The Adventures of Apollo C-19 / Jessie Schwartz

As many of you know, things here on Earth have changed. It’s not safe outside anymore. For that reason, I’m embarking on a voyage in my comfy, cozy home spaceship. The trip may be long, but it will be worthwhile-- a journey to a brave, new world.

The Adventures of Apollo C-19

Day 2: I am adjusting to life here in the Apollo C-19. Minutes are long and hours seem like a small eternity but, as we know, time passes differently here in space. Relative velocity time dilation causes time to go slower for me as my spaceship goes faster. One hour for me is probably a day on Earth, I’m going pretty fast. I often think of all the things I am missing-- birthday parties, going to the movies, playing with other people’s babies and dogs… but if I’m honest here there are a lot of things I am happy to be missing too. Sitting in traffic, being cold, having to get dressed every morning. 

Day 5: My spaceship is pretty well-outfitted. I’ve got six rooms, although one is just for cleaning and going to the bathroom and another I’m not really allowed to go into. Another astronaut is making the journey with me and that’s his domain. I mainly stay in the common area, there is plenty to do--exercise, clean, watch movies, and it has the most comfortable sitting area. That room also has the only window that you can see out from into outer space. It’s pretty quiet out there, pretty empty, but every now and then I see some life forms. I still get light through the window, so I’ve been trying to keep some plants alive but it appears that space travel doesn’t agree with them.

Day 7: Despite the seemingly endless hours, I’ve been trying to stick to regimented meal times to give myself the semblance of passage of time. Every morning I start with a pot of coffee, which I call “space fuel.” I look for creative ways to use my rations, but sometimes new isn’t always better. Tried and true has become my rule now. Cook an egg, boom. Food. Make a salad. Can’t really mess that up. It’s enough to roam through uncharted territories of the universe, let’s not get into the great unknown in the kitchen. 

Day 9: You may be wondering about the other astronaut here, and why he has a secret area that I’m allowed to enter. He spends a lot of time in his secret room, building things. I think he may be plotting against me or planning to launch an attack. Every now and then I’ll hear him laughing by himself in there. I think he may have lost his mind. One thing you don’t want is to be stuck in outer space with a madman..  Luckily I know where he sleeps, and I still have my wits about me, so that gives me the upper hand. 

Day 10: Something that I’ve noticed here in space is that it seems to have affected my vision. I will be focused on some work I’m doing on the control board and all of the sudden, my vision goes all glazed over, like I’m looking at a Magic Eye picture. At first, I thought it was my contact lens reacting to the lack of atmosphere, but then it started happening more often. Like every 25 minutes or so. It especially happens a lot when I’m looking at the control board. I have to blink a lot to keep refreshing my eyes. 

Day 12: I feel as though I’ve really gained a new perspective on this voyage. I have found meaning in some of the most mundane and menial things. For example, flossing. I never used to do it, but now I get a simple joy from feeling the in-between spaces of my teeth. I can also explore outside the spaceship if I wear a special mask and don’t go too far. And I don’t know if it’s my new proximity to the sun but I have a totally new appreciation for sunshine. It feels like a warm bath. 

For the most part, things have been pretty quiet aboard the Apollo C-19. I don’t know when we’ll arrive or even where we are going in the first place, but, as they say, the journey is half the battle.