The gentle breeze whispered through our hair as the sun hung low in the sky on this early Spring afternoon. The sun was still rising in the sky, resulting in a purple and orange gradient that looked too incredible to peel my eyes away from. And yet I barely managed to, as my wife was standing before me.
We stood outside of the offices of NASA, a large space shuttle visibly revealing itself from the back of the building. The same space ship that my woman was about to ride up in. I held her close, not wanting for her to leave. But her team was unfortunately going to have to tear us apart for the next few months.
I let her go, her arms still wrapped around me. She looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes. We kissed each other and said our goodbyes before two men came out of the building and picked up her bags from the ground. She grabbed the last one and waved at me before disappearing behind the front doors.
***
Returning home, I changed the tv channel over to NASA so that I could watch the ship that my wife was on launch as she took off into space.
"3..." announced a man. The image of smoke and flames beginning to shoot out from the rockets beneath the space craft.
"2..." more spoke billowed out, covering the entire bottom half of the space ship.
"1..." the space craft began to move up from the ground, the beams holding up now falling away.
"Houston, we have lift-off," the voice announced as the camera angle changed, now showing the space ship from below as it ascended into the sky. I waved to the screen, not knowing it would be the last time...
***
My alarm blared, waking me from another nightmare. Lately I'd been dreaming about my wife, about something horrible that might have happened to her in space. Every night its different. Sometimes its as horrific as the space ship she was in exploding as it left the Earth's atmosphere. Other times it's more satirical, like a giant spider chasing her down the corridors of the space station. Of course, tonight was no different. In last night's dream she was a zombie, infected by some twisted space virus.
I gazed out the window as my coffee brewed in the kitchen. The snow was still falling as the mountains of snow outside only seemed to grow taller, making the roads almost invisible.
It had been 9 months since my wife had left to go to space. I thought her mission was done and over with by now. I kept trying to call the NASA offices to try to get any kind of update, but once I bring up my wife's name I don't get any replies besides a hang-up.
But I've had enough. Today was the day I'd go down there. I was going to find out anything and everything I could about my wife. I needed answers.
***
I walked through the doors, greeted by no one. The halls were bare, safe for a single light shining above a double-door room that looked incredibly official. I marched in there and was surprised by all the screens that lined the walls, all the desks with computers that looked far more complicated than I was used to, people running about. And there was one man in a suit and tie who stood in the very back of the room, his back to me.
I tapped him on the shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned around.
"Who are you," he demanded. "How did you get in here?"
"I'm Catherine Penny's husband," I explained. "And I wanna know why I haven't received any update about my wife."
There were guards approaching me, but the man in the suit called them off.
He cleared his throat. "I guess I owe you an explanation. You see, a while back, just shortly after we successfully launched her into space to make contact with the space station, something malfunctioned with the space craft she was in. The readings were unstable and off the charts. We'd never seen anything like it. Shortly after, the space craft exploded, taking your wife with it."
Tears welled in my eyes as he spoke. I turned my gaze from him to the screens. I couldn't believe it. My wife was gone. Just like that. A simple malfunction took her life, stole her from me. It was too soon. We were expecting kids. We were supposed to build a family, but now she was gone...
The man in the suit was about to say something else but he was interrupted by one of the guys on the computers down below. "Uhh sir, you're going to want to see this."
An image shot up to the screens, along with a voice.
The video feed showed the inside of the space station, the camera tilted upward to the glass paneling overlooking the space station. There was something on top of it. Punching it.
"Can we get a close up of that thing?" the man in the suit demanded.
The feed zoomed in, enhanced the feed, and I was in shock. It was my wife. But her face... it was all blue and puffy. And chunks of her skin was missing, revealing rotten flesh underneath.
The audio coming in was of people screaming as my seemingly undead wife was beating the glass harder. It began to crack. Then, she fell through. And all the air was sucked out like a vacuum, instantly killing everyone inside...
We stood outside of the offices of NASA, a large space shuttle visibly revealing itself from the back of the building. The same space ship that my woman was about to ride up in. I held her close, not wanting for her to leave. But her team was unfortunately going to have to tear us apart for the next few months.
I let her go, her arms still wrapped around me. She looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes. We kissed each other and said our goodbyes before two men came out of the building and picked up her bags from the ground. She grabbed the last one and waved at me before disappearing behind the front doors.
***
Returning home, I changed the tv channel over to NASA so that I could watch the ship that my wife was on launch as she took off into space.
"3..." announced a man. The image of smoke and flames beginning to shoot out from the rockets beneath the space craft.
"2..." more spoke billowed out, covering the entire bottom half of the space ship.
"1..." the space craft began to move up from the ground, the beams holding up now falling away.
"Houston, we have lift-off," the voice announced as the camera angle changed, now showing the space ship from below as it ascended into the sky. I waved to the screen, not knowing it would be the last time...
***
My alarm blared, waking me from another nightmare. Lately I'd been dreaming about my wife, about something horrible that might have happened to her in space. Every night its different. Sometimes its as horrific as the space ship she was in exploding as it left the Earth's atmosphere. Other times it's more satirical, like a giant spider chasing her down the corridors of the space station. Of course, tonight was no different. In last night's dream she was a zombie, infected by some twisted space virus.
I gazed out the window as my coffee brewed in the kitchen. The snow was still falling as the mountains of snow outside only seemed to grow taller, making the roads almost invisible.
It had been 9 months since my wife had left to go to space. I thought her mission was done and over with by now. I kept trying to call the NASA offices to try to get any kind of update, but once I bring up my wife's name I don't get any replies besides a hang-up.
But I've had enough. Today was the day I'd go down there. I was going to find out anything and everything I could about my wife. I needed answers.
***
I walked through the doors, greeted by no one. The halls were bare, safe for a single light shining above a double-door room that looked incredibly official. I marched in there and was surprised by all the screens that lined the walls, all the desks with computers that looked far more complicated than I was used to, people running about. And there was one man in a suit and tie who stood in the very back of the room, his back to me.
I tapped him on the shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned around.
"Who are you," he demanded. "How did you get in here?"
"I'm Catherine Penny's husband," I explained. "And I wanna know why I haven't received any update about my wife."
There were guards approaching me, but the man in the suit called them off.
He cleared his throat. "I guess I owe you an explanation. You see, a while back, just shortly after we successfully launched her into space to make contact with the space station, something malfunctioned with the space craft she was in. The readings were unstable and off the charts. We'd never seen anything like it. Shortly after, the space craft exploded, taking your wife with it."
Tears welled in my eyes as he spoke. I turned my gaze from him to the screens. I couldn't believe it. My wife was gone. Just like that. A simple malfunction took her life, stole her from me. It was too soon. We were expecting kids. We were supposed to build a family, but now she was gone...
The man in the suit was about to say something else but he was interrupted by one of the guys on the computers down below. "Uhh sir, you're going to want to see this."
An image shot up to the screens, along with a voice.
The video feed showed the inside of the space station, the camera tilted upward to the glass paneling overlooking the space station. There was something on top of it. Punching it.
"Can we get a close up of that thing?" the man in the suit demanded.
The feed zoomed in, enhanced the feed, and I was in shock. It was my wife. But her face... it was all blue and puffy. And chunks of her skin was missing, revealing rotten flesh underneath.
The audio coming in was of people screaming as my seemingly undead wife was beating the glass harder. It began to crack. Then, she fell through. And all the air was sucked out like a vacuum, instantly killing everyone inside...
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