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January 17
The first thing Lola remembers about that year is an explosion. She’s three years old (born on June 10,1993),and she lives in Titusville with her parents,her older sister Amanda,and their old dog Ernesto. Daddy’s at work today because of a rocket launch,and so Amanda,who just turned 9 and has a day off because of the launch,is babysitting Lola. The explosion comes at 11:28 am,and it takes everything Lola’s mind can think of to keep from crying. And then there’s the lady on the TV.”We have had an anomaly....”Outside there is a new cloud. Lola notices that unlike all other clouds,which are white,this one is orange,and what looks like little stars are trailing from it to the ground. That night,Mommy comes home first. Daddy doesn’t come home until the next day.
February 11
Mommy takes Lola and Amanda outside early in the morning,while it’s still dark. In the distance,a great light appears,almost as if the Sun rose early. The light rises into the sky,and is accompanied by a great roaring noise.
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Mommy takes Lola to daycare at 9:00. It’s held in an old schoolhouse in Titusville with chipped blue paint. She hands Lola off to Ms.Frey,the caretaker,who introduces Lola to the other kids:
Jae (short for Jaehaerys),whose father works on experimental propulsion systems
Miles,a little boy with a tie who’s playing with a rocket toy
Finn,Miles’ best friend
Annie,Finn’s neighbor
Megan,a girl from Lola’s street who doesn’t talk much
Tracey,Megan’s cousin
Cat,a new girl from Virginia with a rainbow lollipop
Hazel,whose parents work for the new United Space Alliance
Johanna,a slim girl with short hair
Janelle,her cousin
Ariana,another cousin of hers
Drew,an Asian girl who quickly pals up with Finn,Annie,and Cat
Trina,whose father is a pianist
Hayley,her neighbor
Chloe,another new girl
Mavis,who likes to sing
Olivia,her best friend,who likes to draw
Pixie,the youngest
There’s also Daeron,Jae’s older brother who’s in fifth grade and volunteering here,and Charlotte,another fifth grade volunteer.Annie is a bright girl with tawny red hair,a nice smile,and a compliment for everybody. Lola thinks that she might be best friends with her someday. Cat and Johanna impress her the least. At lunchtime,she sits between Annie and Drew,Jae across from her accepting pickles from Nancy,an eighth grade volunteer,and the crust of her sandwich is a little more brittle than usual.
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September 6
Daddy comes home with an enthusiastic smile on his face. “Guess what?””What?”“I’ve been assigned my first real launch! The Stardust space probe,due to launch in February 1999.”They go to Denny’s to celebrate. That night,Lola has her first taste of apple pie.
September 25
At daycare,the topic of conversation is that morning’s Shuttle launch. Annie saw it from the VAB,with her dad,who was on the Mir space station earlier in the year.
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For some reason,October 13 through 17 are off days. Lola wonders why. Annie tells her ‘It’s because of a rocket launch. Daddy told me it’s very important.’The Friday before their off week begins,Ms.Frey shows them a slideshow about the planet Saturn. Apparently that’s where the rocket is going.