[ Maybe she'd been expecting some gasp of horror, or an accusation, like "How could you leave your kids behind?!" and is... surprised not to get any. Just more simple curiosity. In a weird way, it's almost worse - because she expected anger and scorn, and because she deserved it! And as such, is a little flustered as she tries to explain her mindset. ]
I - I gave myself all kinds of excuses. I told myself I was doing it for my kids, for history, that I always knew what I was doing, that I always came out of surprises just fine... but the truth was, I got on that rocket out of sheer selfishness. I was only thinking of myself. Of being the first one in the family to do it. I wasn't thinking of any consequences, of who I could be hurting...
[ She takes a deep breath. C'mon, stop delaying it. She rolls her shoulders... ]
... As it turns out, I didn't really know how to fly a rocket. I just... winged it, and guessed a lot. It got off the earth, and into the sky, and into the stars... I still wouldn't turn back, I was so caught up in all the new sighs... and then... turns out there's a lot of dangerous stuff in space. Like, giant storms of rocks that you don't see coming until it's too late, and are way too big to dodge.
[ She assumed he wasn't familiar with the term "meteor shower", so best to keep it simple. ]
... So I crashed into one of those giant rocks. And the rocket and I landed on the moon... with parts of the rocket landing on my leg.
[ A light gesture to her metal leg. She definitely won't go into the gory details, for everyone's sake this time. ]
... Once I assessed the situation and made myself a new leg, I began rebuilding the rocket to try and go back home. But... where on Earth it only took maybe less than a month to build it, since the supplies were all over the place and easy to get, and Uncle Scrooge could hire all the smart people anywhere to help make it... the moon, far as I knew... had no supplies. And I barely knew how it worked. And I was alone. So...
... So... so it took me... ten years, to get home.
[ She lets that hang, unable to look at Alberto. Ten years. Ten long years. Alone. Away.
She'd never seen her kids hatch. Their first steps. Their first words. Their first day of school. First fights. First loves. First hugs. First adventures. First everything. She had missed out on ten years of their lives, and she would never get that back.
no subject
I - I gave myself all kinds of excuses. I told myself I was doing it for my kids, for history, that I always knew what I was doing, that I always came out of surprises just fine... but the truth was, I got on that rocket out of sheer selfishness. I was only thinking of myself. Of being the first one in the family to do it. I wasn't thinking of any consequences, of who I could be hurting...
[ She takes a deep breath. C'mon, stop delaying it. She rolls her shoulders... ]
... As it turns out, I didn't really know how to fly a rocket. I just... winged it, and guessed a lot. It got off the earth, and into the sky, and into the stars... I still wouldn't turn back, I was so caught up in all the new sighs... and then... turns out there's a lot of dangerous stuff in space. Like, giant storms of rocks that you don't see coming until it's too late, and are way too big to dodge.
[ She assumed he wasn't familiar with the term "meteor shower", so best to keep it simple. ]
... So I crashed into one of those giant rocks. And the rocket and I landed on the moon... with parts of the rocket landing on my leg.
[ A light gesture to her metal leg. She definitely won't go into the gory details, for everyone's sake this time. ]
... Once I assessed the situation and made myself a new leg, I began rebuilding the rocket to try and go back home. But... where on Earth it only took maybe less than a month to build it, since the supplies were all over the place and easy to get, and Uncle Scrooge could hire all the smart people anywhere to help make it... the moon, far as I knew... had no supplies. And I barely knew how it worked. And I was alone. So...
... So... so it took me... ten years, to get home.
[ She lets that hang, unable to look at Alberto. Ten years. Ten long years. Alone. Away.
She'd never seen her kids hatch. Their first steps. Their first words. Their first day of school. First fights. First loves. First hugs. First adventures. First everything. She had missed out on ten years of their lives, and she would never get that back.
Ten. Years. ]