Chapter Text
“ALL UNITS BE ADVISED, CRYO STATION 3 IS NOW READY FOR BOARDING”
At the sound of the intercom a dark haired middle aged woman perked up from her seat in the waiting room and looked to her left, where her son sat.
“It’s time, ---. That’s your station” the woman said, gently grabbing the boy's hand and standing up with him.
“But Mommy, I don’t want to go to sleep… I'm not tired!” The young boy wined, despite his words he still walked alongside his mother; passing other scientists much like his mother and other important people his young mind couldn't remember the name of.
The mother sighed and smiled down at her son, “---… we talked about this, your Father and I both had to fight very hard in order for you to join us, especially with-”
The woman cut herself off, not wishing to tell her child the sad state of the world currently. The young boy only nodded sadly and looked off to the side, watching the many people in white lab coats scramble around to make sure everything was working perfectly. As they were walking by a room the young boy stole a glance and saw a small group of people entering cryo pods, much like he was going to. The boy sighed, he didn’t want to do this at all; he didn’t like the cold! But his mother and father both work as scientists which granted them privilege of using these before the public.
Him, being the son of two scientist; made his parents believe he too had a right to use the cryo pods. The boy's mind snapped back into reality when they stopped walking. Glancing up, the boy saw a large metal door with a sign saying ‘Station 3’ on it, a large blinking red light flashed above the sign. But that's not what stole the attention of the little boy.
It was the two armed guards with rifles glaring at him and his mother.
The young boy whimpered at the sight of them and hid behind his mother in a futile effort to avoid their glares, his brown eyes looked down at the tiled floor to abstain from eye contact. His mother tensed and matched both their glares, she flashed her ID card at them and both guards simultaneously relaxed but kept their glares trained on them.
“Civilians are not allowed to be here ma’am” One of the guards said in a slightly tensed voice, like he was ready to take aim at a moment's notice.
His mother turned her glare at the guard who spoke and handed him an important looking paper “His name is --- Anderson, he has special clearance.”
The guard looked over the paper before handing it to his partner who also looked over the paper before looking up at the other guard and shrugging, the guard who spoke sighed and looked back at them with a softer gaze.
“My apologies ma’am, you can head on through.”
Both the guards stepped aside as the mother quickly entered the room, boy in hand.
Inside was a medium sized room with another door to the left which leads to an observation deck, where two people were already in and gazing at everyone in the room, to the right was a wall aligned with multiple cryo pods. Said cryo pods unironically looked like they were ripped out of a generic sci-fi movie. Sitting in chairs on the other side of the room was a group of scientists waiting for the go ahead to enter the pods, one of the scientists noticed them and waved them over, to which the mother quickly obliged.
Once they walked up to the scientist, the man wrapped the mother in a hug to which the mother returned, after a second they broke apart.
“Susan! There you are! I was wondering what took you two so long!” the man said, holding the woman by the shoulders.
“Sorry Derick, the guards outside put up a fight, but he’s finally in” the woman replied, slightly shaking the hand that held the boy.
Said boy’s eyes lit up once they recognized the man “Daddy!” the young boy cried, letting go of his mothers hand and hugging the man who has now been identified as the boy's father.
“Sup Squirt! Ya ready for an adventure?” The father said, hugging the child back. The young boy let go and stared up at his father with a small smile.
“I guess..”
The father merely laughed and ruffled the child's dark hair, “Good enough for me!”
The father turned his attention back to the mother, “They should be starting any second now-” A screeching sound reverberates around the room as an intercom turns on.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE CRYO PODS WILL NOW BE READY TO BOARD”
A soft murmur sounds around the group as the announcement ends and people start to approach their cryo pods. The mother grabbed the young boy’s hand once again and alongside the father, approached a set of three cryo pods. The father flipped a switch on the side of one of the pods and the hatch opened with a small hiss, the mother picked the boy up by the armpits and set him down on the cushioned insides of the pod. The father started to set everything up while the mother started to talk to the child
“Remember, you’ll feel a bit chilly and tired, embrace that. It's a good feeling, either me or daddy will be awake once you start to wake up, okay? I love you…”
The mother backed away, and with a glance back at her child, walked out of view over to her own pod. The father came into view next.
“K squirt, it should start up any minute now. Love ya, see you soon Terry!” With a toothy smile the father backed away and closed the hatch, with a small wave goodbye; walked out of view to his own pod.
And thus the young boy now known as Terry was alone, he looked around the inside of the pod a bit before realizing the inside was lackluster, with only white cushions to greet him. Terry didn't have to dwell for long though, as gas soon started to fill the enclosed space with a hiss; the boy was startled at the noise and quickly glanced around nervously.
Suddenly the air around him became freezing and Terry let out a small gasp at the sudden temperature drop and squirmed anxiously, his squirming soon halted as an overwhelming feeling of tiredness soon overtook all other senses. Remembering his mothers words he embraced the feeling and closed his eyes.
A new feeling of excitement soon replaced his earlier anxiousness, once he woke up Terry might be able to go on walks with his mother again! Or play catch with his father once again! activities that were stopped by his parents by a unknown reason Terry soon felt the call of sleep and embraced it with a large smile on his face.
If only he knew…
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?