Stratosphere

Your heart is beating quickly. You are on your own now, so very alone. Almost alone. You rev the engine and shoot forwards through the darkness. As you turn to look out the window, adrenaline courses through your veins as you realize that she is out there. You expected her sooner or later, you tried to prepare yourself but it was nowhere near enough. She peers in at you, deadly and beautiful. Stars twinkle in her eyes and her hair falls gently to earth as rays of light from the sun to the earth. She smiles slowly and your skin crawls with the knowledge that she could suck the air from your lungs and throw your husk of a corpse away with ease. She knocks on the window, beckoning for to to join her. Together you could be amazing. Together you could rule the galaxy, with no one to interfere. You could join her, be part of that spacious beauty, live in quiet peace and uplifting ecstasy, preserved and timeless, til the end of the universe itself. Your hand reaches towards the door handle, slowly. She is so beautiful. So breathtaking. But then your ship turns. Out of the very same window you catch sight of something else. Home. Gleaming green and blue, just a seemingly short trip away. Your hand drops from the handle and you push yourself towards the window, reaching your hand in a different direction, as if you could hold the rotating orb gently between your fingers. She taps again, impatiently, jealous of the simple beauty that has entranced you that is not hers. Stray hairs orbit around her face, making her glow softly. She laughs, the sound erupting into vivid cosmos, spreading through the universe instantaneously. You smile and brush a finger down the window, following the line of her face, but your longing for her is gone. You know that at night, when you lie in bed, there is only one place that you truly want to be. One sky you want to look up to. It is not her. Not the vast, alluring, beauty of open space. It is the blue open skies of home.