( CW ) ( LAST SENTENCE ) And then he proceeded to lock the door , hoping that no one would ever open it again .

Tim sat in his living room in silence, listening to phone ring in his hand. Why people feel compelled to stop him? Was the decision not his? Ha he no right to want something that much? Did he somehow break a moral rule he was unaware of? 
 
 The phone stopped ringing. 
 
 It was his last day in house. He would be leaving soon for orbit, for good, until the end. Oh, how he desired to see the white shining city again. He had seen it once before, in a dream. Thirty years and still his mind could not make it fit, it could not understand it, the beauty of it. 
 
 He remembered what he saw clearly. He was being lifted into the sky by an unknown force at unimaginable speeds. He saw myriad stars and nebulas fly past him, he saw galaxies as one would see vehicles in the road as he passed them. He felt time stretch itself and he saw space bend around him, and beyond him a white light glowed intensely. It was something he had never experienced, brighter the diving into the sun itself and yet not hurting his eyes. He could see building rise from within it. Huge buildings. Buildings the size of planets and roads the size of asteroid belts. The city itself seemed larger than the milky way. Unfathomable, a cool breeze wrapped him and he felt what he had rarely felt in his life... peace. It was not like sleeping, it was not like getting a massage, it was not like sitting outside his farm during the late hours of the day listening to the mild sounds of the night and watching the dim light of the stars illuminate the sleeping animals. No, it was a peace that made all his problems fade away into darkness, it was happiness. He knew where it was and he had to reach it again. He had to... through time, through space, through the lives of all living things in the universe. To the end of times. 
 
 The phone on his hand rang again. 
 
 “ Hello? ” 
 
 “ Tim... why haven ’ t you answered my calls? I ’ ve been trying to get in touch with you... ” 
 
 “ What do you want John? ” 
 
 “ Tim, please. Just... listen to me ok? ” 
 
 “ Ok. ” 
 
 “ Tim... ”, John paused on the other end, unable to translate his anguish into word that Tim could understand, unable to express his sad frustration, “... you don ’ t have to go. ” 
 
 “ John, we ’ ve already talked about this... I know it ’ s difficult to understand, I know that. I do. It must sound crazy to you... to everyone. ” 
 
 “ Wait, just listen ok? ” 
 
 “ Ok. ” 
 
 “ Look Tim. I can help you start something new, I can help you move to a new city... I ’ ll move with you even, if that ’ s what it takes. We can start like, just anew. Ok? You won ’ t know anyone! No one will know about your past or anything, it ’ ll be a new life! I have everything ready, just please come over... we can go right now, we ’ ll leave all this behind. We can go to china! I don ’ t know, anywhere! Mars? We ’ ll start new jobs, no one will know you... just... please... come over to... ” 
 
 “ John, please. Just stop. It ’ s not that ok? It ’ s not my life... I... We ’ ve talked about this. You know why I ’ m going, just say goodbye. Please. Say goodbye now, because I ’ m leaving in five minutes. ” 
 
 There was silence on the other end and Tim waited for a response. His mind raced with the possibilities John had mentioned. He pictured himself arriving at the spaceport in Mars, walking off it, seeing the faces of strangers move by him. He pictured himself living by the shores of orion beach, watching the small sun set in the horizon. He pictured himself working as a fisherman... in peace. It was a good life that one he would not have, he only wished someone else could live it, if only so that it would not go to waste. But his mind did not struggle with his decision, he could see the white city in his mind ’ s eye. And happiness washed over him. No human emotion could stop him from pursuing his dream, no one could stop him from taking the journey to the end of the universe. 
 
 “ You ’ re my only family left... Goodbye Tim, I will miss you. ” 
 
 “ I will miss you too John, maybe we will see each other again in this future... or the next... ” 
 
 John ended the call and Tim smiled. He stood up from his chair, grabbed a small bag of things he would need and left his empty house. 
 
 On his way to the International Spaceport on the back of the blue Tim blanked his mind and avoided the feelings of regret any normal human would have. He focused on his breathing and he counted each one, and each felt like a small victory against human nature, against the human instincts that told him to stay, to enjoy his life while there was still a world left to enjoy them. 
 
 He had counted four hundred and fifty two breaths when he found himself standing outside a shuttle with a hatch open leading into the vault he had designed listening to a man speak about safety measures. Safety measures, those were useless now. Everything from here on out is an all or nothing bet. 
 
 “... in case you wake up from hyper sleep any time there will be spare infusions and this manual will be stored in the yellow box next to your bed. There will be food stored in the orange box that will last you three days. More than three days awake from hypersleep and you are done Tim. Everything I just told you will also be written in a manual, this because once you wake up your mind will take a few hours to even remember who it belongs to. And one last thing, we can ’ t control for the future, of course you know that, so the possibility still exists that someone will find your vault circling the sun in a million years, or a billion and take you out, and I don ’ t think they ’ ll speak english... so it ’ s gon na be tough explaining. It ’ s a risk and I want you to acknowledge it right now. ” 
 
 “ I ’ m aware of the risk. ” 
 
 “ Ok. Well, that ’ s it. Last chance to change your mind. I know it ’ s not my business to tell you but still, I advise you to reconsider. This is almost one hundred percent a death sentence. ” 
 
 “ Noted. I would like to proceed. ” 
 
 “ Alright Tim. Good luck. ” 
 
 Tim walked through the open vault and looked around it. The hypersleep bed was in the center and the multiple boxes of various colors sat in a row on the floor next to it. Tim took one last look outside the vault, five people stood outside it. Three of them were Spaceport staff, the other two were transmitting his ordeal through two cameras. 
 
 “ I ’ ll see you in a trillion years ”, he said with a smile, and then he proceeded to lock the door, hoping that no one would ever open it again. No one but him.
