The people of my kind cast me out. They shut me in my metal coffin and launched me into the stars, heading far away. They made it clear that they never wanted to see me again.
All because I'm different. And they claimed to "accept others' differences".
I have been adrift for so long, I have forgotten what it's like to not be locked in my ship. I have forgotten what it's like to be somewhat normal; to have friends, to be free.
To fit in.
The stars and planets fly past my windows, taunting me. They seem to know that I can never leave my prison, that I'll never be able to land. Even if I could, I'd still be in a foreign world. I still wouldn't belong.
Others have joined me, climbing in through the airlock and staying for a while. For a while, I have company, someone to talk about my hopes and fears. Someone to lean on.
But they always depart, leaving me trapped within, alone and heartbroken. I understand why they leave; my space ship and I get awful boring, and there are better things out in the universe.
My body, mind, and soul ache for a companion. But most of the time, it's just me and my thoughts. My wild, twisted thoughts that seem to consume me and the ship in a blanket of fantasy and longing.
They're the result of my isolation from everyone, my self-knowledge that I'll never quite fit in anywhere. If I couldn't even fit in on my home planet, where else would I fit in? And those thoughts always leave me yearning for more than this life.
I want something, maybe even someone, to break me free. Once I'm free, maybe something, maybe even someone, would take me away, to a place where I belong. A place where there are others like me, where I'm considered to be quite normal.
Perhaps these fantasies only exist in my imagination, but I hope with all my soul that one day, they will come true. A whisper in the back of my mind tells me that a place of belonging would never exist, that I'm too different for the entire universe, but I ignore it, though I know it's true.
Everyday is a battle in my mind, one side fighting for my imagination and hope, and the other fighting to ruin that, but the truth remains.
The paradise within my mind is a lie, but hey, there's nothing wrong with a little hope.
And despite everything, despite my isolation and loneliness, despite my troubled self, there's you.
You have been following my ship for a long time, always a bit behind me, like you're watching my back (both literally and figuratively). I know you're a benevolent presence; you could have destroyed me long ago but you haven't.
Even as my ship drifted through a field of asteroids, me being powerless to stop it, you still followed. Even as everyone left, you remained.
So this is it. This is my way of reaching out to you.
If you can hear this message, please. Please communicate with me somehow. Heck, board my ship if you want to. I'm curious about you, and I'm sure you're curious about me as well.
We've already gone so far with each other. Maybe we could go further, together.
I wonder if you're a pariah like me, someone also rejected by the universe due to their oddities. Or maybe you're quite normal for your species, and somehow you have an interest in me.
Life out here may suck, but we keep ourselves company. No matter what, we'll always have each other. We should be friends, best friends, perhaps more.
Perhaps we can wander through the void together.
Perhaps we can talk about our impossible hopes together. I'd feel less insane, knowing somebody else also wishes the improbable.
Perhaps you can be the one that frees me, whether it be from this space craft or my isolation.
Perhaps you can stay with me forever.
So, please. If you can hear me and understand me, please answer me.
I'm ready to meet you.
