|
|
2004-11-03 - 2:44 p.m. Later that evening �May I have this dance?� Kathy turned around surprised; she hadn�t even heard Bob coming up behind her. �Why certainly,� she replied smiling. �I would be delighted.� She gave a cheery wave to her parents who were on their way home. �Don�t stay up,� she called. �I�m staying out till dawn at least!� Kathy�s parents waved back and left her to her celebration. Bob looked at her teasingly as they started dancing. �No silly. I haven�t had that since I was 15. They wouldn�t dare try to give me one now that I�m �all grown up�.� �All grown up, and yet you still live with your parents.� �Not still, again. And it�s not like I live with them, I just happen to rent a flat in the same house. They treat me like they would any other tenant. �Oh sure. My landlady always cooks me dinner, washes my laundry and does my grocery shopping for me.� Kathy tried to hit Bob. �Oh shut up. You know it�s just temporary because Mum was afraid I�d get too stressed out with all the training I have to go through this next wee while. Once I return from the moon,� at this Kathy gave a small squeal, �I�ll be out looking for a new apartment again.� �Yes, I know. And truth be told, I�m insanely jealous of you. It would be so nice not to have to waste time being domestic. When I come home I just want to head straight to bed, the last thing on my mind is trying to find something to eat and tidying up the mess that was once my home.� A fast, loud number came on next making any further conversation impossible. A girl came up and cut in on them, so Kathy wandered off, trying to find something to drink. She never made it to the punch though, as one of her other friends intercepted her, wanting the next dance. They guys so far out numbered the girls, that it took quite awhile before she was allowed to leave the dance floor again, drenched in sweat, with very tired feet and absolutely dying for a drink. At the refreshment table she bumped into Graham Greenside, the instructor who would be in charge of most of the preparations she, Bob and their third shipmate, Bryan would be going through the next two months. �Hello Kathy. Congratulations on making it this far. I hope you�re ready for the next step on the way to the stars.� �Thank you, Mr. Greenside. As ready as I�ll ever be. This is my big dream, you know.� �Yes, I do. And I understand you completely. It draws you, doesn�t it?� Kathy nodded. These were exactly her sentiments as well. She�d been drawn towards the big black of the sky for years, and now it finally seemed to be within reach. �Well, I won�t detain you any longer, Kathy. Enjoy your celebration. It will be the last chance you have to party until you�re back home from the moon. After tonight it�s lots of exercise, good nutrition and plenty of sleep for all of you. Understood?� �Yes, sir!� Kathy saluted. �Good girl. See you on Monday.� After Mr. Greenside had left, Kathy tried to get back into the spirit of the party, but she realized she was really far too excited to be satisfied with the � to be honest � rather mundane talking and dancing. Not wanting to have to explain herself, she didn�t say goodbye to anybody, but just slipped out at an opportune moment. She was therefore rather surprised to hear Bob call out after her. �Kathy, wait.� She stopped, and allowed him to catch up before resuming her walk. �I�m sorry I didn�t find you to say goodbye Bob, but I wanted to slip out unnoticed. I was afraid people would try to get me to stay if they knew I was leaving.� �Is that so awful? Doesn�t that just mean that people enjoy your company?� �No, it�s not awful and no it doesn�t mean that people enjoy my company. It just means that either they�re having so much fun at the party that they never want it to end, and if people leave, it will, or it means that they�re having an absolutely horrid time, and wish they could leave too.� Bob laughed. �That�s being blatantly honest! Anyway, I�m not going to try to get you to stay, but why are you leaving?� �I had a talk with Mr. Greenside, and it just suddenly all felt so pointless. In two months we�re going to be up there,� Kathy said and pointed to the moon. �That�s the real cause for celebration. Not just getting some diploma, saying I�m allowed to start the preparations for it. Once we return from the journey I�ll want to throw the hugest party you can imagine, and tell everybody about it. But for now, I just want to start preparing and be on our way. I know Mr. Greenside won�t be there until Monday, but at least I can get a bit of workout done and look at some of the papers over the weekend.� �I see what you mean. Part of me feels the same way. Come on Kath. Let me walk you home.� �Bob, no. There�s no need to. Why should you miss out on the celebrations just because I�m a party pooper? Please just go back. I�ll be fine on my own.� �Nonsense! No, I mean, yes of course you�ll be fine on your own, but I was just thinking of going home myself, so you weren�t �pooping� my party at all. And really, we�re going the same direction most of the way anyway, so it would be rather ridiculous of us to wakl 10 meters apart, wouldn�t it?� Against her will Kathy laughed. �Yes, it would. Alright then, since you have been so gallant and refrained from trying to persuade me to stay, I guess I shall have to return the favour.� �That�s me, a gentleman to the bone.� Solemnly he offered her his arm, solemnly she took it and they then both burst out laughing when they happened to look at each other. �Right then,� Bob said when he got his breath back. �What did you and Mr. Greenside talk about back there?� �Nothing special actually,� Kathy admitted. �He was just mentioning how we should be careful to get enough sleep, food and exercise until the flight, and it made me want to start right away. I know one more day won�t make any difference but�� She trailed off shrugging apologetically. �But you didn�t feel like staying at the party because it seems weird to celebrate your birthday, when you won�t get your present for another two months?� Bob suggested. Kathy smiled at him. It was so nice how he always understood her. It was such a shame that they had never fallen in love with each other. But then they probably wouldn�t have been as good friends now if they had. �Something like that.� �Look at the moon tonight. Isn�t it amazing? It does seem very fitting that there should be a full moon tonight. I look at a sight like this and can�t help but marvel at the wonders of God�s creations.� �Indeed,� Kathy replied. She always got a bit uncomfortable when he went off spouting his �religious babble� as she�d once called it. Not that he ever hit her over the head with it, he was very far from being a Bible-basher, his faith was just such a big part of his life that he would make comments like that all the time. Perhaps that was what confused her the most, that it wasn�t �put on�, but that somebody as well-educated as he actually believed those fairy tales. Kathy only ever went to church at Christmas where it was part of the tradition. There didn�t seem to be much point to it otherwise. To avoid further remarks in that direction, she quickly changed the subject. �Don�t you find it a bit strange that they�re finally resuming the lunar space program after so many years?� �I do actually, but then I also find it rather weird that they canned it in the first place. Three landings on the moon in quick succession, 4 more planned when the funding was pulled and then� Nothing!� �Perhaps the public had lost interest and didn�t want their tax money to be wasted going back to someplace we�d already been?� �Perhaps� It just seems weird to me. Mankind has always been fascinated with the idea of space travel ever since they discovered there was something out there. Jules Verne wrote about going to the moon already in 1865 � a hundred years before it became a reality, and yet, once we�ve been there, it just� stops being interesting? I don�t get it.� �No, neither do I. If somebody had told people back then that after the final voyage, the moon would be left alone for the next 40 years, nobody would believe them. They were all certain the moon would be the new �place to go� � open for the public before the end of the Millennium.� Kathy shook her head. She�d long since stopped trying to understand the bureaucratics behind the space program. It still puzzled her though. Their talk had made fast work of the walk, and they had arrived at Kathy�s doorstep. She leaned over and gave Bob a kiss on the cheek. �Well, thank you for walking me home, Bob. Even though I could have managed perfectly well on my own, the company was very nice.� �No worries. Sleep well, Kath. I�ll see you on Monday.
|