XIV. The Space Age, or Humanity Touches the Sky and Immediately Brings Snacks
After centuries of staring at the moon like it owed us money, humanity finally built a rocket and went up there.
This should have produced a species-wide moment of humble wonder.
Instead it produced flags, freeze-dried desserts, and arguments about who peed in what tube.
Still, the achievement was absurdly magnificent.
Tiny meat creatures from a damp rock punched through the atmosphere and walked on another world.
Astronauts bounced across dust that had waited billions of years for footprints.
Control rooms on Earth held their breath and invented new kinds of panic sweating.
Children looked up and decided space was now a neighborhood.
Science fiction stopped being a dream and became a dare.
The stars no longer felt far away; they felt rude for still being difficult.