“And that’s the question you want to ask me?”
“Yes.”
Pause.
“You don’t like it?”
“No one’s ever asked me that before.”
“What do people typically ask you about?”
“The landing, mostly.”
“You mean, how did it feel?”
“If only. Most people just want to know whether it actually happened.”
“And…?”
“It matters more to you than it does to me.”
“It doesn’t matter that much to me.”
“I meant you, all of you.”
“I guess that might be the last thing we’ve been really proud of. Those who still remember.”
“You weren’t the first, you… Maybe I shouldn’t tell you that.”
“What else?”
“You’re cheating, you know? That’s four more questions already.”
“I’m not making you answer them.”
“Russian kosmonauts. Whether they actually crash-landed on the surface.”
“Who asks you about it? The Russians?”
“What do you think?”
“It’s really hard to talk to you.”
“Are you surprised?”
“No… Not really.”
“You wouldn’t believe it, but many people ask about that Pink Floyd album.”
“The Dark Side of the Moon?”
“Yes.”
“They don’t ask about the dark side, just the album?”
“Yes. What it meant to me.”
“What did it mean to you?”
“I don’t think I could explain that. You know, we don’t really have that much in common, you and I.”
“Did you talk to any of those guys?”
“I try to answer their question, but that never ends well.”
“No, I meant from Pink Floyd.”
“Just one. I’ll let you guess which one.”
“You’re something of a tease… Wait. Why are you talking to me?”
“Does it matter much to you?”
“I’m curious.”
“That I know.”
“I still can’t believe it. That I’m here talking with you.”
“But you do, anyway.”
“Isn’t that weird?”
“Maybe that’s why.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s why I’m talking to you. I sensed you’re one of the few that would actually have a real conversation with me. Although I can already tell you no one will believe you, and you’ll forever doubt it yourself.”
“That’s a pity.”
”Why?”
”That might be the last thing I’ll be really proud of.”
”That’s a rather sad thing to say.”
“I’m leaving the jokes for my pillow talk with Mercury. We won’t ever talk again, will we?”
“No.”
“So, will you at least answer?”
“Your question?”
“Yes.”
“Do you need to know?”
“I do not need to know. I was just… I always wondered.”
“About my favourite thing on Earth?”
“Don’t you? It must be amazing. Wolves howling at you, poets and painters looking for inspiration, people in love finding what they mean to each other for the first time with only you around…”
Silence.
“You’re not going to answer?”
“Remember how I told you no one’s ever asked me that before?”
“Yes.”
“Now I wish you didn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Those things you mentioned, the poets, the wolves… That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of them.”
“How come?”
Silence.
“Can’t you see all of that?”
“I can’t. I’m always blinded by the Sun.”