First Time

Tom had been pinning away to visit the stars for a decade. Riding the elevator to the spacecraft’s crew hatch, his stomach quivered. He found his seat; he was the first one to arrive. Departure was in one hour. His hands shook, buckling his chair’s safety harness. An attractive woman unbuckled the safety harness in the seat across the aisle to sit. She turned to Tom and smiled, “I’m so nervous. Do you ever get afraid?” Tom thought through so many responses that a quantum computer would be impressed. Finally, he deflected with the truth. “This is my first time.”