The morning sun filtered through the thin,floral-patterned curtains of the Miller household, casting a warm, golden glow over the modest dining room.
The air smelled faintly of burnt toast and freshly brewed coffee, a comforting aroma that mingled with the faint tang of cigarette smoke lingering from the previous evening.
The radio on the counter hummed softly, playing a faint tune by The Beatles, though neither Lucas nor Marla seemed to pay it much attention.
Lucas Miller sat at the head of the table, his thinning brown hair neatly combed, his wire-rimmed glasses perched low on his nose as he scanned the morning paper.
The headlines screamed of political unrest,anti war protests, the ongoing Vietnam conflict, and whispers of corruption in the Senate.
His flannel shirt,slightly frayed at the cuffs, was buttoned up to the collar, a testament to his no-nonsense demeanor.
Across from him, Marla Miller stirred her coffee with a silver spoon, the faint clink of metal against porcelain punctuating the quiet morning. Her auburn hair was pinned back in a loose bun, though a few strands had escaped to frame her face.
She wore a simple housedress, the kind that was popular among women of the time, but her expression was anything but simple. Her lips were pursed, her brow furrowed as she stared at the steam rising from her cup.
The dining table itself was a relic of the 1950s, its Formica surface scratched and worn but still gleaming under the sunlight. A ceramic ashtray sat in the center, a half smoked cigarette resting precariously on its edge.
The walls were adorned with faded family photos and a calendar from the local hardware store, its pages flipped to November 1969.
Lucas turned a page of the newspaper, the rustle of paper breaking the silence.
"Did you see this? Another scandal in the Senate. It's like they're not even trying to hide it anymore.
Just last week they argued to postpone the second trip to the moon, and now this ..."
Marla glanced up, her eyes narrowing slightly as she set her spoon down.
"Hmm? Oh, the Senate. Right !!. Honestly, Lucas, I'm more concerned about that new neighbor of ours. She's been stomping around upstairs all morning. Doesn't she know people have lives to live?"
Lucas peered over the top of his paper, his expression calm but slightly bemused.
"Maybe she's just settling in. Moving's stressful, you know."
Marla scoffed, reaching for the pack of cigarettes on the table. She lit one with a practiced ease, exhaling a thin stream of smoke that curled toward the ceiling.
"Stressful? She's been here a week, Lucas. A week! And have you seen the way she looks at me when we pass in the hallway? Like I'm the one intruding."
Before Lucas could respond, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway. Rachel, their nine-year-old daughter, burst into the room, her pigtails bouncing and her face flushed with excitement. She was still in her pajamas, a mismatched set of pink polka dots and striped bottoms, and her socks slid slightly on the linoleum floor as she skidded to a stop.
"Mom! Dad! Uncle Michael's on TV! He's going to the moon! Come quick!"
Lucas and Marla exchanged a glance, their earlier tension momentarily forgotten.
Michael, Lucas's younger brother was an aspiring astronaut and was definitely not the first choice to go to the moon; he was a reserve.
That was why Lucas and Marla were so shocked
"What? Michael's on TV? Rachel, slow down-what are you talking about?"
Rachel grabbed her father's hand, tugging him toward the living room.
"The Apollo launch! It's happening right now! Uncle Michael's in the rocket! Come on!"
Marla stubbed out her cigarette and followed, her curiosity piqued despite herself.
The family gathered around the small black-and-white television set in the living room, its screen flickering with the grainy image of the Apollo spacecraft on the launchpad. The announcer's voice was steady but filled with excitement, narrating the historic moment.
Announcer (on TV):
" Autronauts report it feels good ,T-minus fifteen seconds, guidance is internal..We are go for launch in 12.. 11.. 10.. 9... Ignition sequence start.. 6..5 ..."
Rachel bounced on her toes, pointing at the screen.
"There he is! There's Uncle Michael! He's going to the moon!"
Lucas placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder, his expression a mix of pride and disbelief.
"I can't believe it. Michael's really up there. He's really doing it."
Marla crossed her arms, her earlier irritation replaced by a faint sense of awe.
"Well, I'll be damned. That brother of yours actually made something of himself."
The countdown continued, the tension in the room mounting as the numbers ticked down.
Announcer (on TV):
"Three... two... one... Zero... all engines running ....ignition.
We have liftoff!! We have liftoff !!
Thirty two minutes passed the hour, liftoff !! On Apolo eleven!!....
Tower cleared ...
The screen showed the massive Saturn V rocket roaring to life, flames erupting from its engines as it slowly ascended into the sky. Rachel clapped her hands, her eyes wide with wonder.
"He's going to the moon! He's really going!"
The family watched in silence as the rocket climbed higher and higher, the camera tracking its progress. The announcer's voice continued to narrate the ascent, detailing the stages of the launch.
Announcer (on TV):
"The spacecraft is now passing through the upper atmosphere. Everything is nominal. We are on course for the moon. For the moon!!.. For the moo...
But then, something strange happened.
As the rocket approached the edge of the exosphere, where Earth's atmosphere transitions into the vacuum of space, the screen suddenly flickered. The image distorted, the signal breaking up into static.
Announcer (on TV):
"W.. we ..We're... experiencing some interference... standby..."
Rachel frowned, leaning closer to the TV.
"What's happening? Why's it going all fuzzy?"
Before anyone could answer, a deafening BOOM reverberated through the air, so loud it seemed to shake the very foundations of the house. The windows rattled, and the TV screen went completely black.
"What the hell was that?"
Lucas rushed to the window, pulling back the curtain to look outside. The sky was clear, but a strange, almost imperceptible shimmer seemed to ripple across the horizon, like heat waves on a summer day.
"I don't know... but it sounded like it came from everywhere at once."
Rachel tugged on her father's sleeve, her voice trembling.
"Dad... is Uncle Michael okay?"
Lucas hesitated, his mind racing. He glanced back at the TV, now silent and dark, then at Marla, who stood frozen in place, her face pale.
"I... I don't know, Rachel. I don't know."
Outside, the world seemed to hold its breath. The distant chatter of children playing had ceased, replaced by an eerie silence. Somewhere in the distance, a dog began to howl, its mournful cry echoing through the neighborhood.
The year was 1969, and the world had just changed forever.