Chaotic Space Peace

We're going to space! It is the space shuttle Discovery's final mission, and we are part of the many members embarking on it. It's a short mission, and one that will end in chaos. We are trained to eject from the spacecraft in pairs, to fall into earth's ocean upon our return. the day has come, and we take our seats. Excitement flows throughout our bodies, and through again. We can only look up, high into the sky, and out into space where our destination awaits us. I breath. I prepare. I focus. Everything goes silent moments before take-off. There we together find that chaotic peace just before something really big is about to unfold before you. And such a thing did unfold, as the thrusters ignited, and we found ourselves accelerating away from this confining planet, and up, up, and away into the great majesty that is space. The journey is shaky, but short. Within minutes we the boosters are dropped to the earth's surface, and we are soaring freely in the sky above; rather, the space above, no longer ahead of us, but now here with us, here with me. Me, in space, a child's dream fulfilled in the young man that I am. A dream, complete. I am whole. I am new. I am real. I am perfection. Caught in peaceful suspension in a place of supreme beauty, we float, and I take my first gaze out the small window I find nearest myself. My breath is stolen, and I am frozen. A similar, silent chaotic peace floods through my veins, rushing to bring serenity to my bones. This is the truest form of enlightenment. Right here, right now, in this moment, I am truly alive. My suspended consciousness is interrupted by a thrusting of the engines beneath us. A violent shaking ravages the cabin as we strap ourselves back into out seats. The mission has all too quickly come to an end, and it now time for our return to our prison of a planet we call Earth. Every time the boosters kick in, I grab tightly at the chair as the atmosphere grows extreme with intensity. They thrust us back in the direction of our dirty sphere, turning on, then off. Then on. Then off. On. Off. On. Off. On. And at the end of the final boost, we plummet through the fiery atmosphere at lightning speeds, without catching a break. No time to breath. We dive, dive, dive...until we decide it is time. Time to pull the lever. With a quick glance at my partner, we pull without reluctance and instantly find ourselves flying through the air. We are meant to land in the ocean water, close to the shore. Most of the others do just that, without fail. But not us, not I. I am headed straight for the concrete wall, right where it meets the water. I know I'm not going to be ok. As this realization makes its home in my mind, my head hits a side rail above the wall, and my body smashes against the concrete. My body is broken into two, a headless, lifeless body, which falls to the floor of the ocean, and a head, rolling up onto the sidewalk. I am not dead. I am still conscious. I watch as my crew mates gather themselves and leave for land. I watch as I am left alone to die. Life slowly escapes me, and I fade into the darkness. A final chaotic peace joins me in this new journey, and I am gone. It has been a good day.