Lonely Child Read online

the Earth slowly moved past his window. He unzipped himself from his sleeping bag and moved over to the window to peer out onto the planet’s surface again. He smiled, it felt a little bit closer now, in a few hours he would be talking to real children on the surface. He watched the oceans and continents slowly drift past before moving back into his sleeping bag and falling asleep to dreams of Earth.

  John awoke to his alarm beeping at him loudly. Blearily John opened his eyes, blinking away the sleep.

  “Stop.” John said, verbally commanded the alarm to end. He considered saying ‘Snooze’ but thought better of it, he wanted to be up early to get ready for his big day.

  Pulling himself out of his bedroom he moved over to his small shower tube, clambered inside and turned on the water. John scrubbed himself quickly, trying to get through his morning ritual as quickly as possible so he could have his breakfast and start talking. Activating the suction fans he waited until he and the cubicle were dried off, then he stepped out and moved over to his wardrobe. He pondered for a moment, concerned for the first time over his poor selection of clothing, he decided he would have to bring it up with his mother. He needed decent clothes if he was going to be talking to other children. Deciding on a child’s size version of the crew uniform, he thought it might make him look smarter, he left his room and pulled himself towards the common room.

  His mother and father weren’t in there yet, just a few of the other crew. John was annoyed at this at first before realising he was up over an hour earlier than normal, having set his alarm early.

  “What you doing up so early John?” Gary, one of the other engineers on board asked him from a table near the entrance. Gary was one of the oldest members of the crew but John still got along very well with him. Gary always had an interesting story of space travel and things he has seen on his journeys, he helped make John look forward to the long voyages in space rather than dread them.

  John pulled himself over to Gary’s table. “Yeah big day Gary. I get to talk to some kids my age from my Mum’s old school!” John said with enthusiasm, glad to have someone to talk to at least.

  Gary raised his eyebrows. “Really! Now that is exciting. What are you going to say to them then?”

  “Oh. Um. I don’t know. That I live on a space ship, that it is pretty boring, that I want to be on Earth maybe.”

  Gary snorted. “John, I don’t think you realise that these kids are probably more excited to talk to you than you are to them.”

  “What do you mean?” John asked.

  “You are one of the only children in space John. You travel to the ends of the solar system, visiting distant moons and planets, you regularly stop by the Mars and Titan outposts. John, to these kids your life is one big adventure.” Gary said seriously, John always liked that Gary didn’t talk to him like a kid.

  “But they get to live a normal life, they get to drive and have friends and run around! I am stuck here every day!” John responded.

  “True but they also have to worry about other things. Life isn’t perfect down there John, there aren’t enough jobs, there isn’t enough housing, the climate is going haywire. You are one of the few ships helping to supply the energy and rare minerals that are keeping the people alive. Most of those kids will live their lives without making a ripple on the rest of the planet. You have the chance to save lives, help keep this planet going and you are one of the few children born and living in space. You ever hear the phrase ‘the grass is always greener on the other side?’”

  “No, I have never seen grass,” John said quietly.

  “You know what it is John, you have seen movies. The phrase means things always appear better than they really are. Earth has it’s own problems, more than when I was a kid I can tell you. Just by talking to these kids you make them feel like they are part of your adventure. You may think you are the one benefiting from this school chat but I tell you kid, you are enriching their lives, not the other way around.”

  “Yeah I guess. I didn’t really think about it that way.” John said thoughtfully.

  Gary chuckled. “Didn’t think so, trust me lad you have the chance to make a difference that most never will. Anyway I had better get back to work, you think about what I said John and good luck with your chat, I’ll try and catch up with you later to see how you went.” Gary said, unstrapping himself from his chair, clapping John on the shoulder and moving away from the common room.

  John sat there and pondered Gary’s words for some time, thinking about the things he had seen while living on the ship. He thought of all the work that they did and how it benefited the planet, how he would be able to learn and perhaps one day captain his own ship, helping the people of Earth survive.

  “John! You’re up already! Ready for your big day?” Janice asked, startling John from his thoughts.

  John turned and smiled. “Yeah Mum, I am ready. I am sorry if I have been down lately.”

  Janice smiled at her son. “I understand John, I really think this will help you out.”

  “I hope I can help them too Mum.” John said.

  Janice’s smile widened and she moved over and hugged her son.

  “That’s my boy,” she said. “Come on, lets meet your new friends.”

  ####

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