Crunch: The Astronaut
Writing Exercise #4
I’m late! Sorry. I spent my last-minute-writing-time working on a post about Worldbuilding. I hope you enjoy this little ditty, despite it’s lateness!
If you have ideas for Prompts, Crunches, Sprints, Relays, Stretches, Fables, or other writing exercises in the future, please leave them in the comments! If you would like to write your own take for this exercise, please comment with a link so that I can see what you wrote and support your work, maybe even share your version with my subscribers. Please let me know if you have any thoughts, comments, or constructive criticisms as well!
Enjoy!
Crunch: Go To Space
“Go to space” they said.
I laughed. “Go to space.”
Like you can just…go. Wake up one morning and decide.
“Go to space.”
They don’t know what’s in space. They don’t know the work it takes to get to space. They don’t know the danger. If they did, they wouldn’t say “go to space” so flippantly. They would say, “Go visit your mom” or “let’s grab coffee.”
But noooo. They said “Go to space.”
And you know what? I went. I went to space. I’ve been there. I’m there right now. I’m strapped into this tin can, a bullet with human accommodations built in as an afterthought, with enough explosives to destroy a few city blocks—I’m riding this god-foresaken bullet back from the moon.
I shudder to think. The moon.
Everyone wants to go to the moon.
What if we weren’t made for the stars?1 Maybe life would be better kicking around on a piece of ground in our home town2.
No, everyone wants to go to space.
They don’t know what I know. I hit the NOPE button, I rendezvoused with an empty module myself. I planned the re-entry burn, I set the trajectory, flying in the face of convention and protocol. I did it all myself.
I came back from space. I’m never going back.
No one can make me. I’m going to visit my mom. I’m going to grab coffee. I’m going to touch some grass. Why would I do such a thing?
Moon’s haunted.
(249 words )
Talk to me!
Your feedback helps to improve my writing. I would really appreciate a comment on your thoughts on this writing exercise. Consider telling me your thoughts about:
Do you want to go to space?
What is the best thing about staying here on earth?
What’s your “play it cool” coffee order, and what’s your “I’m being extra because I’m gonna treat myself” coffee order?
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy! Come back next week for another writing exercise!
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Thank you and God bless!
1. I'm with Redd: when it's as safe as it looks on Star Trek, then maybe. Even then, I don't know: C.S. Lewis had interesting thoughts on that.
2. Well, the air is nice. Also if you get into trouble usually there's someone around to help unless you've gone off into the desert or out to sea or some such place. After reading "The Cold Equations" and especially with having a medically complex child, and with my own issues, I appreciate that rather more. than I did when I was young and didn't have to reckon with adult issues.
3. I... really don't drink coffee, alas. I will say, my go to soft drink order is usually a Mountain Dew or Mello Yello, maybe a Sprite, but sometimes I get in a mood and I want a milkshake. I have to be in a specific mood for a milkshake, like from Arbys or White Castle or something. I don't know why.
The moon is haunted?!