Something old
Daily Writing Practice #32: 02 December 2023
I’ve done work like this before. Both in terms of tone, and in terms of content.
I’m a huge fan of the Apple TV show For All Mankind, and this is something that feels like - to me - the first season of that show. I’m more focused on the space stuff than the drama stuff, obviously, but in an expanded version of this story, both would have their place.
The ending here was not what I originally planned. And I’m not sure that after editing I would keep what happens in this draft. I am a proponent of a long-term offworld colony. But I fear that a failure at any level of such a project would doom any future attempts. I would rewrite the ending to this to be more bittersweet than tragic. While tradedy absolutely has its place in stories like these - you cant really send people to another world and not expect some to die in heartstring pulling ways - for the message that I want to convey, the mundane is a better way to explore it. I would have the base become abandoned. Space trash on the moon, viewed as a hubristic attempt to be more than we really are. But the truth being that we didnt care enough.
I’m going to work on Earthship soon, which is a more optimistic story of humanity faring for space. A story of overcoming the adversity that is touched on here. There are definite tragedies that unfold in that piece, but they are muted in comparison to the hope and awe that exists in that world.
I love exploring these grounded (more or less) scifi ideas. The human need to explore coupled with the fear of overreaching. Both ends of that rope tug and pull on each other and both have their day and not. I am firmly on the exploration and hope end of the rope, even if I end up killing a bunch of astronauts. But it will always be the bureaucrats fault.
It took me an hour on the dot to write these 2,068 words