To the Stars (Ad Astra)

2:00 PM

He thought he succeeded when he saw his dad blue eyes bloodshot, nose dripping with black blood as he rose above his son. Alone all these years. Floating in the void that is space, the scruff of his beard a band-aid, hiding his blood-thirsty days. Silence. Surrounded by stars on Neptune. But now, his son. I thought you were dead, he said. Floating on Earth is not the same as floating in space, with a man that was just a video playback. But now you’re here. Hey, dad. He thought he succeeded when he held his dad, cold hands and cut skin sorrow catching up within when shallow stars left his eyes, and left behind a hollow shell. I promised I’d make you proud, he said. But pride was absent in the present as he carried the shell of a man into the void that is space, all dark and gloomy, and out of place. He returned to Earth. He returned to Base.