Everything under the sun floats
in a white room with no windows
shapes of spheres and pyramids, shaking
I awoke to my bed-straps, untied
ten feet above the dining room table.
Dear space
“Can you pass me a beer?” Captain Wilkes is lounging under the sun next to me. The sand beneath our chairs is warm and my God! This sand is whiter than I have ever seen! I reach my hand into the warm surface and find the freezing cold sand just beneath. I watch gravity take control of the sand in humble respect as the Captain speaks up.
“What an island, eh? We found it just in time, me and you buddy!” Captain Wilkes says to me nostalgically.
“It definitely is… hey Captain, how did we get here anyhow?” I ask.
“Damnit, Lieutenant! Will you stop thinking for one damn minute and just enjoy the ocean?!”
“Yes sir…” I reply, defeated.
It is a strange island, though. Why, its probably no more than ten paces from one side to the next! Only one tree, right in the middle – leaning to one side, as if its only hope for survival is to reach arms high and get as close to the sun as possible.
The ocean is calm, a nice day for sailing. Speaking of sailing, where is our ship? I definitely don’t remember getting here… but agh – the Captain is right. I should loosen up – my beer is cold and cools my ever-warming body, and with nowhere to go, the ONLY thing we have to do is sit.
Damn it’s hot though. My breath has started to get quick as I feel my skin beginning to tingle with an on-setting sun burn… and its getting worse… ow, my God it’s HOT! I look over at Captain Wilkes and… oh…
“CAPTAIN!” I hear myself scream. “CAPTAIN, NO!” The Captain has been burnt to a shriveled and crumpling sack of bone, mouth and eyes wide open with head cocked backwards, his skin bright red with spots of purple and black. “AHHH! CAPTAIN!! CAPTA—-”
With a jolt, I wake up to the sun blazing in through one of the small circular windows. A dream… my God, it was only a dream. I am strapped to the sad strip of squish that I have no choice but to call a bed. The newer ships have a working gravitational simulator that no-one on this ship has been able to figure out with certainty. Anti-gravity has it’s interesting perks, but after four months of sleeping weightlessly– and five more to go, I can’t wait to feel the pull of gravity again.
Unstrapping my velcro ties, I turn to a squat and perform my traditional waking-up double front flip, landing on the wall opposite my bed.
Sincerely,
Kevin Bost
