The Speed of Light (250 words) – written 3/15/16

The first ship to reach the speed of light was supposed to be a testament to man’s ingenuity. Instead, the ship created a crack in the sky, as if going so fast had slammed it against an invisible barrier that none had been able to see before.

Scientists couldn’t explain the phenomenon and immediately broke into the dance of research that typically followed such events. Ships would creep to the edge of the gash that blotted out the stars, but never beyond – the last ship to pass through it never returned.

The gash seemed impenetrable to everything. Like a black hole, it swallowed everything: radio waves, x-rays, probes, satellites. Nothing was reflected and nothing returned.

People wanted to be concerned about the slit in the sky – after all, it was clearly visible from everywhere in the solar system – but didn’t really know how. Since its creation, the gash hadn’t grown and seemed to be otherwise inert.

It was a puzzle – without a solution or reason.

Fear was replaced by apathy, then disregard. Like the moon, the gash faded to a fixture of daily life, failing to inspire the awe it deserved. As years passed and the gash remained, what caused its inception was forgotten. So another ship was built and mistakes were repeated.

As it passed the speed of light, the rift stretched, widened.

There was a great tearing noise and it grew to a size none thought possible, then opened.

Peering out of it was a massive eye.