A Day To Himself

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 13003.09

06 July 1969)

 

 

John awoke in his bed at 7:15 a.m. on Sunday morning, July 6. It

was an off day for NASA workers. He climbed out of bed, and exited his

bedroom. He went down the hall to the bathroom, which was empty,

stripped off his pajamas, and took a shower. He toweled himself dry,

redressed himself in his pajamas, and went back to his room to change

into fresh civvie clothes. He then exited the room, and went down the hall

to the kitchen, where he made himself a bowl of cereal, and a glass of

orange juice. He decided to go eat on the front porch as some of the others

were now awake, and were having breakfast at the dining table.

 

John went back down the hall, and stepped out onto the front porch.

It was going to be another hot day, but it wasn't too bad yet. There was a

slight breeze blowing, and it definitely helped cool you some. Fortunately,

the front porch did not get that much of the early morning sun, and you

coud actually sit out on the porch without drenching yourself in sweat.

He sat down in a chair with a table next to it. He placed his glass of

orange juice on the table, and proceeded to eat his cereal. He then sat

back in the chair, and sipped his orange juice, watching some cars

drive along the street, and the birds and insects creating their morning

noise.

 

John was debating on what to do with himself on this Sunday. He

knew he could actually take his mind off everything for one day, and his

brain definitely needed the rest. He decided he might actually take a walk

around the neighborhood, and just kind of, decompress himself, for want

of a better term. He was sort of a loner at heart anyway, and he realized

he hadn't had time to call his own for a while. Today was the day for that.

John finished his orange juice, and took his glass and cereal bowl back

to the kitchen. He quickly washed each one, and set them in the drainer

next to the sink to dry. He then left the kitchen, and went back out the

front door. He walked down to the sidewalk, turned left, and began his

trek.

 

He ambled along the sidewalk, taking in the scenery, and was

not in any hurry; he had the whole day as far as he was concerned. The

street he was walking along led him to the main part of the little town,

as it turned out. This reminded him of his boyhood hometown north

of here in Tennessee, where he had been born. He walked along the

sidewalk, occasionally glancing into some shop windows. Most of

the stores were closed, it being Sunday. There wasn't much traffic at

all, just the occasional automobile passing by. He circumnavigated

the little 'square', as he had heard other people call it, and returned

to the sidewalk that had brought him here, and would lead back to

the safe house.

 

He arrived back at the safe house, and walked across the lawn

to the front porch. It was definitely starting to heat up, and he thought

he would see if the bathroom was available for another shower. He

checked, and it was, so he went to his room, dug out a t-shirt and a

pair of shorts he had packed, and went down the hall to the bathroom.

He took a cool shower, dressed himself in the t-shirt and shorts, and

felt better. He decided he would check to see if there was a 'washing

machine', as they called them in this era. He made his way to the utility

room, and discovered there was one. He went back to his room,

collected his 'laundry', the term that was used in this age for soiled

clothing, and went back to the utility room. He studied the directions

that he found on top of the machine, and looked around for the

detergent. He found it, followed the directions, and soon had his

clothes spinning in the machine.

 

John had read that, in this era, women usually did the work that

he was doing, but, the women he was with were not form this era; he

wasn't about to ask any of them to do what he was doing for him. He

knew what the responses would be, and didn't care anything about

putting himself through that. There was stress enough on this mission

already, as far as he was concerned, and he wasn't about to add any

to it. A few minutes later, the machine stopped, and he got the slightly

wet clothes out. He looked around, and spotted a basket sitting in a

nearby corner. He put his clothes in it, and took the basket to his room.

 

John took the clothes out, and spread over the bed, and the

back of the chair that was in the room. He was pretty sure that, as hot

as it was getting, it wouldn't take the clothes long to dry out. He then

retrieved his packet containing his info on the mission, and took the

documents out to the chair on the front porch. He sat down, and

began going over the information again. On a mission like this, or

rather what this one was turning out to be, he thought to himself,

you had better be sure about everything. A little refresher would

definitely not hurt.

 

A little while later, he thought he heard a female voice say

something; he looked up, but there was no one there; he then

heard voices coming from inside the house, and decided that was

what he had overheard. He refocused his attention on the information

he was re-reading. A few minutes later, his stomach growled, and

it surprised him. He replaced the documents into his folder, and

took them back to his room. On the way, just before he started

down the hall, he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall of the

living area; he was surprised to see it was 1 in the afternoon. 'No

wonder my stomach's growling,' he thought, and continued on to

his room.

 

John exited his room, and went down the hall to the kitchen.

He opened the refrigerator door, and decided he would make himself

a ham-and-cheese sandwich. There was bread in a nearby wooden

box; he got two slices, found some mayonaise, and made his sandwich.

He poured himself a glass of milk, and, seeing the dining table empty,

took his food there, and sat down to eat. He finished his meal a few

minutes later, washed his saucer out in the sink, and put it in the

drainer. He wandered out to the living area, or 'living room,' it was

called in this era, and sat down in a chair against the wall. Someone

had left the, what did they call them, oh yes, 'television,' he recalled,

on, and the image being shown was that of a sporting event. He

watched for a few moments until it hit him what this had been called.

'Baseball,' he remembered; and watched with interest, figuring out

on his own the mechanics and intracasies of the game.

 

There was a huge crowd of people gathered in the 'stadium,'

he remembered they were called, and also remembered that this

sport had been very popular for a number of years in the 20th and 21st

centuries until it ceased to be played around 2045, he thought was

the final year. There were voices coming from the television as well,

and he remembered they had been called 'commentators,'; they were

supposed to know what was going on, and also offer their opinions

on the game as well. He watched for a time, then noticed he was

getting drowsy, and he realized, with something of a mild shock, he

was actually bored. 'Man, I haven't been this way in a long time,' he

thought, and smiled to himself. This was about as relaxed as you could

get, in his opinion.

 

John glanced at the clock on the wall again, and it was close to

6 p.m. He noticed the air felt slightly cooler to him, and decided to go

back out on the front porch, and just let the rest of the day go by. So,

he suited action to thought, and sat relaxing on the porch. Some of

the other members of the team who had also been away from the house

were returning, and nodded or said hello to him as they went inside.

He returned the greetings, and just sat watching the scenery and

surroundings; knowing tomorrow he had to return to the mission,

and all the stress that came with it. He devoutly hoped that everything

would turn out well; of course, if it didn't, they would not return to the

same era they had left. He thought of his mother and his family again,

and vowed he would return to them. It was about the only thing

keeping him going on this mission. Still, he couldn't shake a feeling

of dread; something bad was going to happen before this mission

ended; and that thought strengthened his resolve to do everything

in his power to not let it happen.

 

 

END LOG