“My friend went to outer space and all I got was this lousy T-shirt”

Kind of sad, missing them,

I like that you stayed with the same emotions in this ficlet. The protagonist is finally feeling exactly how the friend felt in the last one.

I sequeled, hope you like it!

Solid emotional content.

Yes, I also love the emotional connection of the story and I really like the ending with the promise of a return.

I think countdown is one word when used as a noun. Other than that, I really like this. Same emotional weight as the first, if not more.