Flying Towards the Unknown You (3)

Act 1: The Silver Poem Takes Flight "Ten, nine, eight——" The hands of four children quietly formed a line inside the cabin: Lele held Xiaoxing's hand, Xiaoxing held An'an's, and An'an cupped Zhouzhou's small hand in her palm. "Three, two, one. Ignition." A roar rose from beneath their feet, like a thousand gentle giants singing in unison below the horizon. The entire spacecraft trembled lightly, then, slowly and firmly, lifted off the ground. It wasn't a violent surge, but a solemn ascent. The rocket seemed to be gently pulled by the sky, rising inch by inch. The launch tower outside the porthole grew smaller, the highway thinned into silver threads, and the lakes shrank into blue mirrors. "Dad!" Xiaoxing suddenly shouted, "We're stepping on the clouds!" Indeed, layers of clouds spread out beneath the cabin, gilded with orange-red edges by the afterglow. Bai Xiaofeng softly recited a poem she had written for her students: "We are not leaving home, We are going, for everyone, To see what the end of dreams looks like." Xia Yuchen watched the horizon gradually curve outside the window, her eyes growing warm. She had studied the starry sky her entire life, and now, second by second, it was welcoming her and her family into its embrace. Ji Yiheng wrapped his arms around her from behind: "Don't cry, astronomer." "I'm not crying," she sniffled, "It's just that the stars are too bright." (To be continued)