Reaching the Moon - Short Story

The room was dark, electricity generators had long since ceased to exist. From the outside a strong storm could be heard and lightning briefly illuminates a man's face, Andre can observe for a moment the wrinkles of his tired grandfather who smiles while with a slow voice he tells stories about his life before the nuclear war destroyed almost all human civilization.

Over the years the radioactive activity in the environment had decreased a lot, this allowed some human groups to survive. Getting food and water was the only thing that mattered. Andre is one of the children born in the commune, he lives under the care of his mother and his grandfather Robert, the leader of the commune, a strong but very gentle man. At night the old man went out in search of provisions and thanks to his military training he kept their family safe, leaving was very dangerous, you could die in a fight over a can of beans or a hungry animal, it was a very hostile world.

When Robert arrived at the commune after his expeditions, Andre anxiously expected him, he loved to listen to his stories, he wanted to know everything. His grandfather told him that before the war there were devices called computers and how people could have access to all kinds of information through a system called the internet, -you could talk to someone who was thousands of miles away -, he said, the grandfather looking at his grandson's amazed face.

After a while the storm ceased and the clouds dissipated to reveal a bright white disk in the black sky, "Andre, look, it's the moon," Robert said pointing his finger at the white satellite, he took Andre by the shoulder and began to tell him that many years ago the man built spacecraft that could travel to the moon. Then the man took a coal stone from the ground and on a wall drew the Earth, the Moon and a rocket and even a space capsule, the boy was fascinated.

Robert told his grandson that in order to reach the moon the man had to work a lot, but with effort and perseverance everything was possible, he talked about the stars and the plans they had had to reach other planets, then Robert paused and he said - all was lost by that damn war -, and continued:

-We had come very far, science and technology was in full development... With a couple more years we could've colonized the moon and then we would have gone to Mars.

-Grandfather, I want to go to the Moon -, interrupted Andre.

-We must rebuild all that we have destroyed, but that depends on your generation Andre, remember that everything is possible with effort and perseverance... But now we must sleep -, Robert finished.

Andre continued to see the enigmatic star in the sky, his childish mind filled with fantasy as he dreamed of flying in the ship that his grandfather had drawn him on the rock, then he fell asleep.

After that night Robert did not return from one of his expeditions, Andre asked his mother about his grandfather, "he'll be back soon," she said in a broken voice, until one night her response was that Robert had died, the pain and the crying of the loss of his grandfather seemed never to end.

As years passed by Andre grew strong and healthy, he began to go on expeditions to find water and food for his commune, he started to explore different places away from his group, in his mind there was always the desire to go to the moon, to build computers and all those things that his grandfather had told him.

One day in one of his expeditions, they could not get food, he was exhausted and depressed by the bad situation that the commune was going through, he stopped walking and sat down to observe the ruins of a city, in them there was a building that had a sign that said "Public library", Andre was surprised at the good state of the building, curious he walked to the door and entered the building. He then was surprised by what he saw, before his eyes there were tables with computers as his grandfather had described them, he continued to walk and managed to see models of spacecraft and the solar system, then stumbled on a shelf and some books fell on the floor.

The books were intact, Andre took them and started to see them, but one of them caught his attention, on the cover there was the face of a man who seemed familiar, he looked closely and realized that it was his grandfather Robert, He opened the book and could see pictures of his grandfather in a spacesuit, he realized he had been an astronaut. He did not know why he never told him, but the knowledge filled him with joy and strength, "I'll be like my grandfather and I'll reach the moon," Andre thought, seeing Robert's image in a spaceship.

Every night Andre looked at the sky and remembered his grandfather, he was determined to be a part of the arrival of man to the Moon once again.