Gravity

Part 1/3

Note: Sorry the first 2 parts might seem a bit slow, but it picks up at the last part I promise :)

One of my earliest memories starts with me holding Shiny, my toy space craft, in my tiny hands. Its wings were pearly white, studded with thermal protection tiles to survive re-entry, though now they were a dull grey, stained through the years. I don't remember why I named it Shiny, maybe because I had always kept it speckless, or because of how the light sparkled off the quartz glass windows so mesmerisingly.

My mother stood beside me, weeping, though I did not know why. We were standing on our front porch, seeing my father off on his first mission.

"Where is Dada going?" I remember asking my mother.

"He's going to fly a big Shiny very high up. When he's gone, you'll just have to wave at the sky and he'll wave back at you." She took my little 5-year old fingers into her rough hands and pointed to the sky. "He'll be watching you from there." Apart from this, I don't remember much else except for my father letting me try on his astronaut helmet, even though its rim sank below my chest.

End of part 1/3