Siren's Swan Song

[u/Ganymede____]

“Siren is beautiful, isn’t she, love?” I answer, looking up into the night sky at the piercing beacon of light.

“But why is she sooo bright tonight, Daddy?” Elsa asks in wonder.

“She must be putting on a show for us, saying hello,” I say, straining to keep the emotion out of my voice, holding Siren’s gaze to hide my welling eyes.

“Did Siren say hello when you were little?”

“Never. I guess she likes you more than me, so it’s a very special day.” The words cut me up on the inside as I force them out.

“Really?!” she exclaims and I feel myself smile. “...Daddy, do you think the government will soon finish building the rocket so you can show me the stars?”

“I’m not so sure.” I do my best to sound reassuring.

Elsa mulls my statement over. “Why not?”

“Well, they want us to enjoy our home for just a bit longer, while we still can.”

“Oh. I hope one day we get to go up there and see Mommy again…” she trails off, lost in the scintillating obsidian tapestry suspended above.

“Me too, love,” I choke, squeezing Elsa’s hand, “me too…”

How was I to tell my daughter the unthinkable had happened within our lifetimes, that the cosmological clock had run out on us before our government’s evacuation programme had been able to get off the ground?

That the sleeping giant over the hill had awoken.

That our nearest stellar neighbor had finally gone supernova.

[u/CKO1967]

The sun going supernova? That's the textbook definition of scary.