Shadows

by Rich Lessing

There is a place, a very cold and stark place, where shadows cut like knives across the airless landscape. This edge is defined by its abruptness, in light and heat. Above, the sun stares down with a clarity that stuns the mind. One cannot look into that with eyes unprotected. Nor can you stand in the light or the shadow and not be confined within a bubble of armor.

Approaching the transition is strange. Below one can see the line of demarcation. Above you cannot. The distant cliff is dark but easy to see, reflected light. Not as bright as the surface on which we travel. The edge is close now. A line, straight as if drawn by a ruler; only changes in the line above are distorted by the angle of the sun on the line below.

Move slowly across the line. Like a straight-edge blade it cuts you across the ankles, the knees. You stop to appreciate what is happening on the outside of your suit. Above the line the temperature is over 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Below it is nearly 300 degrees below zero. Above, unprotected, your body would boil, desiccate in seconds. Below your body would instantly freeze solid. Only technology keeps you from doing either. There is no need to mention the affects of vacuum on the body. But it is this lack of air, this almost complete vacuum, which brings clarity to the line of shadow. There is nothing to soften the cold, to absorb the heat.

Stepping full into the shadow one can almost feel the cold seeping through the suit. You turn around and the brilliance of the other side of the line is now blinding. It looks like hell. But it does not shimmer, there are no heat waves distorting your view. There are no mirages. No air, remember? For some reason the shadow feels…safe.

And then, as you turn to move on to the station, you see home. No, not the steel shelters that stand in the shadow. It is the bright blue and white Earth, rising above the plain. Shadows are a different thing there, sometimes scary. Not here. Shadows on the Moon are your friend. And with one more glance at Home, you turn and walk deeper into the shadow.