Neighborhood Launchpad

The rain had stopped now; the humid summer night air felt damp on our faces as we pedaled down the valley and up the other side of the hill behind the Town Hall. There it was, across from the barber shop. Glimmering silver, red, and blue in the moonlight, right where the rundown basketball courts once stood. A banner was half-hung across the launchpad that read “To The Stars; For All Mankind”. It felt strange; to be so excited about something that would take us away from the only place we’d ever known and all the things we ever loved.