Cosmic

Liam describes the feeling of being launched into space like being scrunched up and then let loose again. Once the rocket passes through the atmosphere, Liam receives word from control down below, explaining that a small glitch means he must push a button to release the outer panels and reveal a view of space. Everything goes well at first, until the other kids start playing around and competing over who gets to push the buttons to eject the Dandelion. As a result, they push the buttons in the wrong order and don’t release the Dandelion properly, which sends the rocket twirling off toward the moon. Earth is visible for a while, but then it isn’t, and Liam receives an alert that the systems have permanently failed. To calm down the others, he starts listing things he remembers about home, and the others eventually fall asleep. Liam goes down through the hatch to the Dandelion, which has massive windows and provides a much better view. Florida soon joins him, and she points out that they’re staring at the moon.