Writer Unblocked

By Rachel H Grant

Felicity stared at the stars above and below, a miracle in motion, a sea of molten black dotted with frozen fire. Outer space had trapped her in its web, a simmering thirst in her veins.

Her peach-tinted lips drew in to a smile, accentuating the laughter lines around her large brown eyes. The ship’s lighting sparkled in her freshly dyed blonde hair.

Outer space was her home. She knew no other.

“We’re almost at the entrance field.” Malcolm’s eyes were grave, his long grey hair and ginger eyes giving him the appearance of a wizard from some mythical land. Or from some alien species, as yet undiscovered…

The six people on the control deck stared in wonder below.

Indigo light snaked towards them, bright and bewitching. Felicity’s eyes reflected the vibrant rays, as her smile turned to laughter, a dozen dreams dancing in her head.

At the centre of the light … nothing. Velvet black led to … nowhere.

Or seemed to. They were here to prove otherwise.

“A real black hole,” murmured Malcolm. “I have dreamt of this day. In fact I have had nightmares … but let’s not share them just now. No, this is a day of hope, of promise. The first space travellers to enter a black hole, to record it, to experience it … to capture it forever on record.”

“If only Jacob Turney could see us now.” Felicity closed her eyes in reverence to last century’s scientist who had first theorised that black holes could contain a solar system inside, a large cocoon of light and matter, with even the possibility of life. Of course he was ridiculed at the time. But in recent years his theory had gained some acclaim, with the eventual funding forthcoming for their current mission. To find and enter a black hole.

It was slowly coming nearer. Collectively, they held their breath in awe. This was it.

“Ten minutes to initial impact.” Malcolm smiled as he delivered the news. A lifelong fascination with black holes had ended here … or had only just begun. The team strapped in to their seats.

The indigo light grew fierce as they grew nearer, the light of a hundred new stars, the spark of creation at work.

The darkness beckoned, molten mysteries quiet within.

“Here it comes…” whispered Felicity. She could not move, transfixed by the black promise below.

They were in the indigo light now, as it threw its electric arms around the ship with a blinding hiss. Slowly the light dissolved in to a giant black eye, as the darkness devoured them. The ship gained speed, sucked in to the hole below, its claws seizing them … cutting in to their souls.

Felicity gasped as coldness gripped her heart.

The ship was shaking, violent jolts which vibrated through their bodies. Felicity’s strap ripped apart and she was flung across the deck. She lay unconscious for several minutes as the ship bounced like a ball on a football field. The rest of the crew remained frozen in their seats, shock silencing their thoughts.

Her breath in tatters, Felicity slowly raised her head.

The darkness was gone.

Light lanced through her eyes, so bright it felt as if her mind was melting. White light dissolved in to orange, then a burst of red, followed by green, then a beautiful blue, and finally a magenta firework of shimmering strength. All the colours of the rainbow.

Felicity could not move. They were here, she thought in disbelief. They were inside a black hole.

And they were still alive.

Malcolm softly crept up to her and put his arm around her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine now,” muttered Felicity as she realised that the ship had stopped shaking. Smoothly, they were continuing to the heart of the hole.

They were here, it was real.

The firestorm of light was decreasing in intensity. They could now see white clouds swirling beneath them, balls of cotton wool softness. This was not what they had expected.

The light around them was pale blue … almost like an Earth sky on a sunlit day.

As they moved lower the clouds dispersed. A collective gasp echoed softly around the deck.

Paradise was below them.

Or so it seemed. Green grass edged gracefully to silver lakes. Golden temples glistened in soft sunlight. Human-like forms were strolling hand in hand.

“This must be a dream,” intoned Felicity.

“We’re going to land,” decided Malcolm with finality in his voice. “This is what we came here to do. To discover all we can.”

“The people below don’t look hostile,” Gerald, the second in command, pointed out. He adjusted his coloured glasses. “Look they are waving at us!”

It was a gentle landing, co-ordinated by their skilled captain Herman, the wrinkles around his eyes creasing as he concentrated. The grass greeted their ship like an expensive carpet, soft and bump free. “Well that was the easiest landing ever!” he laughed.

They slowly disembarked to shrieks of delight from a small crowd running towards them. Children laughed as adults applauded. The women wore long dresses with sashes, peach, lime green, violet or pink. The men sported long flowing trousers and pastel-coloured shirts. Meanwhile the children seemed to be in party clothes, vying to be as fancy or as pretty as possible.

Felicity looked up. Yes, they were definitely bathed in sunlight, but she could see no sun. They had been right. The black hole supported an Earth-like world.

A tall woman at the front of the crowd in soft silver addressed them. Long blonde locks flowed over her shoulders, interwoven with daisies. Wise grey eyes appraised them.

“Welcome to Golden Sands, this is what we call our home, this land …” She waved her arm emphatically.

Felicity gazed at the landscape before her. There were mountains in the distance, and further still the hint of a blue sea. Nearer, a forest edged on to the meadow. A river ran through the grass, a weaving line of melodious motion. Doves flew above, and she noticed some unicorns grazing nearby. A dozen rainbows dotted the sky. A fairy flew round her head, teasingly, and then was gone.

Where was she? This was like a children’s story come true.

“I am Grace,” the woman was explaining. “I will look after you during your first few days here. Don’t worry, you will be very happy. This is the place where dreams are made. You will want for nothing. And you will soon make many friends.”

“We have come from Earth.” Herman spoke with uneasy wonder in his voice. “We are on a mission to explore a black hole, and …”

“You don’t need to tell me,” interrupted Grace. “I know all about you. I have been expecting you. You see, I am the Angel of Space Travellers.”

Silence met her words.

“I see you do not understand. This – here, what you see, all around you – it is already your home, it belongs to all of you, on Earth. You see, this is your Heaven. We are the afterlife. This is the paradise that awaits you all…”

“And heaven is housed, physically, within a black hole?” Felicity’s thoughts raced as her mind tried to comprehend.

“Yes, this black hole belongs to planet Earth … it is your heaven.”

“I can’t wait to tell everyone back home!” Felicity wrung her hands in excitement. “They won’t believe this … who could have guessed? This is beyond anything our expedition was expected to discover. Why many people even doubted we would come back alive!”

“And of course we can make you a Dream-master,” said Grace quickly. “You can connect with people in their sleep, show them visions of our paradise…”

“Why would I need to do that?” asked Felicity. “I will go on Global Number One Communication Channel and tell the whole world!”

Grace looked at her sadly. “You don’t understand yet. You are in heaven. The doubters on Earth were right. No human can enter a black hole and survive. Do you not remember the bright light as you entered? That, my dear, to tell you bluntly, was your experience of death. You are in heaven now … this is your home, forever.”

Gerald snorted. “I don’t believe in heaven! Where are we really?”

“We are in heaven? We’re dead?” repeated Malcolm. And then he smiled. “Of course it’s true. Where else could this possibly be? It is not scientific sense for a miniature Earth to be in a black hole, this must be a dream consciousness reality …”

“But no!” interrupted Felicity. “I can’t be dead. I have so much to do. So much more of the universe to explore, worlds to discover … it can’t all be over!”

“Of course there is always a choice.” Grace smiled in to her eyes. “I would recommend you stay here, enjoy your retirement, and relive your childhood fantasies. This is the land where fairytales come true. Or … well, you can choose to leave heaven. We can’t bring you back to human life, but you are free to roam as a ghost wherever you wish. We can eject your ship from here, back in to outer space … you can travel for all eternity if you choose, for as a ghost you will have unearthly powers, and can run your space vessel with no fuel, it will fly forever. But the choice is yours.”

“I am leaving,” said Felicity softly with finality.

The rest of the team stared at her. “You can’t!” cried Malcolm. “What kind of existence will you have? All on your own!”

“But I want … I want to travel space, I’m not ready to give it up!”

“Very well,” nodded Grace. “Of course there is always a get out clause. Say my name three times …. Whenever you want to return.”

“I think that may be a very very long time indeed …”

Felicity was smiling. Her dream had come true. She would travel space forever.

She closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she found herself on the ship, a welcome sky of velvet studded with silver stars all around. And below, the black hole, indigo light flowing in to the dark basin like spilt paint.

She looked down at her body that no longer breathed, and then laughed.

The ship was all hers now. There was no time to waste. She had a universe to explore. As she placed her hands on the control panel, the ship began to move.

Felicity gazed on the stars above and below, the poetry of space, the light of a hundred million galaxies, the promise of a thousand tomorrows.

Somewhere within, a black hole was opening in her heart. The call of heaven was in her head.

But she could never go back. This was her home now. She knew no other. Space had swallowed all her tomorrows.

Outer space, her destiny … her death.

She smiled, at one with the stars.