The Capsule...

I've entitled this post The Capsule so I'd better explain myself. It's not really a capsule, or rather it is in my mind, it's a space ship, a silent one. No roaring rockets, no dangerous re-entry procedures, no nothing, just the peace of outer space. In reality it's little more than a room at the back of the house, Max's room. There's a bed, a wardrobe, a table, curtains, a huge picture window, everything you might expect to find in any bedroom, but after dark when things are quiet and I'm feeling sleepy it's a place to go if I want to get a good night's sleep and if I fancy a journey into outer space from where I can see the stars up close. I travel light, it's the best way, but I do take a small digital radio with me, tuned in to BBC Radio 3 and if I board my spaceship around 2300hrs I can catch Night Tracks, a magical programme of music designed for space travellers solo or otherwise. Once airborne and in outer space I press a button and, in addition to being transported into deep space I am treated to some of the most amazing music, sometimes magical, other times miraculous and mesmerising but never maddening or malodorous. When I gaze out of the window I can see two stars which accompany me on my journey and eventually I fall asleep, but the stars are still there in the morning. The stars are streetlights, outer space is the night time and I awake feeling refreshed as the day slowly dawns. The spaceship is only there during the winter months when it's dark around 1600hrs. In the summer it is nothing more than a room with blue curtains and bedroom furniture, just like any other bedroom on the planet, but as winter approaches strange things start to happen and it probably happens in other bedrooms around the world too, but only select people get to experience outer space and glowing stars, even if they're only streetlights. I need to return there soon.