A gust of wind from the door opening pulls me from my thoughts as someone in a heavy-duty space suit walks in.
“Hello, welcome to the Revelation Vortex Intergalactic Hotel. Checking in for tonight?” I ask, minimizing the tab of the Solitaire game I was playing and pulling up the check-in form on the computer.
“Hello, yes I’m checking in. I’ll be staying for just one night.” His voice is low and somewhat muffled due to the
“Lovely.” I fill out a box on the screen. “Name?”
“Soros Aeon.”
“What brings you to Delta Miriandynus this evening?” I ask as I continue typing into the form.
“Shipment delivery.”
“And what is your planet of origin?”
“Gamma Mithra.”
“Oh, wow. Long way from home, huh?” I’m off the usual customer service script now, but I can’t help it.
“You could certainly say that.”
“Is it hard? Being that far away from everyone you used to know?” Definitely not good customer service, but I’ve never been good at keeping quiet.
“Not really. I spent a long, long time on Gamma Mithra before I finally left. And I left because I realized that waiting can be a curse. Sometimes you gotta just take what you have and scrap all of it and make something new. Do you catch my drift, kid?” He looks at me to make sure I’m paying attention. I quickly nod, and he continues. “I tried the waiting thing. Kept my head down and tried to work hard enough to eventually climb my way up the ranks. But after a few years, I realized I couldn’t quite swing it, no matter how hard I tried. So I gave up, crossed the universe, changed my identity, and started taking shipments until I got my own ship, my own crew, and made my own little corner of the galaxy. Long story, kid, I know, but take this from it: Life is short, take it. Take your life and make it yours. You got potential, kid, I can see it in you. Don’t waste it.” He tosses me a coin, which I barely manage to catch.
I can’t see his eyes, but I like to imagine that he probably winked here. I sit there for a few minutes, processing, then pull up an empty word document and start drafting my letter of resignation.
