NanoWriMo 2009 - Fic 6

[deathpixie]

The bell rang for change of shift and the man made his way down to his bunk, near-blind in the sudden darkness beneath decks even as he removed his goggles. He near-collided with one of his shipmates, who slapped him good-naturedly on the back before slipping on his own goggles, twin circles of blackened glass that made him instantly anonymous. Light poured down into the narrow corridor as he opened the hatch and the man winced, shutting his eyes instinctively against the honey-yellow glare.

Too long in that light, they said, and you went mad. Addled by beauty.

Wearily, the man reached his cabin, began stripping away protective clothing, until he was clad in just a loose cotton undershirt and pants. Once, he thought as he lay back on his bunk, there had been darkness, the thick blue velvet of the night sky broken only by starlight and moonlight. Long gone, now - they'd been travelling for so long in the light that no-one really could remember what their purpose was, what was their destination. Under that light, everything got stripped away. Colour. Shape. Form.

Everything.

They were naked before the face of god and only their blind human drive to continue kept them going, drifting along like so many dandelion seeds. One by one, the crewmen forgot themselves, forgot their pasts, their futures, faceless ghosts toiling without knowing why. No names, no countries, no histories.

Nothing.

Only the light and the low hum of their wind-propelled engines, into eternity.



Inspired by this image.