Escaped through the hatch!
No time for my suit.
No time for my helmet;
No time for my boots.

I’ll chance it outside,
It’s Earth-like enough;
Four light-years’ travel
Is making me tough.

I must save this mission.
Plain to see:
They’re changing into Centaurians,
The whole crew except me.

Dave and his wife Kate live in rural Pennsylvania with their two hungry rescue cats. His work has appeared in Fifty Word Stories. He’ll always be thrilled remembering seeing Space Shuttle Columbia land at Edwards in 1983.