No particular reason
I was woken at 4am by the radiator, whistling like a kettle. Despite being on the frost setting the radiator was red hot. No amount of twiddling the dial would get it to shut up or shut off. The heat was stifling so I opened the blind and window to let in some cool air.
Starlight flooded in along with the draft of cold air. The sky was incredibly clear, a myriad of stars were visible, uncommon in light polluted London. Staring down at me was the constellation of Orion.
I learnt to read at a young age due to my mum’s efforts with flash cards. She was an avid reader, and when relaxing could often be found deep a book. She would take me to the library with her, but despite this I didn't read much. At home I'd read comics, and in the library I'd look at the Asterix books. Basically reading was an effort, and I was far too lazy.
Perhaps it was the influence of Dr Who and Blake’s 7, but I was about 11 years old when I talked to mum about maybe reading some science fiction. She told me of a book she'd read and enjoyed when she was younger which I might like: Starman Jones, a novel about a boy who wants to go to the stars, by Robert A. Heinlein. Within a year I was reading voraciously, a habit I've never been able to shake.
It must have been around then that I'd looked at the night sky, and decided that one day I would travel to the middle star of Orion’s belt. It was picked for no particular reason except it was easy to find in the winter night sky. Alnilam is a blue-white supergiant. Within the next million years it may turn into a red supergiant and explode as a supernova.
Visiting Alnilam is still on the to do list, and while unlikely to be achieved given our slow progression into space, when I see Orion I always remember my childish pledge.
Starlight flooded in along with the draft of cold air. The sky was incredibly clear, a myriad of stars were visible, uncommon in light polluted London. Staring down at me was the constellation of Orion.
I learnt to read at a young age due to my mum’s efforts with flash cards. She was an avid reader, and when relaxing could often be found deep a book. She would take me to the library with her, but despite this I didn't read much. At home I'd read comics, and in the library I'd look at the Asterix books. Basically reading was an effort, and I was far too lazy.
Perhaps it was the influence of Dr Who and Blake’s 7, but I was about 11 years old when I talked to mum about maybe reading some science fiction. She told me of a book she'd read and enjoyed when she was younger which I might like: Starman Jones, a novel about a boy who wants to go to the stars, by Robert A. Heinlein. Within a year I was reading voraciously, a habit I've never been able to shake.
It must have been around then that I'd looked at the night sky, and decided that one day I would travel to the middle star of Orion’s belt. It was picked for no particular reason except it was easy to find in the winter night sky. Alnilam is a blue-white supergiant. Within the next million years it may turn into a red supergiant and explode as a supernova.
Visiting Alnilam is still on the to do list, and while unlikely to be achieved given our slow progression into space, when I see Orion I always remember my childish pledge.
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