How to Life: Stars

Posted on Wed Jul 22nd, 2015 @ 12:35pm by Lieutenant JG Maryam Syed

452 words; about a 2 minute read

The one good thing about counselors was perhaps that their voices were exactly as distant and calm and controlled as they had to be. Arnon's calm tone had penetrated Maryam's consciousness with its simple clarity and refused to let her leave things as they were inside. He did not care whether she succeeded in her quest or failed; but his voice issued a challenge, and it was precisely that which irritated Maryam into action. Only she was allowed to think herself a failure!

There was now a file on Maryam's PADD, which she carried about her always, listing the things she enjoyed about being on the ship. At first she had not expected it to make a noticeable difference - but as the list began to grow, she found herself enjoying the progress, enjoying seeing the things she liked written on the page.

* * *

" Things I like. Stars outside my window ALL THE TIME!"

She had written that with the hope that her excited tone on the page would excite the heart that wrote the words, but to no avail. She looked out of the window in her quarters at the black and white scenery beyond. Little white dots on black. What was so interesting about that?...

...and she looked again the next day. She furrowed her brows, trying to see some greater depth of color, but found none. How had she ever been excited by the thought of traveling the stars?

...the third day, she sighed. Stars were stars. Yes, there were other planets out there, other people, living life. How special. There was nothing special about stars.

...It had been a 'night' shift, and Maryam was exhausted. She was sick of staring at her screen of useless words and numbers and statistics that nobody needed to see. What was this job? As she walked back to her quarters, longing to get some sleep, she realized how ill she felt at the maze of corridors around her.

" Today," she murmured to herself, "I'll take the turbo lift to the observation deck."

So she did, and at this late hour the lights had been dimmed. The world outside glowed, and she could feel the ship moving under her feet, and she could see the stars, surrounding her. And she thought for a moment about her family being somewhere out there, and her poor brother, and her siblings, and how they were so far away. But it didn't matter. She was alone in this little world, in the dim light of the observation deck in the middle of the night; but the stars were here, too.

She shed a few tears, and her heart felt at ease. She went her quarters and fell asleep.

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