Lonely Child

Lonely Child

  by

  James Bailey

  * * * * *

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Lonely Child

  Copyright 2011 by James Bailey

  [email protected]

  https://mywritingaspiration.blogspot.com/

  *****

  The boy looked down at the planet surface through the large window in front of him. At a glance he looked like a normal boy, young and inquisitive. It wasn’t until you got closer that you saw his limbs and face were too long, his bones too thin and delicate.

  He pressed his face against the glass, trying to bring himself closer to the planet. He imagined himself running along the grass with a dog beside him, swimming in the oceans, fish slithering past him as he dove under the waves.

  “You okay John?” said the boy’s father, David, pulling himself into the room by the handrails attached to the floor.

  “I want to go on the planet Dad. Can’t I just for a little bit?” said the boy, pleading with his eyes.

  David sighed. “We spoke about this John, you can’t go on the surface. You were born in space where there is no gravity, you wouldn’t be able to breathe down there.”

  “How do you know? We haven’t even tried it? We won’t be back here for over a year Dad, please let me try!” John said, starting to cry, tears floating away from his eyes.

  David pulled a cloth from his uniform and snatched the tears out of the air. “John don’t be silly, you know that they tried this with other boys and girls like you years ago and nothing worked. They almost lost two children trying to adapt them to the surface. You are happy here John, you have your family here, the boys and girls down there dream of travelling the stars like you do.”

  “I am stuck in a steel box Dad, I can’t play like they do down there. I want to be able to run, I want to have a dog, I am sick of this place!” John’s sadness turned to anger.

  David barked out a short laugh. “A dog! I can’t see the captain letting one of those in here, toilet training would be a nightmare. I will talk to your mother and see if we can get some new holo-programs while we are in orbit. One that can let you run, have a dog even. What do you say.”

  “It’s not real. I want a real one.” John said quietly.

  “John, you get to travel the solar system, see the rings of Saturn first hand. You have walked the surface of an asteroid, seen the frozen oceans of Europa. It isn’t all bad up here. Come join us in the common room, dinner will be served soon and your mother will be waiting.”

  “I’ll be there in a minute I just want to look a little longer,” John said.

  “Okay. Five minutes and that’s it, okay?” David said.

  John didn’t reply, simply pressed his face against the glass and watched the orb below him slowly rotate. David sighed and pulled himself out of the room by the handholds, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts.

  A new continent slowly emerged into view as John watched out of the window, John remembered the name of it from his teacher. Europe, home to some of the biggest cities and some of the biggest wars in history. He imagined himself climbing the Eiffel tower, walking beside the canals of Venice, standing in front of the Colosseum in Rome. He would never be able to do any of these things according to his father.

  John’s parents did not even consider trying to acclimatise their son to Earth’s gravity, the risks were too great and they knew it would just tempt John with a life he could never have. John, himself, had looked into whether he could ever walk on Earth and he knew his father had been telling him the truth. The first two children that had been born in zero gravity were both brought to the surface to try and acclimatise them to Earth’s gravity. One was aged two, the other four. Both suffered severe complications trying to breathe, their bones broke easily and their internal organs began to shut down as they struggled to cope with the new gravity. Within days they had to be removed from the planet’s surface and placed in the orbiting hospital on the International Space Station II. The two survived and recovered for a time, the first child committed suicide at fifteen, the other at twenty, just after John was born.

  John knew it was unlikely that he would be able to walk the surface of the planet, at least in the near future. This didn’t stop him from dreaming of a life where he could be like all the other children on Earth though.

  Pulling himself away from the glass John left the observation room and headed for the common room to eat with his parents. The three lived on an outer reach transport and mining vessel, delivering supplies to the distant stations and mining outposts and returning with ore and cargo from the furthest reaches of the solar system. A round trip generally took around a year, the ship’s immense size and storage capabilities making up for it’s slow speed. John’s father was an engineer while his mother served as the ship’s navigator, both having served on the ship for well over twenty years. John doubted even his parents could walk the surface of Earth after this amount of time in zero gravity.

  Regardless of his parents longer experience, John was by far the most graceful person in the entire crew when moving in zero gravity. John was the only child on board, few people willing to have children in zero gravity. John’s parents conceived him accidentally shortly after leaving Earth almost eleven years ago. With no choice but to either abort or carry the baby to term they elected to keep the child despite knowing he would never walk the planet’s surface. They never regretted their decision on having John but they did feel guilty for the boy not having a childhood like they had experienced.

  Entering the common room John noticed a few other crew members were also here, John’s parents had a table to themselves in the far corner of the room.

  A chorus of waves and greetings met the boy as he moved through the room. John smiled and greeted them back, the crew treated John like a nephew and John got along well with them. None however, had any children of their own and the youngest of the crew was still twelve years John’s elder which made it hard for him to make any real friends.

  John pulled himself over to his parents table and strapped himself down in his chair, he had his own set chair in the common room, his father had added padding so that he sat higher up. His parents had already got his meal for him and re-hydrated it.

  “Beef Stroganoff, John. Your favourite and there is even some ice cream for you afterwards.” John’s mother, Janice said.

  John flashed a smile at her. “Thanks Mum. I was wondering, since we are so close to Earth could they bring back some real ice cream that hasn’t been dehydrated and some meals that we can’t normally transport, just for something different?”

  John’s parents looked at each other with a thoughtful expression.

  “What do you think David? I think we can bend the captain’s arm on this one.” Janice said.

  “I’ll ask him tonight John, you never know your luck. I’ll try and get them to send up a freshly cooked steak, now that will be a treat!” David said beaming at his son.

  Janice laughed. “For you or for him!”

  “Both of us! Trust me John you’ll love it, good idea too.” David said. John grinned at his father, cheering up a little bit.

  “Oh John, by the way I have some news for you.” Janice said.

  “News?” John said with both suspicion and hope.

  “Well, your father and I have been talking and we think you need to be making friends and spending some time with people your own age. I got in touch with my old school on the surface and they would love to video chat with you on a regular basis with a class of students around your age. It would be a wonderful opportunity for you John, you can make friends and have some children your age to relate to. What do you think?” Janice said.

  John thought about this for a second then smiled at his mother, t
ears springing to his eyes. “Thanks Mum I would really like that.”

  “Oh honey.” Janice unstrapped herself and moved over to give her son a hug.

  “Might even snag a girlfriend John!” David said.

  “Oh shut up you!” Janice said, elbowing her husband.

  John laughed with his parents, buoyed by the possibility of making new friends and finally having some people to talk to.

  The three spent the rest of their dinner making small talk and discussing things to say to the class. Janice told John he would have his first session tomorrow morning and suggested an early night. John agreed and after dinner and a quick wash he hopped into bed and tried to will himself to sleep to bring the morrow that much sooner.

  John found himself lying awake in his room however, staring at the ceiling wondering what he should say, what he should wear, worrying if they would like him. John noticed his room light up as