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Back Little Universes Save as PDF
Chapters (63)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Part 1
  6. Mae
  7. Hannah
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. Part 2
  33. 25
  34. 26
  35. 27
  36. 28
  37. 29
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. 32
  41. 33
  42. 34
  43. 35
  44. 36
  45. 37
  46. 38
  47. Part 3
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. 47
  57. 48
  58. Epilogue
  59. Mental Health Resources
  60. Acknowledgments
  61. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
  62. About the Author
  63. Newsletter Sign-up

But, I want to say to them all, is there anything lonelier than an astronaut in space whose parents are dead?

In Japan, they select astronauts by putting them in an enclosed space with other candidates for ten days. There are cameras everywhere, documenting every move they make, all their interactions. The testers make them fold a thousand paper cranes to see who works best under pressure. Traditionally, in Japan, the cranes are given to sick people. They’re meant to bring long life and health. The trick is that, if you want to be an astronaut in Japan, your thousandth crane needs to look as perfect as your first one. Otherwise, sayonara.

Calm under pressure. That’s maybe the number one trait of being an astronaut, other than not having motion sickness or a fear of heights.

People might think I don’t miss my parents because I’m not sobbing every other second. But I do miss them. Terribly.

I’m just practicing.

can a person return to sender?

Mailbox

4302 Seaview Lane

Venice, CA

11

Hannah

We divide up all the jobs: packing, sorting, throwing away, organizing. I keep getting too blubbery as we go through things, so Mae tells me to do the paperwork. Dad’s laptop is still on his desk, so I turn it on and start with his email. My sister will probably be recruited by both NASA and the CIA, since, apparently, she can also hack into people’s emails. She figured out Dad’s password is Starman715, which is his favorite song and birthday, so I guess maybe it wasn’t that hard. I’m really going to miss calling Dad a nerd—of course an astrophysicist would love “Starman.” This is our bit:

Dad: (says something about math or science that .000003 percent of the world could understand)

Me: Nerd alert!

Him: Takes one to know one.

Me: You’re confusing me with your other daughter.

One of the jobs Mae gave me was to create a vacation responder that lets people know that Dad’s gone, and that if they need to get in touch regarding his research or anything else, to email our family lawyer. I guess we have one of those.