Misconceptions

People seem to think that, when you get up into space, you're leaving gravity behind. It's a pretty notion, one all wrapped up in poignant symbolism worthy of Tennyson himself (or whoever your favourite poet might be - I don't really give a shhhh--- shoestring). Leaving everything that could possibly hold you back down to Earth in those few moments of gut-wrenching, blackout-inducing, rocket-boosted acceleration, blasting off into the great unknown. As the g's build up and your stomach tries its very best to emerge out the back of your spine, you feel yourself moving faster, faster, faster fasterfasterfaster - tearing you from the grip of all the lost dreams, bitter disappointments, iron-bound heart-hurts and spirit-hurts, all the lead weights sitting pretty in the depths of your soul. Just before you lose your vision (and your lunch) -poof!- out you come the other side, floating, spinning, free-wheeling among sparkling diamonds set in that immense black velvet-ness of space. You're free.

It's a pretty notion, sure enough. But any tenth grader worth his A grade in Physics can tell you - it's complete and utter bullshit. Gravity isn't that easily hoodwinked, and you sure as hell - or, well, gravity - can't run away from what's inside of you. You're still burdened, still falling - just that now you're falling around the earth, not towards it.

- Adrian

I dream of freedom

Consciousness.

"Am I dead yet"

The air around me seems to pause.

"I wish you'll stop saying that"

"I gotta prep for it Mom. It's a life changing event." With some difficulty I turn my head. Mom's lips are pressed into a thin line, her brows deeply furrowed. "Don't joke about things like that."

I close my eyes with a huff, feeling infinitely more tired than I was before I woke.



I honestly don't mind it so much. Death.
Because the alternative, clinging onto this deadweight, useless lump of a body is beyond bearable. I barely have any control over it left. These days, it's just a continuous shuttle between hospitals to salvage the remaining pieces. It's depressing and exhausting and everything hurts. At the very least, death must be an escape from all of this. This immobility and heaviness and waiting to die.
I want to die. I can't wait for it. I feel like I'm hanging on the edge of a precipice, a steep drop to a thousand feet below. But I'm not scared. Some people are afraid to fall. I can't wait to fly.

Everything feels heavy, I feel so heavy. Lying here on this bed all day everyday. I can't wait, to be light and free again, to move my limbs with an ease that does not warrant conscious thought. I used to dance. Now, even the thought of crawling is a mere illusion. With every breath I suffocate, heavy hands pressing on me, holding me down. Creeping tendrils tying me to this Earth, this body. I want to fly but I can't. Not anymore.

When I sleep, I dream of technicolour. I dream of an unimaginable freedom and being able to breathe once more. In my dreams I am light, lighter than stardust. I drift and I fly and I soar higher than any cloud. It is thrilling and tingly, and I've never felt so alive. In those moments, I am free.

-WenZhen

Madame Possessive

They descend softly slow,

but surely, down from high above.  

White, unique as skin, pure as love,

fragile as bones.

She calls out and they come.
Crystallized edges that threaten,

as if to defend grounded children,

soothed with welcoming warmth. 

Possessive nature, keeps us all

forever by her side,

through cold days and nights,

through times tough and beautiful. 

Flying, soaring, reach

for new adventures we seek. 

But slowly, softly and sure,

we'd all come back to her.

Agnes Lee

Topic: Gravity (day 3)