the journey home

I asked myself this.

Should I start with my Best Short Story?

and the answer was this - yes because you really need to draw in as
many readers and hopefully commenters right away - so they might
come back for the Others.



This Story is The Best - because it is about The Best.

It is a Tribute to my Father - who died going on four years ago.

He had a Deep and Abiding interest in Science Fiction - with a collection of
real science fiction paperback novels stacked in the attic - and dear friends and
commenters - when he left - he left the Best Part of Himself with me.
~~~


It was where he would most like to go - if he could choose.

As if any of us could Choose.


Borne up by the pages of every Science Fiction Novel he had ever read,
and supported by Bradbury, Asimov, Orwell and Clarke - the man would
visit Galaxies and The Solar System - and the Planets would be his pleasure
to explore.

He was taken far away from anyone he had ever known - and far from the
experiences he had known as his Life.

The man felt the difference between the Body he had once inhabited - and the
Soul that presently buoyed him into what he had always thought of as The Great
Unknown. 

The separation of Body and Soul had been easy.  There had been no pain - just a split second from the time he had been sitting in his favorite chair - his Wife of nearly seventy years in the next room.

But he couldn't say that it came without warning.

In the past year he had had a premonition of his Death - waking in the night and
thinking that there were two men coming into the house for him.

And at other times he thought the end was near - even mentioning it to Others -
although they didn't really understand.


Now his time had come and he knew what was happening.  He knew that he was
beginning a Journey that would fulfill his Wildest Dreams - and he wanted to make
the best of it for however long it might last.  He could feel himself breaking away
from his ninety-eight years on Earth.  He tried to keep his Mind focused on the
Journey through Space - consisting of  the Sum Total of Existence.

This was his Journey - the one that would take him to a place he had never Dreamed
he could go.


His paperback ship was passing over the Home Planet now - and memories of his
time there began to flood his mind.  He noticed that as this happened the former
emotions he had known- such as Regret, Fear and Sadness - were replaced with a
feeling of Calm Reassurance  - and Love.  The Love seemed to be made up of all
his past relationships with family and friends.

He allowed the pleasant feelings to overtake him. 

As he gazed at the Life-giving Planet he thought he could see the place where he
spent his boyhood days.  Although his youth had not been entirely carefree still -
there had been time for him to build cherished memories of friends.

The man held onto that for a while - but then it came to him- he wished he had
known his father better.  He and his brother had been foced to grow up faster to
provide support for their widowed mother and their sisters.  There had been a void
in his life because of this and throughout his life he had allowed his mind to
wonder about how it might have been if his father had lived.  Still - they had a
large family that was close - and their love for each other dominated their lives -
even when the miles separated them.


He could feel himself separating from Earth and he knew that soon he would pass
over it entirely.  He wanted to use the last moments to think about the time he had
with his Beloved Wife  - and their four children.  And the years he spent laboring
to make a living to suuport them - and his leisure time of hunting and walking - and
his hobby of studying the stars.

For a moment he held on to those last special thoughts - and then it was gone.
He had broken free of his Life - his time on Earth.

Now he was ready to focus on the trip that lay ahead of him. 

Because he had always been curious about the Planets - he chose Mars as the
one he would visit first - and of course there would be Life there.  The man had
loved reading the paperback Science Fiction novels that he had stacked in the attic. 
His image of what Martians would look like was nurtured by the movie based on
H.G. Wells' story - War of the Worlds.

He had known all along that there was life on Mars and he had hoped for evidence
of it before his time was up.  But no matter - for now he could choose - and he
entered the Red Planet's atmosphere with no problem. 

His Ship landed - and they were there as he had anticipated - green of course - with
long thin arms and legs.  They didn't see him - but he saw them - and they looked
exactly as he had pictured they would many times.  They had no semblance of being
friendly - but still they were there - and he had seen them.

Now it was time to move on- for the Universe is Vast - and he didn't know how much
time he had.

Leaving Mars behind - the man began to feel the intense Darkness of Space.  An
overwhelming Darkness in spite of the countless stars -  not flat in the sky as
sometimes seen from Earth - but they had a depth that spoke of their Distance.

He could scarce believe that he was among the Wonders of the Universe.  And
yet hadn't he gazed upon all this from his own backyard - through the telescope
he had made? 

He was on a path through the Comsos on a Journey of Perfection - whose Author
he knew not yet but he would accept the Gift - and absorb every Celestial Form and
Shape to the End.

But his thoughts must not distract him lest he miss the sight of one Heavenly Body.

They floated past him - or he floated past them.

Ahead he could see the Red Eye of Jupiter - the Storm that had raged for years.
He thought about Europa - and Clark's story about the Monolith- and the warning
to stay away.  This Planet's size and color left him in awe of the Maker.
 
Saturn - with its Rings of Ice had a calmer - less threatening look.

He spotted a small Planet.  He smiled to himself as he thought of how in spite of the judgement scientists made - Pluto was still there.

Then the man saw a Light beyond.  Another Planet - a Star?  No - I know this Light. 
And in one fleeting moment - in the briefest time possible - the man saw his life
pass before his eyes.  He knew then that the Light was the one that had sustained
him for all his years on Earth.

 He had not just left Home.  The man knew that now he was Home.