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Authors: Johan Harstad
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in the last hour. But the man hadn’t left a business card
or a phone number. For all they knew, he was already on his way back to the airport, headed for the next country and the next
teenage astronaut-to-be.
That feeling lasted for the next several months, as if everything was going too fast. When the calendar finally said March,
it felt like only a few days had passed. Suddenly it seemed to Midori that she didn’t have enough time for everything. She
turned in her application to postpone her finals at school, which was granted. She said a hasty farewell to her friends in
downtown Tokyo. And now that she was on her way to becoming a celebrity, she had to make several rounds of visits to her relatives
in Yokohama, along with the neighbors and her dad’s colleagues, before everyone seemed satisfied.
Takumi Watanabe was the last person Midori said good-bye to, the very morning she and her parents left. Like many other neighbors
and relatives, he was waiting outside their building when the Yoshida family was ready to head to the United States. Takumi
was standing at the very back of the crowd, so he wouldn’t be in anyone’s way, and Midori had to push her way through the
throng to reach him.
“Well, have a good trip, Midori-san.”
It was the first time he’d ever used the grown-up suffix “-san” with her instead of the diminutive “-chan” suffix that people
used for kids. She was sure probably no one else noticed it, but to Midori it meant a lot. Like they were really friends now.
After all, they had shared the historic moment when she opened theenvelope containing the letter. Maybe he knew more about her plans than she realized, because the last thing he said was,
“Don’t forget your way home. Your mail will be waiting for you here.”
Midori didn’t respond. Instead she bowed to him and started walking toward the car that was waiting outside the building.
Seconds later it started moving toward Narita International Airport.
ANTOINE
The letter had arrived three days ago, but he already felt like he’d always had it, and he couldn’t remember anymore how he
had reacted when it arrived and he realized what it was.
You’re going to the moon, Antoine
.
That’s what it said.
Obviously he had been surprised. Happy, too. But there was no getting around the fact that part of him had been expecting
it. Because the way he saw it, he needed it more than anyone else.
But he hadn’t said anything to his parents yet about the letter. It wasn’t because he couldn’t trust them. Actually, they
were nice people who both worked at the Sorbonne University, where they hung out with young people every day. Antoine was
sure that helped them be virtually normal. They rarely embarrassedhim, and he could also talk to them about pretty much anything. But telling them about this — that could wait. He wanted to
keep it to himself for a while longer, enjoy the feeling of knowing he was the only one in Paris who knew about it.
He wouldn’t be able to keep it to himself for very long, though. He had been told by phone that once his parents formally
agreed to the plan, a representative from the space organization would be coming to visit them one day the following week.
And it was already Monday now. So, it was time.
He found his jacket and decided to go for a walk before showing the envelope to his parents.
He had told his mother he was going over to see Laurent, who lived just behind Montmartre. But he wasn’t planning to go there,
not even in that direction. He was going to where he’d been the last several afternoons until late in the evening. He was
going to see Simone. The initial shock of her leaving him had subsided a good month ago and been replaced by a sense that
he would survive, although he would never be truly happy again. That sense of acceptance had come over him very suddenly.
But, strangely, the feeling had somehow vanished over the last week and been
or a phone number. For all they knew, he was already on his way back to the airport, headed for the next country and the next
teenage astronaut-to-be.
That feeling lasted for the next several months, as if everything was going too fast. When the calendar finally said March,
it felt like only a few days had passed. Suddenly it seemed to Midori that she didn’t have enough time for everything. She
turned in her application to postpone her finals at school, which was granted. She said a hasty farewell to her friends in
downtown Tokyo. And now that she was on her way to becoming a celebrity, she had to make several rounds of visits to her relatives
in Yokohama, along with the neighbors and her dad’s colleagues, before everyone seemed satisfied.
Takumi Watanabe was the last person Midori said good-bye to, the very morning she and her parents left. Like many other neighbors
and relatives, he was waiting outside their building when the Yoshida family was ready to head to the United States. Takumi
was standing at the very back of the crowd, so he wouldn’t be in anyone’s way, and Midori had to push her way through the
throng to reach him.
“Well, have a good trip, Midori-san.”
It was the first time he’d ever used the grown-up suffix “-san” with her instead of the diminutive “-chan” suffix that people
used for kids. She was sure probably no one else noticed it, but to Midori it meant a lot. Like they were really friends now.
After all, they had shared the historic moment when she opened theenvelope containing the letter. Maybe he knew more about her plans than she realized, because the last thing he said was,
“Don’t forget your way home. Your mail will be waiting for you here.”
Midori didn’t respond. Instead she bowed to him and started walking toward the car that was waiting outside the building.
Seconds later it started moving toward Narita International Airport.
ANTOINE
The letter had arrived three days ago, but he already felt like he’d always had it, and he couldn’t remember anymore how he
had reacted when it arrived and he realized what it was.
You’re going to the moon, Antoine
.
That’s what it said.
Obviously he had been surprised. Happy, too. But there was no getting around the fact that part of him had been expecting
it. Because the way he saw it, he needed it more than anyone else.
But he hadn’t said anything to his parents yet about the letter. It wasn’t because he couldn’t trust them. Actually, they
were nice people who both worked at the Sorbonne University, where they hung out with young people every day. Antoine was
sure that helped them be virtually normal. They rarely embarrassedhim, and he could also talk to them about pretty much anything. But telling them about this — that could wait. He wanted to
keep it to himself for a while longer, enjoy the feeling of knowing he was the only one in Paris who knew about it.
He wouldn’t be able to keep it to himself for very long, though. He had been told by phone that once his parents formally
agreed to the plan, a representative from the space organization would be coming to visit them one day the following week.
And it was already Monday now. So, it was time.
He found his jacket and decided to go for a walk before showing the envelope to his parents.
He had told his mother he was going over to see Laurent, who lived just behind Montmartre. But he wasn’t planning to go there,
not even in that direction. He was going to where he’d been the last several afternoons until late in the evening. He was
going to see Simone. The initial shock of her leaving him had subsided a good month ago and been replaced by a sense that
he would survive, although he would never be truly happy again. That sense of acceptance had come over him very suddenly.
But, strangely, the feeling had somehow vanished over the last week and been
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