Story Acceptance!
I received some great news in my inbox last night. Editor of the Piker Press Sand Pilarski accepted my latest science fiction story, “A Funeral.” Despite the somber-sounding title, I consider it one of the more humorous stories I’ve ever written. I’m glad I’ll get to share this piece with an audience in just a few months.
That said, I have a similar (but more much serious) story that never found a home. I’m using this occasion to share it with you. Enjoy!
Et Sic Efficimur Astra
By Thomas Broderick
“Daddy, is working in space scary?”
Michelle asked me that question . . . God . . . was it really twenty-five years ago? She was four, and I had just returned home from a three-month rotation overseeing the cleanup of a Kessler syndrome event. Those were back in the days when, well, anyway . . .
I could have talked about the dangers of working in a literal shooting gallery, the hours I spent in the reinforced emergency pod when things got really hairy, the time a piece of shrapnel going ten times faster than any bullet grazed my suit during an EVA. But, no, I didn’t tell her about any of those horrors.
This is what I said.
“It’s sometimes pretty scary,” I told her. “But I know that if anything bad happened to me, I’d become a star in the sky. No matter what, you and Mom would always be able to look up at night and see me. I’d never leave you, you know.”
What she said next broke my heart. “Nick and Kelly’s dad, he’s a star now?”
Nick and Kelly’s dad was David Ellis. He died in a debris storm only a month before. There was . . . there was nothing left of him to bring home. There never is. The memories of his death flooding my mind, I bit my lip and replied, “Yes, baby, he’s a star now.” I can’t describe to you all how close I was to tears at that moment.
That seemed to satisfy her, and from that day on, she was always the one to comfort my wife when I left for a mission. “We’ll see daddy again,” she would whisper to Bethany. “No matter what.”
I was conflicted when Michelle decided to follow in my footsteps. Yes, low Earth orbit was becoming a safer place by the day. Still . . . Bethany and I had our reservations. But, you know, who were we to stifle her passionate intelligence? Michelle was going to do what she did probably no matter what I told that day so long ago.
You might wonder if I regret saying those things to her, all . . . all things considered. But, no, I don’t. She saved three people. They’re here today. Chuck, James, Nicole, would you please stand up for everyone? Thank you. I know that Michelle would have done the same thing if asked again, done it a million times. That’s just who she was. It’s okay. It’s okay.
I’ve gone on long enough, but I have one final request for everyone here. The forecast for tonight is clear skies. At home, just before you go to bed, please go outside and look up at the sky. Say hello to Michelle, because, because. . .
My baby’s a star now.
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