An Answer for Carol

“Why is the sky blue, mommy?” Carol asked.

“Do you remember the prism I gave you a while ago?” her mother replied.

“The rainbow glass?”

“That’s right, the glass that makes rainbows. Well with the light from the sun, the molecules in the air act like tiny prisms and we end up seeing only the blue.”

“Is that why the sky is red when the sun sets?”

“That’s exactly why. The sun is at a different position and so we can see some of that red.”

“So even if we don’t see it, the colors are all there?”

“That’s right, darling. And speaking of not being there, do you remember what we talked about?”

“Yes, mommy. I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you too, baby. But I’ll only be in orbit for a week.”

“Is it scary?”

“Is space scary? Well, it was terrifying the first time around but like a lot of things practice makes perfect. I’ve gotten used to it so I’m not as scared anymore.”

“Why do you have to go?”

“It is my job after all, darling. Also, if everything goes well for this week’s orbit then it won’t be soon until everyone can go up in space just like that!”

“Everyone?”

“Everyone!”

“Will we be able to see grandpa?”

“Sweetie, you know that grandpa--”

“I know but I asked Dad where heaven was and he said it was up in the sky and that’s where you go, right? That’s where space is? Up in the sky?”

“It is.”

“So we might be able to see grandpa? You might see him when you go there this time!”

“Darling, space is awfully big. We’re not sure where heaven is.”

“Dad said it was in the sky.”

“Well I can’t guarantee that I’ll run into grandpa. But I’ll keep an eye out for heaven while up there.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. Now it’s time to go to sleep, darling.”

“Mommy?”

“I said it’s time for you to sleep.”

“I know, but--,” Carol tapped her chin forgetting momentarily what she was going to ask. But she stuck her finger in the air when she remembered, “Can I talk to you even when you’re in space?”

“I’ll let daddy know. But I’m not making any guarantees.”

“Okay. Good night, mommy.”

“Good night, sweet heart.”

As Major Sally Brooke tucked in her daughter for the night she went over every detail of the morning’s launch in her head. It was certainly not her first time in space and most definitely not the last. What made this trip different was that it would be the farthest in space that she personally had been launched in her entire career as an astronaut. Perhaps, she thought, one day she would walk on the moon. But seeing as how the moon has little to do with her research, her first moonwalk would have to wait. She stepped into bed and waited for her husband, Arthur, before switching off the lamp on her nightstand.

“Are you ready?” Arthur asked as he climbed underneath the covers.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“You know I’m going to be waking up Carol to bring her up on the roof so we can see your launch, right?” Arthur asked reaching to turn off the lamp by his nightstand.

“Even though I explicitly told you not to so she won’t be sleepy for school?”

“Of course,” he answered.

“Of course,” she retorted.

“Is this the solar project?”

“Something like that.”

“You take the sunlight and convert it to usable power. That sounds like research for a solar project to me.”

“Technically I’m hoping to find a better way to use the sun’s harmful rays and use that energy against itself. Essentially we’d be making a protective shell out of the very stuff that would kill any would-be space colonies in the future.”

Arthur feigned and exaggerated snore. Sally took the pillow she was lying down on and hit her husband with it as the playfully wrestled each other. They laughed as Arthur kissed his wife’s lips

“I’m only kidding, honey,” Arthur finally said, “I’m actually jealous that your brain can think up stuff like that. I hope Carol gets that from you.”

“Speaking of Carol--” Sally said.

“I overheard. I’ll see what I can do to get her in contact with you once you’re in orbit. It’s a good thing she’s out of school and I’m on duty by the time that happens. So are you nervous?”

“It’s not my first rodeo. But yeah, I’m always nervous before a launch. I sit on tons of explosive fuel as someone counts down until they light it.”

“It’s going to be all right. Besides, Tom is a great pilot. He’ll get you in orbit safely.”

“He is a great pilot, but that’s still not entirely reassuring.”

“Could be worse. I could be the pilot. I could be lighting the fuse.”

“Slightly more assuring,” Sally said as she smiled. The couple wished each other sweet dreams and kissed each other good night before finally surrendering to sleep.

The next morning, Sally sat in the cockpit of the shuttle as crew members strapped her in. She felt her chest rise and fall slowly as she closed her eyes. She hated it when people worried for her and would never admit to Arthur how nervous she really was before each launch. Her eyelids closed and she pictured her husband holding their daughter’s hand as he set the ladder against the side of the house.

“That’s so dangerous,” Sally would say to herself hoping Arthur would hear her. “At least wrap her in layers before climbing up on to the roof.” They lived on the military base not far from the launching site so it was not unusual to see families gather on rooftops to watch a launch, especially when a loved one was on board. Perhaps Carol was wrapped in layers and layers of blankets, and perfectly safe but the worrisome mother in Major Brooke refused to believe that there was such a thing as too cautious.

“T-minus-ten minutes until launch,” mission control announced over the PA system.

“Almost show time,” Tom the pilot said as he turned to Sally. Both of them were pretty tightly strapped into their seats so they could barely turn but they saw each other in the corner of their eyes and bumped fists as they had in previous launches.

“I hate the waiting,” Sally finally responded. She felt a single streak trailing from each eye. She wiped the tears away and though she was used to the pre-launch tears it still made her feel uncomfortable.

“I can understand that,” Tom responded. “How’s Arthur and Carol doing?”

“They’re fine,” Sally answered. “Arthur’s waking Carol up to watch the launch.”

“From the roof?” Tom asked. Sally just nodded. “Crazy Arthur, it’s a school night for Pete’s sake!”

“He was always the one with a flair for adventure. That’s one of the things I love about him,” Sally mentioned. “I was always the careful one.”

“T-minus-two minutes until launch,” mission control interrupted.

“I’d hate to see how adventurous Arthur can get if you’re the careful one,” Tom commented, “After all, you’re the one strapped to a rocket aimed miles above this screwy planet.”

“That’s true,” Sally said, laughing quietly to herself. “How’s Liz?”

“She’s great! We’re expecting!” Tom exclaimed.

“Congratulations!”

“Thanks! We just found out yesterday morning.”

“Wow! That’s a heck of a time to find out!”

“No kidding!” Tom said, smiling a bit nervously. Sally couldn’t tell if it was the launch or the baby her pilot was more nervous for. Having experienced both pregnancy and numerous launches, she knew that either would be reasonably and equally nerve-wracking.

“Launch commencing in T-minus 10… 9… 8…” mission control counted down.

“When we’re in orbit, I want to show you something,” Tom said.

“7… 6… 5…”

“Sure,” her response was quiet and automatic. Sally closed her eyes and attempted to control her breathing. Her mind wandered to the image of Arthur and Carol on the rooftop. Carol’s sleepy head leaning on her father who pointed to the sky.

“4… 3… 2… 1… Ignition successful,” the entire shuttle began to shake violently. Mission control over the PA could not compete with the monstrous roar of the engine but Sally and Tom can feel the shuttle being lifted. The pressure of several times earth’s gravity was pushing down on Sally and Tom’s body. The warmth of the sun was soon replaced by the heat from the friction against the earth’s atmosphere as they left it. Both astronauts concentrated on their breathing exercises to keep their blood from pumping away from their extremities which is where the increased gravity intended to put it.

While Sally had her eyes shut (she was almost certain Tom did as well) she always knew exactly when they had left the earth’s atmosphere. There was a loud click for each stage of the fuel tank that disengaged after launch. And as each stage fell away, the shuttle felt and was tons lighter. But it wasn’t until the rumbling had stopped and it felt as if they were in a state of perpetual free-fall that Sally knew it was time to open her eyes. The white-blue sky had transformed into a dark velvet one speckled with flecks of light. The earth below was gigantic and dwarfed the distant moon in a sight that would humble anyone blessed enough to have a chance to witness it.

“We’ll be entering the targeted orbit in twenty minutes, mission control,” Tom said into the PA system, “Everything looks like it’s in order. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Roger that,” mission control responded.

“Mission control? This is Major Brooke. I’m expecting a call later from my husband.”

“I’ll make sure not to call when you’re in the shower, then.”

“Thanks, mission control,” Sally clicked the communicator off and turned to Tom, “So what did you want to show me?”

“I wanted to show it to you before the light show could outshine me,” Tom said as he gestured to the shuttle windows. He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a golden ring. In zero gravity, he let it float gently towards Sally who reached out and took it. The diamond was modest but a beautiful cut and the ring as a whole was of a simple design, a bit old fashioned.

“It’s beautiful,” Sally remarked.

“It was my grandmother’s. I decided to do this as soon as Liz told me she was pregnant. I’m going to ask her as soon as we get back home.”

“Congratulations! My, this makes it a special orbit for you, doesn’t it, Tom?” Sally smiled and handed him back the ring.

“Most definitely,” Tom responded as he put it back in his pocket.

“We should get to work,” Sally said. Tom agreed and they prepared the instruments. As soon as they got into orbit, Sally began taking copious notes from all the sensors that had been attached to the side of the shuttle. Tom made sure they stayed in orbit and kept an eye out for any possible debris that could cause any problems. After a few hours, Sally decided to take a quick break as Tom ate a freeze-dried snack.

“I totally forgot about the stars,” Sally said. “It’s always a surprise when I’m up here.” Tom agreed. Because they launched in the morning, their eyes had to adjust to the darkness of space before they could pick up every single shining astral body that can be seen from their unique vantage point.

“Major Brooke, this is mission control,” the PA system announced. Sally clicked the communicator back on and took a deep breath, enjoying the view.

“This is Major Brooke. Go ahead.”

“It seems you have an important call from the highest of authorities.”

“Put me through,” Sally responded, smiling.

“Hi, mommy!” Carol shouted into the PA system.

“Hi there, darling. How was school?” Sally asked. Tom smiled at the sound of the little girl’s voice. He flicked a few switches and turned the small dial on the console to turn on the screen. Through the blue static, young Carol can be seen smiling.

“School was good,” the little girl answered. Tom waved at her through the screen and she waved back a few seconds later.

“Did you see my launch this morning, sweetheart?”

“Yeah. It was cold and I was really sleepy but I saw it.”

“It was cold? Did you not bring a blanket and a jacket with you?”

“Yes. Daddy brought the blanket but forgot the jacket but it’s okay because I remembered.” Arthur wheeled in quickly and put a finger to his lips to shush Carol about forgetting her jacket that morning. “Oops! I meant that Daddy remembered the jacket too but I also remembered.”

“That’s very good that you remembered, sweetie,” Sally answered shaking her head at her husband who still didn’t know he could be seen on screen. Tom chuckled as he finished his meal. “Tell daddy I’ll talk to him about that later.”

“Mommy says she’ll talk to you about remembering my jacket later,” Carol said.

“Thanks, baby,” Arthur said to his daughter sardonically.

“Oh, mommy!” Carol screamed into the PA system again. “What about you? Did you see grandpa yet?”

“I have not, darling.”

“Oh, you said space is big so maybe you’ll just see grandpa next time. But is heaven up there? Can you see it?” Carol asked, smiling right into the screen.

Sally looked out the sky, at first to sate her daughter’s adorable pleas, but soon found herself hypnotized at the sight just outside the window. Her eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness so there were more stars scattered across the velvet black sky than she could possibly dare to imagine counting. Just behind earth was the moon whose surface seemed whiter than it had ever seemed from the surface of earth. The sun was at just the right angle so that Sally could see the intricate white swirls of the clouds that hovered over the brown and green patches of land floating on a sphere of water that sparkled a shade of blue that could only exist for the sole purpose of seeing it from that high above the planet. Major Sally Blake looked at the screen with her precocious daughter and gave her the only reasonable answer she could give.

“Daddy was right, darling,” Sally responded. “I am definitely looking at heaven right now. And it is beautiful.”

Alan in a Bubble

There once was a boy in a bubble. His name was Alan Bliven and though he wasn’t born encased in the bubble, he scarcely remembers a day without it. No one could see this bubble and only Alan can feel its barrier to the outside world. Only his parents, his sister, and a few of his closest friends (of which he already had few to begin with) believed that there was anything there to begin with. There were days when the skin of this bubble was impenetrably thick making breathing or even thinking difficult tasks for Alan. Then there were other days (days that were few and far between) when the skin of the bubble was so thin, Alan would forget there was a bubble at all. But the Bliven family lived in a rather dangerous neighborhood and the bubble did serve well to protect Alan from the influences of local sorts with questionable moral compasses.

In grade school and all through junior high, Alan realized that the bubble would protect him from the condescension of close-minded teachers and would-be bullies. However, Alan never realized that the bubble was indiscriminate in who it was keeping out of Alan’s life. Any potential friends that Alan could have made went by unnoticed because of said bubble. As a result, young Alan was a lonely boy who kept to himself.

He spent a lot of time in the library and that’s where he found a book that said that his condition was rare, but not terminal fortunately. The book mentioned that the thickness of the bubble was affected directly by Alan’s emotions. The angrier or sadder or lonelier the boy grew, the thicker the skin of the bubble became. Instead of seeking help, he kept his findings a secret feeling that he was a freak. Besides, he didn’t want to seem ungrateful to the bubble that, until recently, had been very protective.

When the awkward years of high school rolled around, the bubble protected Alan from the eyes of his fellow classmates. Puberty went by practically unnoticed as the bubble had prevented him from being completely self-conscious about his changing body. Social scenes that were all too crucial to the average teenager meant nothing to the teenaged Alan who seemed to walk the hallways with a level of anonymity that he felt all too comfortable with. Alan had a single encounter with a girl that ended in humiliating heartbreak. It was then that the bubble grew thicker than before and had a new mission: to prevent heartache by actively avoiding any chance at any relationship, romantic or otherwise. By the time he graduated, Alan’s bubble would not only be at its thickest but would become a part of him. Touching things felt as if they were being felt through gloves.

College would turn out to be a major turning point in the life of Alan Bliven who spent a majority of those years in the campus library, either nose buried in books or taking naps until his next class. On one of his daily visits to the library, Alan would stumble upon a study in a scientific journal that found this bubble might not ever fully disappear but it can be managed so that it does not interfere with one’s life. All it takes to diminish the effects of a thick skinned bubble, the journal mentioned, is to disrupt the triggering behaviors that feed the bubble. Alan determined that for him to overcome the ill-effects of the bubble, he would have to make strong connections with people; he would have to risk getting hurt every so often. And perhaps, he would remember the sensation of touch without a glove-like bubble to hinder him.

It was difficult at first, but Alan would force himself to show up at social gatherings such as parties and study groups and festivals of all sorts. But he realized all too quickly that socializing is one of those necessities in life that no one bothered to write a book about or design a class around. He felt that he was years behind and failed to pick up on current slang, subtle signals, and was just generally ignorant on what would be considered general knowledge of social cues and protocol. It seems that while he had wanted to get out of his own bubble, the rest of the world was content to create bubbles of their own, isolating everyone from everyone else. Alan’s heart dropped. He had forgotten what it was like to make a real connection with anybody; what it was like to feel joyful and even what it was like to feel pain. It seemed all hope was lost.

One day, Alan was driving home when he noticed that there was some sort of event at the park. There were many tables set up and several cages. It turns out that many local animal shelters had gathered to organize a pet adoption day. He remembered always wanting a dog but the Bliven family could never find the money or the time to do so. There was a pen where all the small dogs roamed freely and visitors could interact with them safely. Alan climbed inside and sat at the corner, perfectly content to watch the dogs running around with their tails wagging as they tried to butter up someone to bring them home. A small skinny dog with red fur approached the quiet Alan and sniffed around him shyly. Alan smiled and noticed the dog hanging its head coyly.

“Hello there,” Alan said to the little pup. The dog lifted its head up just enough to make eye contact with Alan. It then walked towards him and sniffed around him. Alan was curious as to whether the dog could sense the bubble’s presence.

“How are you?” Alan asked with his hand outstretched. The little pup sniffed the palm of Alan’s hand and began to lick his fingertips. Alan could feel the pressure of the tongue on his skin but all sensation still felt hindered by the bubble.

The dog looked back up at Alan, making eye contact, and cocked its head inquisitively before climbing on to Alan’s lap and climbing up to lick his face. Alan couldn’t help but feel smitten with the dog until all of a sudden he could feel the wetness and warmth of the tongue. The bubble was at its thinnest in years. Alan started to laugh to himself as tears rolled down his cheeks. He would sign a check and a few papers and that was that. Alan didn’t go home alone that day. The bubble is still there and it always will be. But Alan won’t have to worry about returning to a state of complete isolation as long as his new best friend is there to welcome him home, wagging tail and all.

Window Dressing

The small town of Rossville recently came into a bit of controversy that all began with its newest resident Rachel Steuben. She had come from the city but grew up in a small town not too different from Rossville, bringing her city style with her small town sensibilities. However, Rossville didn’t appreciate city style as much as Rachel would have liked. The town revolved around two things: 1. Main Street, which not only connected the town to the main highway and was dotted with small, quaint shops that drove a good amount of Rossville’s economy. But Main Street also served as a place to have a parade for 2. Rossville’s local high school football team whose homecoming games were a source to many a proud tradition. And Rachel’s presence managed to disrupt the status quo of both of them.

She bought a small property on Main Street and redesigned it as a dress shop with the modern accoutrements of the city. The younger women of Rossville wouldn’t admit it but many of them were saving money to buy one of Rachel’s sleek and fashionable outfits. However it was the storefront that would earn her no end of local critics. Instead of small windows teasing the wares of her store, Rachel opted for the entire store front to be glass. There were floor-to-ceiling windows and a large glass door with the words “Dress Shop” etched just by the door handles. One could see all the way to the cash register from across the street.

“It’s rather vulgar,” some of the townsfolk have said, “You don’t have to flaunt what you have to get business. It’s brash and makes the town look like attention-starved wannabe city-dwellers. Ms. Steuben is making us look bad to out of town visitors.”

“She should be ashamed of herself,” an older couple who is rumored to have owned the building before Rachel was quoted to saying. “If you ask me she’s practically asking for her store to be vandalized. You can see the entire store from across the street for goodness sake!”

And while Rachel’s storefront design had gotten the town worked up, it would be the events leading to the homecoming game that is the center of this controversy. It is a time honored Rossville tradition to give graduating seniors on the varsity football team a night to prank the good townspeople (within reason, of course) on the week of their last homecoming game. On Rachel’s first homecoming week she thought it would be a fun way to put herself in a favorable light by making her store a welcome sight for would be pranksters. She opened wide the glass doors and left all the lights on in the store. For practical purposes, she locked the cash register and all merchandise in the rear storage room. There was even a sign behind the counter that read “Happy Homecoming!”

The following day, Rachel had expected to see her store covered in toilet paper and silly string, maybe colored shoe polish writing on the glass store front. Sure it would be more effort to clean up, she told herself, but far be it from me to look down on tradition. From down the street she could see a crowd had gathered in front of the shop. The fire chief approached her with a stern look in his eyes.

“Miss Steuben,” the fire chief said.

“What’s happened?” she asked.

“I don’t know if you know this but every year the seniors on the varsity football team--”

“They have prank night every homecoming. I left my store open on purpose for that very reason.”

“You left it open on purpose?”

“Yes. I know it sounds crazy but I had my merchandise and money stored securely away. I thought it’d be a good way to show everyone I’m a good sport about these kinds of things.”

“Miss Steuben, I think you better come with me.”

The fire chief walked Rachel to her store and she saw the shards of glass lying next to an empty space that used to be occupied by one of her floor-to-ceiling glass panes. The shelves were spray painted with Rossville’s school colors. Some of the mannequins were on the floor as if they had been stomped on repeatedly and violently. One of them looked to have been thrown out of the now broken window. In the center of the shop floor there were shredded strips of cloth that Rachel recognized as some of what were her favorite dresses. She ran to the back room that she was sure she locked and saw that the door had been pried open along with the cash register which was empty and damaged. The other dresses were not immediately recognizable as they were now a pile of ash scattered around the charred rear storage room. Tears ran down Rachel’s face as she fell to her knees at looking at the destruction. The fire chief picked her up and arranged for someone to take her home.

Rachel lied in bed and couldn’t fathom the level to which her trust was violated. In an attempt keep her mind distracted from the goings on of the day, she logged on to the internet. What she found was uploaded video of the pranksters in question. It turned out that the only a few members of the football team saw the invitation set up by Rachel and the star quarterback decided it would be more fun to escalate the pranks for Rachel’s store. There were several videos, actually, one of which shows another football player taking a crowbar from his car and mentioning getting into the back storage room. Other footage shows the mannequin being thrown through the window by another young player. And another video even shows the quarter back tossing a flaming newspaper into the storage room right after popping the cash register open with the crowbar and pocketing the money.

Her hand clasped over her gaping mouth as she tried to reach for her phone and call the police. Rachel’s hand was shaking so much she could barely dial but she finally managed to. The receptionist put her on hold and as she waited, Rachel quickly downloaded all the videos she found onto her USB drive. She couldn’t wait to be put on hold for another minute and took the downloaded videos to the police station.

“I want to press charges,” she told the officer.

“Let’s not do anything rash, Miss Steuben,” the officer replied.

“Rash? They broke in to my store, burned my merchandise, and stole my money. It’s all right here on these videos. You’re watching them right now!” The light from the monitor flickered on the officer’s face as he watched, his eyes darting from the screen to Rachel’s tear soaked face.

“It was prank night, after all. And you did practically invite them into this.”

“I welcomed pranks. It’s a tradition to play pranks and yes I left my doors unlocked for them to prank my store but this is not a prank. They broke into the one locked room in the store and destroyed my property, stole my money!”

“So you admit that you welcomed this?”

“I was trying to partake in the town’s tradition. I didn’t encourage them to destroy my property!”

“The door was unlocked.”

“Not the one they broke into! Had this been any other night, they would be taken in for questioning, at the very least! It’s common knowledge that a locked door means entry is not allowed! There are no exceptions to that rule! No means no!”

“So why did you unlock the doors?”

“I unlocked the front doors, not the rear storage room doors. Why are you so resistant? The evidence is right there, I want them arrested.”

“I don’t think you understand, Miss Steuben. These are the star players and this is strong evidence against them. This could mean serious jail time for them especially the quarterback who turned 18 a month ago. A lot of them have scholarships to good schools, maybe even a shot at the pros.”

“They committed a serious crime.”

“You’re going to ruin their bright, young futures.”

“They ruined it themselves when they decided to break into the one locked door in the store, when they decided to throw a mannequin through the window! Please, officer! I would like to have them arrested.”

Reluctantly, the officer got out of his chair and took the evidence to the head of police and after a few minutes they both stepped out to meet Rachel. The head of police reluctantly agreed to arrest them and dispatched a small group of officers to take the young boys in. Rachel would end up pressing charges and the boys would be found guilty of breaking and entering and destruction of private property. The quarterback was also charged with theft as he was the only one seen pocketing the money. Because he was the only eighteen-year-old, he was tried as an adult and received some jail time, forfeiting any scholarships offered to him to play football in college.

“They had so much potential. It’s such a shame to see it all taken away,” some of the townsfolk said.

“Everyone knows what happened. It’s all on tape,” the quarterback’s girlfriend said, “Did you see how she just left her store out in the open? She was just asking for it. The way I see it, that bitch deserved what she got for ruining their lives.”

The following weeks would be even worse for Rachel as the rest of the community would continually chastise her for dethroning the town’s would-be heroes. Other storeowners would actively keep customers away from her stores. The adults and elders of Rossville would sneer in her direction otherwise they ignored her in a very un-neighborly fashion. Students of the high school threw bricks through the windows of Rachel’s house with messages of anger, telling her to leave town. She finally decided to take that advice, even considered going back to the small town she grew up. But instead she opted to go back to the city.

“How did this all go wrong?” she asked herself as she drove away in her car full of all her belongings. She would drive down Main Street one last time, only to get on the highway and never see Rossville again. Destruction does not reside in a narrow mind, but it thrives in the presence of a great collection of them. A lesson well learned by Rachel Steuben, who had every right to feel like a victim.