Floating

By Caroline Semel ‘20

You’re on a voyage in the thirteenth century, sailing across the tempestuous seas. What if, suddenly, you fell off the edge of the Earth?

-Inspired by Chandani Latey, University of Chicago, 1993

We had been sailing for months without any problem when the sky turned a dark, ominous grey. It was the kind of dark that would make you run for cover if you were on land, but there’s nowhere to hide in the middle of the sea. I told my crew to prepare, but there’s only so much you can do in a situation like that, so we prepared for the worst.

The clouds descended upon us, obscuring what vision we had left. Though I was blind and scared, I continued to steer our ship, hoping that the storm would pass, but it never did. The waves crashed over us and propelled us forward. I tried to fight against them, but it was no use. One person is no match against the anger of nature. The wind blew the wheel and I lost hold. We spun wildly. Our compasses failed.

And then I was falling.

I could no longer feel the rough winds or the water of the storm. I thought that perhaps this was what it felt like to die. No scenes of the life you had lived. No pain. Just falling forever into the nothingness below.

I finally convinced myself to open my eyes to see if I was ascending, rather than plummeting, but I wasn’t doing either. I was simply floating. My ship was splintered into ruins around me, and my crew was nowhere to be found.

But I was okay, floating among the stars.

I had never seen anything more beautiful than the bright glow of the spheres around me. There are so many of them. You could never see all of them from Earth. Those poor astronomers who thought they knew it all. The Earth, too, is beautiful from up here. I can see it all. Every tiny, undiscovered nook of the world is mine. But how could I get to it? How could I see my friends and family again? I knew it was dangerous to go on this adventure, but I never could have guessed I would’ve ended up here. I had dreamed of returning a hero who could tell everyone about what I had learned. But now I have all of this knowledge about the universe that I can never share. What’s the point of it if I’m the only one who will ever know?

I don’t know how long I’ve been here. I don’t know why I’m writing this. Who could possibly ever find it? Ever find me? I’ve tried to keep track of the days, but it’s too hard. I could’ve been here for years, but I have no way of knowing. I’m suspended in time and space. Is the Earth suspended, too? I am just left wondering.

Phoebus OnlineApril 16, 2020