Finished in August 2017

The Last Look

By Zac Langridge

The shuttle rose up above the tarmac of the launch-pad, a large dark pillar lit up by many floodlights. The sight was eerie and strangely futuristic, made all the more stark by the darkening sky.
Feeling sick and unsteady, Nicholas swallowed as he made his way across the pad to the shuttle. His heart was screaming at him, thudding in his chest like a warning alarm. He could feel his body, under the reasonably thin uniform, drenched in sweat. It was too shadowy to see what he looked like, but if he could see his hands, he imagined his flesh would’ve looked sickeningly pale.

Walking across the launch pad had seemed so simple years ago. When Nicholas had seen previous missions, astronauts had waked to the shuttle without hesitation, unflinching. Nicholas had longed to be in their place. Now he was here, he knew how they would’ve felt.
He stared up at the rocket, with it’s huge boosters and the tall orange fuel tank. He’d seen things like that before, years before - on TV, in cinema, on documentaries, and finally, in person. They were tremendous feats of engineering, strong and proud, designed to protect those who rode into oblivion inside them. They were just like in movies. Sleek, impressive structures that made you stand back in awe. Now, this rocket in front of Nicholas felt like a (possible) tomb.

He was at the retractable ramp which led into the ship. Here it was. I’m here! I’m here! I am here! Nicholas felt like his brain was about to implode. All his life he’d wanted to be in this position, and voila! Here he was! And now that he was here he wanted to throw up, cry, cheer and run away all at once. His mind was filled with visions of endless universe. Billions of shimmering stars. Globules of rock and gas as planets. The black holes, nebulae - everything he’d wanted to see…..
Nicholas took a breath, and halfway up the ramp he stopped. He looked up at the dark violet sky - up at the endless void where he was about to head into. The sun had sunk below the horizon at least half-an-hour ago, and the sky was painted with a ribbon of deep red at the horizon, which faded into a milky blue and then a dark inky black. All his life he’d been living under this gorgeous veil of life, and he’d never appreciated ever as much as he did now. In the distance at the edge of the concrete was a thin strip of green, trees silhouetted against the redness. A few lights in the distance. Nothing else.

Nicholas took the deepest breath he’d ever taken before. Then another. And another. I’m ready for this! I’m ready to go up. But was he ready to leave? Was he really ready to leave?
Yes. No Yes. No! Yes!
One last breath, and Nicholas walked back. Literally; he started walking backwards up the ramp. Getting closer to the rocket. To his portal away from home and into the universe. His whole body trembling, he reached the top of the ramp and stepped into the doorway. He was now inside the shuttle.
But he kept his eyes on the horizon. The darkening sky, the strip of fading sunlight, the concrete, greenery, lights…..Earth.
Then the door hummed closed and locked securely.

THE END