Backstory Part 1
By: Karen L Sundstrom
January 22, 2011
The sun glistened off the fresh snow that fell over night. Even though Delana Wheaten grew up with there being snow on the ground all year long, it still got to her. And trudging through snowdrifts in early September while heading to her first class during her sophomore year of college was not what she’d like to be doing. But there really wasn’t much choice when it came to dealing with snow anymore, since it snowed year round nearly every where in the world. That was one of the reasons she was taking aeronautics, she felt if she could become an astronaut she could at least escape the snow and cold weather for a little while. She had also decided to minor in climatology. It gave her a little thrill to follow in both of her parents foot steps. She knew her father loved that she wanted to get involved in the space program, since he headed a lot of the space missions. And her mother was pleased Delana was also interested in what the climate on earth was doing.
Besides it being a sunny day there was one other thing that helped put a spring in Delana’s step and that was the thought of taking more classes with her boyfriend, Reese Baker. He was also majoring in aeronautics and hoped to pilot an interstellar spacecraft someday. Delana couldn’t help but dream about going on a space mission with him once they graduated and joined the space program.
Delana’s cell phone rang while she reached the steps of the science building where her first class of the day was being held. She took it out of her purse to see who was calling her so early in the morning. Seeing that it was her father calling Delana quickly answered. “Hi Dad, what’s up?”
“Delana is there a place you can sit down.”
“I’m heading for the science building… why do I need to sit down?” Delana waited for her father to answer. “Dad, what’s wrong?”
“Please find a place to sit.” Delana heard her father choke in a sob. “I… this news…”
“Dad?” Delana scanned the hallway and saw an empty bench. She hurried over to it and sat. “I’m sitting. Please tell me what’s wrong.”
“Delana your mom,” she could hear the strain in her father’s voice, “your mom was in a terrible accident.”
“What? Is she?” Delana felt her heart grow heavy in her chest. Her mother had been the lead climatologist heading a research mission in Antarctica. From recent email messages Delana had received from her mother, Delana knew her mother’s team had found something important, but her mother hadn’t told her what. Now she feared the worst. “Is mom okay?”
“No Delana, she’s not okay.” She heard her father’s voice crack as he started to sob. “She’s never going to be okay again.”
Delana felt hot tears start to roll down her cheeks. “No dad, no! She can’t be…”
“Yes Delana, I got the news of your mom’s death this morning. There was an accident at the camp they set up. I didn’t want you getting this awful news from anyone else, so I called you right away.”
“Oh dad…” Delana couldn’t say another word all she could do was cry. She wanted to curl into a tight ball on the bench sat on so that nothing else could hurt her. She didn’t know how she heard her father’s voice through the agony she felt.
“I’ll call the dean and let him know. I’m sure your professors will understand why you won’t be in class.”
“I have to go to my classes today,” Delana said through her gut wrenching sobs.
“Take care honey, I’ll tell you more when I know more.”
“Okay. You take care too dad.”
“I love you Delana.”
“Love you too dad.”
After ending the call Delana puts her head in her hands. She doesn’t know how long she sits there before she felt strong arms wrap around her shoulders and a deep masculine voice whisper in her ear. “What’s wrong beautiful?”
Delana turned into the warm embrace and buried her face into Reese’s broad shoulder. “My mom… is… dead.”
Reese gently extracted her from his shoulder to look into her tear filled green eyes. “Oh baby, I’m so sorry. When did she die?”
“From what my dad just told me, she died yesterday in an accident.”
He pulled her close. “Do you want me to let the professor’s know you won’t be coming to class today?”
Delana shook her head no. “I have to go to my classes. I feel it would be better for me if I did.”
“Okay. We better get going then or will be late for the first one.”
“Oh! Have I been sitting here that long?” Delana didn’t want to leave the shelter of his strong arms, but knew she couldn’t sit there in his embrace all day long, even if that’s what she wanted to do at the moment. So she reluctantly pulled away from Reese’s arms. “We should get to class then.”
“Yes you’ve been here a while. You didn’t even notice me come in and sit down next to you until I put my arms around you. Now are you sure you want to go to your classes?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
January 22, 2011
The sun glistened off the fresh snow that fell over night. Even though Delana Wheaten grew up with there being snow on the ground all year long, it still got to her. And trudging through snowdrifts in early September while heading to her first class during her sophomore year of college was not what she’d like to be doing. But there really wasn’t much choice when it came to dealing with snow anymore, since it snowed year round nearly every where in the world. That was one of the reasons she was taking aeronautics, she felt if she could become an astronaut she could at least escape the snow and cold weather for a little while. She had also decided to minor in climatology. It gave her a little thrill to follow in both of her parents foot steps. She knew her father loved that she wanted to get involved in the space program, since he headed a lot of the space missions. And her mother was pleased Delana was also interested in what the climate on earth was doing.
Besides it being a sunny day there was one other thing that helped put a spring in Delana’s step and that was the thought of taking more classes with her boyfriend, Reese Baker. He was also majoring in aeronautics and hoped to pilot an interstellar spacecraft someday. Delana couldn’t help but dream about going on a space mission with him once they graduated and joined the space program.
Delana’s cell phone rang while she reached the steps of the science building where her first class of the day was being held. She took it out of her purse to see who was calling her so early in the morning. Seeing that it was her father calling Delana quickly answered. “Hi Dad, what’s up?”
“Delana is there a place you can sit down.”
“I’m heading for the science building… why do I need to sit down?” Delana waited for her father to answer. “Dad, what’s wrong?”
“Please find a place to sit.” Delana heard her father choke in a sob. “I… this news…”
“Dad?” Delana scanned the hallway and saw an empty bench. She hurried over to it and sat. “I’m sitting. Please tell me what’s wrong.”
“Delana your mom,” she could hear the strain in her father’s voice, “your mom was in a terrible accident.”
“What? Is she?” Delana felt her heart grow heavy in her chest. Her mother had been the lead climatologist heading a research mission in Antarctica. From recent email messages Delana had received from her mother, Delana knew her mother’s team had found something important, but her mother hadn’t told her what. Now she feared the worst. “Is mom okay?”
“No Delana, she’s not okay.” She heard her father’s voice crack as he started to sob. “She’s never going to be okay again.”
Delana felt hot tears start to roll down her cheeks. “No dad, no! She can’t be…”
“Yes Delana, I got the news of your mom’s death this morning. There was an accident at the camp they set up. I didn’t want you getting this awful news from anyone else, so I called you right away.”
“Oh dad…” Delana couldn’t say another word all she could do was cry. She wanted to curl into a tight ball on the bench sat on so that nothing else could hurt her. She didn’t know how she heard her father’s voice through the agony she felt.
“I’ll call the dean and let him know. I’m sure your professors will understand why you won’t be in class.”
“I have to go to my classes today,” Delana said through her gut wrenching sobs.
“Take care honey, I’ll tell you more when I know more.”
“Okay. You take care too dad.”
“I love you Delana.”
“Love you too dad.”
After ending the call Delana puts her head in her hands. She doesn’t know how long she sits there before she felt strong arms wrap around her shoulders and a deep masculine voice whisper in her ear. “What’s wrong beautiful?”
Delana turned into the warm embrace and buried her face into Reese’s broad shoulder. “My mom… is… dead.”
Reese gently extracted her from his shoulder to look into her tear filled green eyes. “Oh baby, I’m so sorry. When did she die?”
“From what my dad just told me, she died yesterday in an accident.”
He pulled her close. “Do you want me to let the professor’s know you won’t be coming to class today?”
Delana shook her head no. “I have to go to my classes. I feel it would be better for me if I did.”
“Okay. We better get going then or will be late for the first one.”
“Oh! Have I been sitting here that long?” Delana didn’t want to leave the shelter of his strong arms, but knew she couldn’t sit there in his embrace all day long, even if that’s what she wanted to do at the moment. So she reluctantly pulled away from Reese’s arms. “We should get to class then.”
“Yes you’ve been here a while. You didn’t even notice me come in and sit down next to you until I put my arms around you. Now are you sure you want to go to your classes?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”