Dreaming in Space
The astronauts are dreaming in weightlessness.
They are floating, flying, and leaping great distances. Some dream of being on Earth, and feeling the heavy gravity.
They are on a six-month journey to Mars.
The first night’s sleep was disorienting.
After the high-stress launch into parking orbit, a day before the trans-Mars injection burn to leave Earth—dreams were lost and chaotic. Balance and spatial orientation were disrupted. The astronauts’ brains, confused, struggled with the absence of up and down. Some dreamt rooms back home were distorted, rotated with missing floors. Others dreamt of their arms feeling longer, or legs detaching and floating away from their bodies.
But now, a few days after the injection burn and on the way to Mars, the zero gravity has become the new normal.
The sun shines through the windows, though harshly, as the spaceship rolls, like meat rotating over a barbecue, evening out the heat on the ship’s surface.
The astronauts dream of swimming in darkness, surrounded by bodily shapes.
Some dream of Earth—the sound of rain, the smell of cut grass, the taste of fresh food, and a deep longing. They dream of meeting family on Earth, but are asked:
“What are you doing here? You should be in space.”
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J.Barry / Between Worlds
A series of short story-essays from inside the future. New piece every week.
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