Mother's Scout

My builders have finally let me sleep.

I am far from home where the cold light of Sol does little to warm, being only a brighter spark among billions and billions.  For decades I have been on a journey with a restless decaying fueling my trip since the warm golden light of my family's benefactor would not reach far enough into the icy black.

My fingers are numb.

My ears are deaf.

My eyes are blind.

My heart is still.

My skin is colder than cold.

I have died...but the shell of my body travels still and carries within it something very much alive...from somewhere very much alive and well...I carry the soul of my mother and her children who built me and sent me into the void.

I cannot feel its presence on my side any longer but I know it is there.  I long to reach out and touch it reassuringly as it waits patiently, the murmurs of the Earth on a golden circle that blazes with spiritual light like the sun so far away. A map for the wayward traveler is scrawled onto its surface along with glyphic marks to aid in understanding the many children my mother has borne.

Before I lost my sight I turned and looked back at my home where it lay as a blue speck barely visible amongst the millions of suns.  An overwhelming awareness of the fragility of my birthplace leapt into my mind, but I felt the hope that was imparted by the gleaming metal disc that carried the memories of a planet, of a race, of a family to which I belonged.  I am the representative of us.

If my body is found so shall my gift be found.  Perhaps one day a stranger will appear before my mother and her countless billions of children.

Away at seventeen kilometers per second towards new life.

Peace.
Andrew W. 10/99

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