Ice Dreams

Ice Dreams

The Earth seemed to float against an obsidian backdrop, framed in a halo of light. That has to be the most beautiful sight in the … Eric paused in mid-thought. With a wry chuckle, he finished … in the world.

Eric thought of the series of events that had brought him here. He was part of the mission to disassemble the Hubble which had been replaced in 2012. Now, this once proud symbol of progress was a ticking bomb, waiting for its orbit to deteriorate and its fragments to hurtle down on an unsuspecting planet.

“How could this happen?” His voice sounded muffled in the helmet. During a routine space-walk, one of the large panels had broken loose. Without warning, he was swept away in the direction of the planet, the safety cord shredding like a cobweb.

Eric glanced down at the internal display. “Air, ten percent. Battery life, one percent” He had shut down every non-critical system in the suit so that the locator beacon would continue to mark his position. “It’s not over. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he murmured, ignoring the cold devouring his arms and legs.

He refocused on the Earth. The last time I was there … Eric’s thought went back to his wife. Beautiful Jessica, who he had fallen in love with in high school, had insisted that he take his daughters skating. She knew that the mission would take over our lives and how precious time was …

He remembered sitting by the lake, afterward, by a small fire. Swaddled in blankets against the chill, they sipped campfire cocoa and laughed about how graceful he was in space and how clumsy he was on the ice.

He no longer felt the cold. Closing his eyes, he smiled. He was heading home.

An entry for "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge" 
Prompt Write a story that includes the line: "Let's not get ahead of ourselves"
Word Limit: 300
Word Count: 300