"Waiting for the Long Sleep"

The boy grew restless towards the end. He started running from one wall to the next, sometimes in a circle. The first time, back at Earth orbit, the father had gotten irritated and told him to knock it off. This time he just watched, frowning.

Finally the boy stopped and asked, "When we leaving?"

"We aren't. Pretty soon, we're going back to sleep."

The boy made a face. "Again? I jus woke up."

"We haven't reached our destination yet. Got to be asleep to get there, remember?"

"Yup." He cocked his head to one side. "Think we could get one of the games out?"

The father shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "They're all behind us in storage, buddy. Can't walk there, y' know."

The boy took this well. He just went back to running around the cabin. Fifty years of pent up energy trying to get spent in a mere hour.

The father kept still. He watched his boy, he stared at the cabin's white walls, he looked at everything he could except the pods that would hold him and his. They would bring thoughts that he didn't want to deal with.

Time past too quickly. An attendant poked her head into the room and said, "Time to get ready."

"A moment," the father said, but the door had already slide close. The attendant was drifting to the next cabin. He could have caught up to her, but he doubted she had any more answers than before. Besides, he would have to leave the boy and he didn't want to do that. Because it would disturb him and because...

The thought was too painful to finish. Instead, he turned to his boy and said, "Come on, buddy. Let's do as the nice lady said."

"Ain't no lady. Jus a droid."

The father smiled again.

The boy didn't want to go into the pod, but not for the right reasons. "Too cold. Metal's too cold."

Before the father had coaxed and kidded. This time he kissed his boy on the forehead. "You won't notice for long, buddy. Just relax."

Even after the pod latch clicked shut, the boy twitched and stirred. Then the gas came. He was stilled. The chilling followed. Frost obscured him from view.

According to procedure, he was supposed to get into his own pod and wait. Instead, he paced about a bit. The Captain would notice this and send an attendant sooner or latter. Had to. Had to had to had to.

It might have been the same attendant popping her head in, "Sir, you must..."

He interrupted, "You did find out what happened, right? It's all fixed, right?"

The attendant paused, then said, "I don't know."

"What do you know? Why did those people die? Was it because of the pods? Tell me something, please."

"I could tell you something," the attendant replied. "I could tell you a lot of things. But they don't matter. What matters is that you return to your pod. We are low on air. New supplies will come from storage, but by then all the air here will be gone. You must sleep or you will die.

"The captain apologizes for these inconveniences and hopes you will travel with us again in future."

Not likely. Not likely by far.

He went to his pod and climbed in. For a moment he held the lid open above him, thinking. Was there a time when a man could feel more powerless? He couldn't remember. History had had no interest for him and there was no time now to learn.

The pod lid clicked shut, though he couldn't say whether he had let it close or if it had forced his arm down. Gas flooded in, bringing numbness to his extremities. He wondered if he would wake again or if his son would.

Then oblivion claimed him.

---

Not much to tell here. A little thought led to this short short story. Not very good, as the father really has no options, but it is a story and I really need to be writing more of them.