Shadow on Mars, Phaselis- Kemer, December 2008 - Mars'taki Gölge, Kemer-Antalya, Aralık 2008Voyage to Mars!
Proud of going to be the first female astronaut landing on Mars, she was looking to the large screen in front of her. The space shuttle was in total darkness, only a red “Exit” sign was blinking on top of the ceiling. She fastened her seatbelt, took a deep breath as the shuttle took of with a noise, her feet were off the ground in a few seconds.
The blue atmosphere of the Earth disappeared from the screen and she was floating in the middle of the Galaxy, cleaving among the bright stars and meteorites while gradually getting anxious. As the red planet appeared on the front screen, she felt tachycardia, sweating and heebie jeebies. Her accelerated heartbeats could be heard even from a long distance. She was feeling like suffocating as the space shuttle banged on the Red Planet.Even there weren’t any technical problem related with the cabin pressure, she was gradually sweating. It was still dark inside, the red exit sign was still blinking as the screen was displaying the cold, red lonely surface of Mars with crater lakes on.
She tried to breathe deeply and convinced herself that everything was in its normal course. Her tachycardia was worsening and she was feeling a disturbing nausea. Desperately looking at the red “Exit” sign, she unfastened her seat belt. The cabin pressure must be decreasing that she was in need of oxygen and fresh air. Feeling herself on a seesaw on the red rough surface before fainting, she reopened her eyes on a White Planet.
A doctor in a white coat was smiling at her tenderly. He was explaining her that a “claustrophobia” can be triggered by enclosed spaces, like the flight simulation game “Voyage to Mars” she attended in the Funfair.
© Voyage to Mars by Sibel Gögen (May 2009)
Copyright © 2009 Sibel Gögen
