Starshine
2020 contribution to the Rentals' “Stranded, Out in the Cosmos...” project on HITRECORD.
Stranded, out in the cosmos, all I hear is static. White noise where there had once been chatter.
My face is itchy. I can see its reflection in my visor, superimposed over an ocean of stars.
Stars, planets, and my ship.
My ship. No more than twelve feet away. May as well be twelve miles out here.
I'm alone, but I don't feel it. Not yet. Just my face. I wish I could scratch it.
I wish I could feel the recycled air from the vent in my cabin. I wish I could hear its hum, the whir of the filtration system, the echoes in the corridors.
I just wish.
In an ocean of stars, you can wish forever. Until it takes you as its own.