Radio Astronomy Explained

My brother is a radio astronomer.

When I asked him what that means, he said: I send radio waves out into space, and based on what comes back, I form an image of what is out there.

Oh, I said, like what I do with e-mails.

He looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

I love it when he does that.

 

 

 

In Her Shoes

The house around him was empty and quiet, the hallway had an air of recent desertion. On the top shelf of the rack he saw the shoes, shouting out at him in the fiercest colour of the rainbow. Red, high-heeled, not to be messed with. He took off his socks. Carefully he picked up the pumps, one in each hand, letting the heel slide between index and middle finger. He sat down on the stairs, placed one shoe next to him and put his foot into the other one. With his toes pressed together and his heel barely fitting, he managed to get his foot in and keep it there.

“Guess you can marry the prince now,” he chuckled.

Then he put on the other shoe as well, and tried to stand up. As soon as his body was completely upright, he felt the pain in his toes exploding.

“Why are you wearing my shoes?”

He looked up in surprise and saw her standing in the doorway.

“Ehm… I just wanted to know what it felt like.”

“And what does it feel like?”

“It hurts.”

For a moment the sternness in her eyes seemed to waver.

“So now you know,” she said.

 

 

 

(The idea for this piece of writing comes from a writing challenge on Schaap Schrijft. Thank you for the inspiration!)