Supplementary
Mother’s Voice
Vasil Berezhnoy
Read the story about the spirit of discovery that prompts a
young astronaut to go looking for another world.
When she came to the Moon she looked around and
admired the moonscape: ‘I never realized it was such a beautiful place’.
He took her along the endless tunnels of
Selenopolis, showing her the tall structures, which propped up the star-studded
sky.
‘It’s so easy to walk here, son!’
His mother had still a young, ringing voice:
perhaps because she had been such a great singer! So long as he could remember
her, she had always liked singing. On holidays, when they had guests, she sang
cheerily and enthusiastically, but on weekdays, as she went about the chores, her singing was muted and a little sad.
She even talked in a singsong manner. Now, too, there was something unusual in
her voice – perhaps she was excited because it was her first visit to the Moon!
As he listened to her familiar voice that was so dear to him, he wondered why
it had this ringing sound.
‘Back home the orchards
are in bloom.There will be a lot of fruit this year, if only the frosts don’t
strike. Will you come for a holiday in the summer?’
He almost told her about the expedition. The words
were on the tip of his tongue, but he checked himself. Why make her worry?
Worry. That was it. There was worry in her voice. The words were cheerful but
the voice was worried. Had she guessed that this was their parting!
‘It’s easy to walk here,’ he said, ‘but the
distances are long. Selenopolis occupies more than a hundred square kilometres.
Let’s ride for a bit’.
A moving pavement covered with green plastic
strips rushed them through echoing tunnels and spacious caves with walls
sparkling in the light of the quartz lamps.
The elevator delivered them to the surface. She looked in silence at the
enormous lily-shaped tent over a crater that was at least a kilometre in
diameter.
‘The community of Nations Square,’ he told her.
‘People of different nationalities who work in Selenopolis come here after
work. And there are some tourists. They’re walking towards the lake. It’s quite
an exotic experience to have a swim on the
Moon.’
‘I’m sure it’s better in the river Dnieper when
you come to the Earth for your holiday.’
When they looked at the astrodrome, where two
spaceships the size of the Ostankino TV tower were pointed into the black void of the universe, she sighed again.
‘What are these?’
‘Long–range spaceships, Mother. They’re
planning an expedition to a neighbouring galaxy.’
She screwed up her eyes to look at the rockets
where assembly men were busy. They looked quite small from a distance.
She said quietly: ‘Why should people go off
into the unknown? Why ask for trouble?’
‘These are very reliable spaceships, Mother!’
‘Wouldn’t it make more sense to settle properly
on the Moon first, and then on the planets in the solar system, before going
further?’
It was now his turn to sigh. ‘You may be right,
but…’
‘But what?’
‘How do I know?’
He longed to tell her about the flight he was
longing for and about how nervous he had been when confronted
by the selection commission. But he checked himself. It was their last meeting
before his departure, so why spoil it?
Mothers were all the same, and she was sure to
get upset.
He felt good listening to her. It didn’t matter
what she was talking about, he just wanted to hear the voice that was so dear
to him.
‘Do you know why people settle down on the Moon
so easily?’ she was philosophizing. ‘It’s because they are in the gravitation
field of their native Earth, under their native Sun. It’s the space allotted to
us by nature. But if you leave your Sun…anything might happen…’
He listened and listened as if drinking water
from a spring on the Earth, in the shade of trees. His mother, looking in the
direction of the vast blue globe, lowered her voice and continued:
‘Look, son, isn’t it a miracle? The Earth
floats through space, all by itself.
See the snow-cap on the pole, and the
glittering ocean! The cradle of life. And you want to leave this fabulous
beauty!’
He suddenly saw everything with different eyes.
He saw how beautiful his native planet was, a real wonder of nature.
He had never felt that way before. His heart
ached.
‘When will you take your holidays?’
‘I don’t know, Mother… That’s why I asked you
to come. I don’t know when we’ll see each other again’.
But he knew very well that there would be no
holidays and that his mother was seeing him for the last time. The thought of
such a tremendous journey was already sending a chill through his heart.
‘At least try to come in the Autumn,’ she
pleaded, ‘in time for the apples and pears… and the water-melons.’
‘You think I don’t want to walk barefoot on the
dewy grass?’
‘Of course, you’ll walk on the dewy grass. And
you could visit your relatives and friends’.
She shrank from the thought that her son might
go off into space and be lost to his relatives forever.
‘They’ve deepened our pond; it’s full of fish
now, You like fishing…’
‘Operator on duty,…... report to office,’ a
voice bellowed from the loud-speaker.
He pushed a button and the screen went dark.
His mother fell silent.
‘Coming’
He often plays back this recording and he feels
as if he is walking again with his mother on the Moon, looking down at his
native planet. Their group had gone off to another galaxy
after all: they had left their native Sun, which was now just 12th - magnitude
star, visible through the telescope. And they couldn’t see the Earth at all.
Why had they gone? Because they were young.And
humanity is young.
Related Topics
Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, DMCA Policy and Compliant
Copyright © 2018-2024 BrainKart.com; All Rights Reserved. Developed by Therithal info, Chennai.