It Is Lonely In The Outer Space

Part I

They say waking up from hypersleep is like waking from the most restful slumber of your life, I had even joked about it to the flight attendant. "I finally get to catch up to my sleep debt!" I told her and the awkward smile combined with the feigned friendly chuckle told me it had not been the first time she had heard it. My husband had teased me about my gawkiness, even getting our daughter to join him before lifting Lila into her cryopod and giving her one final kiss before our departure from Earth.

Leaving Lila alone in the children's shuttle did not feel right, but the movie they were playing had taken her attention away from our temporary separation and we joined the other leaving parents so the stewards could begin their preparations. The song from the movie echoed behind us as we walked away.

♫ The moon is round and has a face ♫

♫ And the stars are shiny and have a name ♫

♫ Yet still, it is lonely in the outer space ♫

♫ So, grab a friend and fall asleep ♫

♫ It is lonely in the outer space after all ♫

"Well, that isn't a very comforting melody to someone who's soon shot into the space," I had chuckled as we walked further down the hallway, which had large windows to let us admire the view of the sea almost two kilometers away, I would have liked to visit it before our departure, but walking there and back would have certainly made us miss our shuttle flight to the cruise ship far above the atmosphere.

"I've heard it before, it's about finding a crew member if they happen to wake up during our trip," Amar chimed in, "I wonder if they let them even watch the movie to the end before they put them to sleep?" I had no real answer for him, "Maybe they let them see the rest once we arrive, the first morning is said to be the worst after the meds wear off, and watching movies like when we were sick as kids might make it easier for them."

"I hope so, at least you get to catch up to your sleep debt," Amar had laughed and to be honest I think I laughed too. I had worked hard to get those tickets and spent many sleepless nights buried in my work, trying to earn as much as I could to afford this trip. Yet my awakening had not been restful, for me it had been like dropping from a high place, suddenly jolted awake, groggy and startled. When I finally sobered up, I saw that my cryopod was still enclosed in the darkness, but the lid of the cryopod let in a little bit of the fluorescent light of the main sleeping shuttle and I swore I could hear muffled speech coming from the outside.

My mind was hazy and I tried to remember what they had taught us during the introduction video. Was there something about staying calm if your pod stays closed? I think there was and the meds they had us on should help us to keep calm, yet I couldn't help but feel a shiver creeping down my spine. The jell-like liquid I had been immersed in after falling asleep to prevent bedsores had almost completely drained and I could feel the soft padding under me. Some of the jell had stuck to my clothes, hair, and skin, making me wish I would soon get to a shower, but the lid stayed closed. Whatever space I had, I tried to use it to clean myself a bit, brushing off the jell to get my mind off the rising panic. Humans were not meant to stay in confined spaces and I thought I had endured it enough for one life. Part of me was still slightly confused, I could swear my whole body, along with the pod I was in, was floating. Staying in the liquid for a month must have felt like that, even though I had been unconscious.

I could see someone moving outside as a shadow passed through the light coming under the lid, filling me with excitement. I didn't know how long I had been awake, but I was sure it wasn't as long as it had felt like, when suddenly I could feel another slump and my pod began to move from a horizontal position to almost completely upright.