Boat to the Stars

Hello the Stars

Auxentios had closed his eyes when he felt they were ascending higher.  Phaidros kept one eye open, though he felt the fear of it all in the pit of his stomach. They gripped one another tighter. The boat glowed before a shiny mist enveloped the two men and the boat started hurtling through the sky. They'd never seen anything move this fast, not even the best horses in Athens. Phaidros quickly closed his eye and hoped for the best. The speed of the boat was ferocious, just enough to break through the atmosphere and then suddenly... stillness and calm. Phaidros waited awhile but then became too curious and upon slowly opening his eyes, saw the darkness of the sky and stars and below them lay... the Earth. He was overwhelmed with what his eyes were seeing.

"Auxentios Auxentios LOOK! Look at this perfect imagery before you!" He cried, tears forming in his light blue eyes.

Auxentios still clung to him trembling, he then flicked open his eyes and covered his mouth in shock.

"Phaidros where are we? Is this heaven? Have I entered the heavens with you?"

Phaidros took hold of his face and looked in his hazel eyes, the trillions of stars reflecting in them and said:

"Indeed you have, Auxentios" 

"We are in the realm of the gods now..." he continued.

He let go of Auxentios' face and lightly traced down his cheeks.

"Athens and the whole world are at our feet, Phai" Auxentios whispered.

"Thank you for believing in me, Aux" he said after a while.

"There was no reason why I shouldn't" he paused. "Other than the obvious of course" They both broke into a relieving laughter. "I'll never doubt your imagination again, Phai"

Hours seemed to pass by while the two Athenians gazed at the glowing orb before them. When Phaidros suddenly had an idea.

"Auxentios, do you think we could break free from the Earth's grasp? Do you think we could fly elsewhere and then return home to Athens?"

Auxentios looked at him in disbelief.

"Oh come on Aux... we've got this far... don't look at me like that...come on..."

Auxentios closed his eyes slowly and smiled.

"of course" he whispered.

Phaidros broke into a relieved smile.

"Not like I can leave..." Auxentios said jokingly and looked down at the Earth.

Phaidros pulled him closer and ruffled his hair.

"You're damn right there, Aux"

"How will we do it?" 

Phaidros shook his head and the realisation dawned on him.

"After all this and how far we've got ... to break free of the Earth seems to be the most difficult part" he said dejected.

Phaidros closed his eyes and  faced away from his companion for a while. Auxentios felt bad that he couldn't be of more use to him at this time. However he casually picked up both of the oars and even if it led to nothing, he began rowing with all his might, he did this for a few minutes when he felt their craft beginning to pick up speed, he continued until it pushed him to his physical limits and threw the right oar back into the boat. Phaidros lifted his head and looked around to see what was happening. 

"Auxentios, what are you doing?"

"What ever I can Phaidros..."

Auxentios grabbed Phaidros and held him as they violently turned in orbit. Auxentios then began to row viciously and through his perseverance they finally broke free of Earth's orbit. Phaidros prayed his thanks to the gods for Auxentios' strength. They had truly been blessed.

Auxentios turned to face Phai.

"Help me steer this" he said excitedly.

Phaidros grabbed the other oar and they both rowed into the eternal darkness of space. The boat glowed. The men somehow thought it knew where they wanted to go and so the boat delivered that promise. The sparkling mist still shielded them from the vacuum of space as they plunged ever deeper into the solar system.