Just before Christmas I read this article about a European robot that had been sent to Mars but had failed to send any messages back. Perhaps it had been destroyed, they claimed to have spotted its wreckage from space, or maybe it was fed up of its human masters, who knows. Then I read about another satelite which has made it to the farthest reaches of our solar system with only half its communication system working. It struck me that it might be a good idea to send a human being out there. This got me thinking about Star Trek and the like which rely heavily on the ability to travel at light speed. Light speed will of course enable us to travel very fast and get far away very quickly. But of course the universe is a very large place and to fully explore it someone has to be prepared to just go and never come back. This reminded me of the great Irish diaspora, mothers waving farewell to their children knowing they will never see them again. And then I came across this Newsletter Home for Cal Parents and I was struck by this quote

"Although he achieved his goal of becoming an astronaut, the path he took was one he couldn’t have imagined, Walheim told the audience at Zellerbach Playhouse. “As you graduate, you are starting your own great adventure. My story shows that persistence can be more important than the path you take.”

Well with a bit of Sigur Ros' Takk and a light beer I wrote The Voyage. If you like it please feel free to download the pdf. Oh and please, leave a comment.

On Jack Burgess’s last day on earth he had a light breakfast. It was as much as he could do to eat, as he was suffering from horrific nerves. He poured himself a coffee knowing that this would be his last cup of fresh coffee ever. It fell into his cup thick and black into which he poured fresh milk as was his custom. He took a sip and celebrated the fact that it was just right, as if he was in a fairytale. He then tasted from a glass of fresh chilled orange juice, he particularly favoured the juicy bits for they reminded him how once the orange had been whole and how it was an object which had not been manufactured. Capturing a glimpse of himself in the shiny surface of his butter knife, he marvelled at evolution. He marvelled as he was going because ultimately a machine is unreliable.

Jack looked out of his window and saw an orchard which gave way to fields. The sun was shining, which seemed fitting as this was his last day. He opened the window and let the fresh air hit his lungs like electricity. His eyes were enlightened by the sharpness of the suns rays. He marvelled as the breeze swayed the branches of the trees ahead into a fond farewell. He was grateful for this, as this was what he had hoped for, because he was shooting off into the great unknown, knowing that he would never return.

When he had finished this memorable breakfast his entire family were waiting for him. It is probably fair to say that Jack Burgess found this part of his farewell the most difficult. He loved his wife and his children more than anything. It is unusual to think that he had been selected for this mission as many would think that it would be better to send someone without a family. Jack had wanted the job, don’t get me wrong, every venture into space is fought for, it is a golden opportunity, it stands one out from the crowd, you become a part of a very small and select club. Even so, it could be regarded as unfair to send a man who is in the family way. The truth is that they simply wanted some one who was balanced for the job. Jack Burgess had all the essential qualities, but most importantly he had something to live for.

His mother, who was broken on the inside, put a brave face on it all. She did it for him, but when she held him she couldn’t let him go. She held him hard, with her whole body. She wasn’t in the prime of her life, but for those moments, she became her young self. Her only son had this power to rejuvenate her, every success of his gave meaning to her life. As he held her Jack Burgess felt as if their two hearts extended their reach through the bars of their rib cages. The effort brought tears to both their eyes. What he wouldn’t know was that after leaving him she would collapse. Unable to move she would spend the rest of her days in immense sorrow. At night she would ask to be wheeled out so that she could look out into the face of eternity to try and catch sight of his minute, silver form shooting through space at some unbelievable speed. He would never know this because when ever she would speak to him, over the radio on special days like Christmas, she would pretend to be strong for him.

His father looked at his son. Jack was taller than he had been. The resemblance, however, was uncanny. He was like a larger perfect cast of himself, as if with each generation of his family they had grown in stature and standing, that every living and breathing moment of each of their lives had apexed to this point. Unfortunately, he too felt as though he was being ripped on the inside and he desperately wanted to replace his son with himself. This was no life, he thought, for a young man in his prime. He looked into the eyes of his son and sensed the fear and trepidation in them. It was a fear that soldiers have when they go into some desperate situation not knowing whether this was their last day. Jack, of course, knew that this was.

Jack’s two children were very excited because their father was going to shoot up into space in a rocket. He was going to go to places that our species have only dreamed about visiting. He was going to look out of his window and watch the earth grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared. They did not know that as this happened so too would disappear their memory of him. He was about to, quite literary, become a legend, a text book hero. In future years someone would interview them and ask what he was like. The process of forgetting would be in its advance stages at this point but they would try their best, but in truth they would rely on the stories of him that their mother had told them. When they were middle aged they were to re-read what they had said when they were teenagers in the hope that their words would spark their memories more than the faded photographs.

Some would say that it was hardest on his wife because she had invested everything in her love for the brave Jack Burgess. They were teenage sweethearts. She had supported him enabling him to succeed at everything he undertook. She was there when he felt unable to rise to the challenge, it was her gentle words that had raised him up. When he had wanted to give up, it was she that drove him on. She knew that if he had failed to rise to this great pinnacle of life he would have judged his existence a failure, she would not have been able to bear that. In short, she had been strong for him, and he for her. Their greatest quality was their ability to dream together. Together their dreams would always become reality.

It is true that they argued. Once or twice they fought so hard neither of them believed that the wounds would heal, but heal they did because to part would have killed them both. And here they were preparing for a separation on which had been heaped so many people’s dreams. She was unable to fully comprehend the reality of the increasing distance that would stretch between them, it was mind boggling.

After his final and sad farewells, he kissed his children, wanting so badly to just hold them forever. They were too busy playing to be clutched for too long. His entire family watched him through a mist of tears as he made his way via bus to the launch pad. Ordinarily, an astronaut would spend the last night before a voyage at the station, but because this was his final night on earth, Jack Burgess had been given a special dispensation. On arrival Jack Burgess check in his belongings, a handful of photos, some toys from the children and so on. He said hello and goodbye to the staff who then formed a line to cheer him on and wave him bon voyage. He was fitted into his space suit, before being lead down a gang plank to be strapped into the small container which was to be his home for the remainder of his days. This process, it must be added, was uncomfortable and because of the various checks it took some seven hours. He was exhausted, if not a little excited, when finally the count down began.

Thankfully the launch was uneventful. After the buffeting of the take off Jack proceeded to make sure that his vessel was all ship shape before relaxing before the view of his former home from space.

On earth his face appeared in the papers for a few days. In time he would appear frequently to mark like chapters the distances he would achieve. He was, of course, in regular contact with the technicians on earth, his family on feast days and other special occasions such as giving his daughter away on her wedding day. Until one day, after many years had passed, his radio would fail. He had been sent on this mission because a human is more capable of thinking on their feet and thus are better able to remedy such situations. On the morning of the 24th July it would come to someone’s attention that his ship had simply vanished. There was a brief panic until it was established that there was nothing to be done. Jack Burgess had well and truly vanished into the great unknown.

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