I am alone, and I am going to die up here.
I check the on board oxygen sensors one last time, to make sure that they were not malfunctioning. They all said the same from sentence. "10 minutes of oxygen left on board".
The air regulation systems started going haywire right after the emergency landing, if you can call it a landing, on Mars.
Moving to the front of the rocket, I sent a message to ground control.
"Astronaut Tom Major reporting in- crash landed on Mars. Crew perished. "
Noticing something to my right, I look and see that the message on the oxygen sensor has changed from ten minutes, down to eight. I keep typing.
"Original mission aborted. Oxygen systems failing."
Pausing for a moment to think about what to say next, I notice my breaths getting faster, and shallower. 7 minutes left.
I press send, knowing that by the time ground control receives this note, I will not be among the living. My eyes start watering as I think about how I'll never get to see my wife smile again, see my daughter's eyes shine brightly when she reads a book to me, or tuck my son into bed again. A tune starts playing softly in my head, but I cannot think of what it is. 6 minutes left.
I turn back to the keyboard.
"6 minutes of oxygen left, approximately two before I am unconscious."
Send.
The song in my head keeps growing louder, and I can fairly distinguish the lyrics "This is Ground Control to Major Tom"
"I am sorry for not being able to complete my mission, as promised. I will not be returning. Tell my wife I love her very much."
Send .
Looking up, I notice the display change to say 5 minutes.
I don't want to end like this.
Feeling extremely light headed, I stumble out of the flight deck, and into the main body of the ship. Twisting open a turn handle, I step into a small room. I feel my eyes start to water, as I pull a picture of my family from my pocket. I barely distinguish their faces, and all of their smiles from the light on the small screen that says "Open air lock?"
The song in my head gets louder, and I can make out some words as my vision slowly darkens.
Here am I floating
round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do.
I smile, close my eyes and press "Yes"
Prompt: Write from the Point of View of an astronaut who only has 10 min of oxygen left.
Video above is "Space oddity" by David Bowie.
YOU ARE READING
Dream writer
ActionFor all skills, one has to start somewhere. This is my beginning. This is a series of short stories, usually from song lyrics, sometimes from the people I meet and (should I run out of ideas) prompts from Pinterest. There is a common theme and...
