The Icarus Irony

S. L. Jordan
2 min readJan 8, 2021
Space

Through barely a whimper, the engines of my gleaning cargo ship came to a halt, leaving me hanging dead in the sky. My lifeless ship and I were frozen in orbit, aimed straight for the rocky moon below. Sitting behind the ancient controls of my star freighter, I wiped my brown and sighed in anguish. After all the battles and run-ins with pirates and the law, this was finally it. A simple failure of my warp drive would be my demise, floating lifelessly in a degrading orbit, until I either froze, cooked or asphyxiated.

In the end, I always knew the void would swallow me up. Just another calamity in the harsh barren landscape I had lived in. I quietly activated my help beacon, and decided to take one last walk around my depressing home. Without the sound of lively machinery, or lights beyond those for emergency, the ship was eerily quiet. Dying out here, I always knew would come. But the loneliness of it all? I was not ready for that. My feet made clanks with each step, echoing out for only me to hear.

Once I had a crew, now I have just myself. One by one, they left, draining the liveliness until there was none but me. No one to turn to, no one for help. Nowhere to even go. My greed and blood thirst had destroyed the life I once held dear. And now, it was a fitting end. I would simply fade to black, and never be missed.

Here I am, a pirate, reminiscing the good times. Was I finally starting to crack? Was I burning through oxygen that fast. As more and more systems went off for the last time, I pulled myself back to the burnt out cockpit, to take a look at the stars one final time. It was a dreamlike state, euphoria of a life once lived washing over me.

Alas, the orbit had degraded, and I drew ever closer to the foreboding, empty moon below. The ship began to tumble lazily on her final descent, approaching the ground faster and faster. Gritting my teeth, I stared death head on, and approaching, totally alone, and isolated from the world.

Thanks for reading! I plan to write at least one short fiction story per week! Drop a clap or comment! Subscriptions are always appreciated!

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S. L. Jordan

Just a guy that likes to write. Most of the time I’m writing short stories and fiction, with a tad of whatever captures my interest this week. See you soon!