball of blue light, not far from me, that was steadily growing closer.

I drifted for a few more hours, the object becoming larger and larger and then, I realised what it was. A strange sense of disbelief and trepidation overcame me. 

It was beautiful, I had to admit. I could see the atmosphere swirling and dancing on the surface, light grey clouds visible, even from here. A small smile forced itself onto my face. This was something I never thought I would get to see.

I tried to focus on the sight below me, ignoring the crushing silence pounding at my eardrums and the slowly depleting oxygen tank. Instead, I let myself become part of the universe, drifting along in infinity.

It was a bizarre feeling. Almost surreal, almost like an out-of-body experience. I felt miniscule, insignificant. It suddenly hit me that mankind truly wasn’t the centre of the universe. Out here, we were nothing. Just another blip on the map. There were far bigger and more powerful things at work than just our species and that was an extremely confronting notion.

Despite this knowledge, I still had a strong desire to be down there with my mother and sister, eating and playing without a worry in the world. I wanted to be surrounded by people and revel in the closeness that humanity can bring, chasing away the inevitable fear of being alone. Anything but this crushing emptiness that I was experiencing now. I wanted to feel safe and down there, was the only place that could bring that warmth and comfort. Down there, I felt wanted, loved, a part of something.

It was our planet. It was Earth. It was home.