11/05/2026
EVERYONE NEEDS HEROES - PART 2
A TRAIL OF SMOKE RISES VERTICALLY INTO THE ABYSS, ETCHED IN THE HEAVENS BY 5 COURAGEOUS ARTISTS REPRESENTING THE BLUE PLANET. A PILOT. AN ENGINEER. A TECHNICIAN. A SCIENTISTS. AND A HUMAN BIOLOGIST. EACH AN EXPLORER COMPELLED BY ONE UNIVERSAL DRIVING FORCE.
THE QUESTION ‘WHY?’
MEANWHILE, DOWN ON THE GROUND, A SEVEN YEAR-OLD BOY FROM AUSTRALIA LISTENS TO HIS BEAUTIFUL GRANDMOTHER SPEAK SOFTLY.
“PROMISE ME MY DARLING BOY, NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE EVER SAYS, YOU WILL NEVER STOP ASKING WHY.”
I NOD, NOW BACK IN MY 27 YEAR-OLD BODY.
THAT DAY I HAD WITNESSED SOMETHING VERY FEW ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO EXPERIENCE. HUMANITY UNITED, RIDING ROCKETS TOGETHER, PROPELLED BY ONE SIMPLE QUESTION. WHY?
WHEN I RETURNED TO THE MAIN BUILDING OF KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, A QUIET GREY-HAIRED MAN WAS SITTING BEHIND A TABLE. A PILE OF BOOKS ORDERED NEATLY ONTOP OF IT. THE MAN’S EYES SHONE WITH A KNOWINGNESS I HAD NEVER ENCOUNTERED, SO I SLOWLY WALKED OVER.
“WHAT ARE THESE?” I ASKED.
“OH, THEY’RE JUST SOME BOOKS WITH A BUNCH OF TALES FROM WHEN I WAS AN ASTRONAUT IN THE LATE 70’S.”
“YOU WERE PART OF THE FIRST SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM? I MUTTERED, AWESTRUCK.
THE GENTLE MAN SHRUGGED HIS SHOULDERS.
“HI. I’M MIKE. A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU.”
THE BOOK WAS ‘RIDING ROCKETS’. A MUST TEAD FOR ALL IF HUMANITY.
AND YES, I ASKED MY HERO TO SIGN IT.
WHY?
BECAUSE EVERYONE NEEDS SOMETHING TO ASPIRE TO.
HIS AUTOGRAPH SAT SCRAWLED BENEATH THE CAPITAL LETTERS OF WORDS I’D HEARD LONG AGO.
‘NEVER STOP ASKING WHY.’
MIKE MULLANE
ASTRONAUT
*EXPERIENCED AND WRITTEN BY THE PRESIDENT OF SHELLY BEACH MOTORCYCLE CLUB.