Author: Sasha Kasper
As the blaring siren assaults my eardrums, it becomes increasingly harder to deny my rapid descent. I float directionless through the cockpit. Up, down, left, right, have lost all meaning. The notion of gravity seems to me a cruel joke, of which the punchline will be my demise.
The tempered glass of the porthole window separates me from certain death by either asphyxiation or incineration. It also allows me to see the beautiful picture I am painting in the sky with my last moments.
Streaks of scarlet lick the side of the ship, fluttering like ribbons as I fall further into the atmosphere. The hull bends and breaks at odd angles, creating a cutting-edge abstract sculpture. The ephemeral beauty is tantalizing, yet does nothing to stop my transition from the inky blackness of space towards unforgiving terra firma.
When I was a boy, I dreamed of becoming an astronaut. My father constructed a rocket of cardboard boxes and sheet metal in the backyard, and every day held a new planet to discover. Nestled under the comforting shade of our weeping willow tree, I could go to Mars, Venus or Jupiter, and still be back in time for dinner.
In my teenage years we packed up and moved to a more urban environment. Our house was sold to an expanding corporation and we took the profits without looking back. The fates of my rocket and willow tree are unclear, but a grainy recollection of the solace they provided me is permanently fixed in my mind.
The siren suddenly ceases as the power finally gives out. I don’t know which was worse, the urgency of the alert or the deadly silence it’s been replaced by. At least with a siren one feels spurred into action, that there must be something that can be done to prevent disaster. Silence is far less forgiving. All that is left to do is accept fate, or reject it right to the explosive end. I choose to enjoy the ride rather than fight it. It’s a beautiful way down to the planet I love.
Birds flutter and entwine as they hop from branch to branch on a warm summer day. Fountains spray their refreshing mist, filling a basin for children to race their balsam sailboats in. Elderly couples recline with visors, basking in the sunlight and savoring their last stage of life. I intend to do just the same.
If any of them chance to look to the stars, they’ll see me writing my final poem across the heavens.
Myself, I’ve grown tired of the stars. I look down, through the porthole, to the luscious planet coming up to embrace me in her arms. I see a bed of wheatgrass flowing wistfully in a vibrant field, inviting me to take my final slumber among its proud stalks.
The fire begins to breach the hull. I feel myself fading, the smoke mounting to my head. Just before I lose consciousness I could swear that I spy scrap metal glinting from a clearing in the field. My eyelids droop woozily, and in my last moment of clarity I see the weeping willow tree majestically swaying, using its tendrils to guard the little tin rocketeer throughout his adventures through the cosmos.