Igor's Final Memories

I am Igor, a Siberian lizard, enjoying my eternal rest at the reptilian netherworld. I came here just a week ago and my earthly memories are fast fading. But the memories of the final few days on earth are still afresh, and before they fade away, I thought I would narrate it. By the way, I am quite famous here in the reptile spirit world, and that's due to the fascinating final trip that I undertook to reach here. Well, read on.

I was born some 15 years ago near the famous city of Baikonur, in the Republic of Kazakhstan. I lived with my family in a tiny cave along the Syr Darya river. This last winter was particularly harsh. The river had frozen and the cold Siberian winds kept howling away day and night. All our usual prey like flies and wasps and hoppers had long died in the severe cold and we were perpetually hungry. I guess my family was finding me a burden, because I was constantly nagged at. That's when I decided to call it quits. Anyway, I had reached my twilight years, and hence, instead of dying a miserable death due to hunger, I thought I would go away in style. The famous Cosmodrome of Baikonur, over the horizon, had always fascinated me, and thus became the inspiration for my now famous final journey.

I could see the giant Soyuz spaceship standing majestically over the horizon, getting ready for her space trip -- my trip. From my 15 years of observation and experience, I knew that lift-off was scheduled in the very near future. And I just couldn't afford to be late, because spaceships s aren't launched every other day.

D-Day. I set off early morning without saying any goodbyes. The Cosmodrome was a good five kilometers away, which would take my tiny legs a whole day or even more to cover. The cold was unbearable and the ground frozen with snow and ice, months old. Lack of food for days together ensured that the journey was slow and weary. Though weary, I was wary of predators like cats and hawks, who like me, were hungry and were on the lookout for prey.

Well, after a day and night's walk, I finally reached my destination. The spaceship, which looked graceful from my cave, looked majestic from close quarters. I was very alert now, because though there was no more danger from predators, humans were all around and looked quite menacing. After an eternal game of hide and seek, I reached the base of the spaceship. They were busy de-icing the craft and from the hustle and bustle I was sure that lift-off was close at hand. A giant display board confirmed my intuition. It was displaying the countdown timer and I could see that lift-off was a mere three hours away. So I was indeed lucky to make it on time.

I scampered up the Launchpad and made my way up, thanking the Almighty for giving our creed the power of changing colors, thus hoodwinking the many technicians around. It sure did save my day or rather my trip. Finally, I crossed across to the spaceship with the help of a restraining cable. The spaceship was quite warm to the touch, a sure effect of the de-icing. I climbed up as much as possible, because I didn't want to be on a booster rocket that would be shed off soon after lift-off. I was anxious to find some recess of sorts, otherwise I would be blown off seconds after lift-off. Even Spiderman wouldn't be able to cling on to a rapidly rising spaceship.

I was mightily lucky to find a tiny recess on the otherwise smooth and gleaming body of the spaceship. It was after settling in that I realized the rocket engines were already growling. A quick glance at the giant display made me realize that I was only 15 minutes away from lift-off! So yet another close call! My final day on Earth -- it was a clear and sunny day and I was extremely happy and thrilled. An insignificant and tiny creature, about to embark on a journey to the outer space. I was extremely proud of myself and wished that my fellow-beings who ridiculed me day and night could see me.

20-19-18-17...a loud booming voice started the final countdown. The reptile equivalent of the human adrenaline was surging all over me and I gripped the surface even more tightly. And then -- 5-4-3-2-1 -- LIFTOFF! The roar of the booster rockets was deafening and cannot be described. The initial lift-off was slow, as if we were almost reluctant to leave mother earth. And then we started climbing rapidly. The feeling was exhilarating to the core. The booster rockets soon fell away and the secondary rockets were fired up. And then all of a sudden, darkness started settling in. But how could that be, it was just around 9 in the morning. In my euphoria I had forgotten the fact that I was a mortal after all and the upper stratosphere was bereft of oxygen. I twitched my tail around and could make out that I had turned blue due to lack of oxygen. So it was indeed my final few seconds. I had one last look below -- a sight which is still plastered in my earthly memories. I could see the whole earth as a globe now, the oceans sparkling blue. Darkness covered my eyes soon, but somehow the image of the magnificent earth remained. With a satisfied sigh I gave up my final breath.