Celestial Study. Chapter 1.
My goal was to write an old fashioned horror story, with themes of monsters and madness, retaining the old timey English language... but it's a futuristic sci-fi! Not sure I pulled it off 100% perfectly, but I hope you enjoy! ????
437 words.
Celestial Study
By Archangel Vulpine
Chapter One
It was six days after his disappearance that I learned where Jikuk had gone. My fellow researcher had urged me to leave him, to desert our shared vigil when my wife suddenly came into labour. Our duty, a cramped station orbiting a dying star, to watch as the celestial body breathed its last. We had arrived only three days prior and, having relieved our predecessors, began our observations and data collection. When the message arrived, he begged me to go. “Choose to witness birth over death. Do not miss a beginning over an end.” I was hesitant, but the persuasive feline convinced me. I agreed to depart, but vowed to return with haste after seeing my wife and child. Four days, maybe five, would Jikuk be able to manage without me before the workload overcame him. Oh, my dear friend. Had I not left you, maybe your fate would have been different.
Jikuk had been found adrift, aboard one of the station’s short range shuttles. Perplexingly, he was over twenty million light-years away aboard a vehicle incapable of travelling a hundredth of such a distance. His rescue was performed by local law enforcement who, promptly discovering his disturbed state of mind, conveyed him to the Magyarttle Mental Health Hospital on the quiet planet Krypstal. Upon my arrival, I was informed I had missed visiting hours and, due to the severity of my colleague’s condition, it was unlikely I would be permitted to see him anyway. Lodging in the nearest hotel, what little rest did come was fitful and ill received. My mind was entirely stuck on the condition of my friend and how I should find him when my visit was allowed. The next day, I returned to the institution and was able to see a Doctor Caryspus. A tall, lanky wolf, going grey about the ears, he was sympathetic and intrigued in my retelling of the last Jikuk and I spoke. Reassured I was unlikely to do anything to exacerbate his patient’s condition, he granted me access to see my friend. In truth, I believe the doctor shared in my curiosity and wished to see whether my presence would shed light on the mysteries surrounding the lost researcher. To hear my friend be referred to in such a way, as patient of a mental institution, was abhorrent. Only days ago had the two of us shared meals aboard one of the most advanced stations ever designed, ready to study the expiration of part of our universe. Yet, when I finally saw him, there was no denying my colleague and friend had gone quite mad.