Reveries of the Moon - A Reality Now

I wake up from the 10-day-long slumber. Looking through the tiny window of the spacecraft, I stare at the immeasurable, dark void.

- Sreelekha Chatterjee

"One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong

"How long will it take to reach the Moon?" I ask the captain, awake at the flight deck.

"We'll be there within the next couple of hours, ma'am." He points toward a tiny luminescent dot in the whirling darkness of the space outside.

Gradually, all my co-passengers-10 people including me-woke up. We have been in sleeping mode ever since we left Earth on this holiday trip to the Moon. I recall viewing an advertisement on the Internet about a 24-hour stay on the Moon, organized by a private company. I learned that they've built a hotel on the Earth's satellite, which must have cost a fortune, with all the facilities needed for life form to exist.

"Fasten your seatbelts." The captain roars ecstatically after some time, breaking into my thoughts.

As we brace ourselves for the impact of landing, our incredulous hearts beat more rapidly than normal, enthralled by the actual occurrence of the much-awaited moment, boasting our pride evident on our cheeks painted vermillion. It's truly an exhibition of human genius-the act of man's landing and walking on a celestial body other than Earth -the Moon-almost six decades ago. A swarm of scientific inventions followed that, birthing enormous progress, which has made possible this delightful voyage to the Moon now.

Outside the window, as our spacecraft nears the ground, there appears a greyish-brown land surface covered by powdery dust and rocky debris, and dotted with pits and big craters. We feel violent tremors when the spacecraft touches the lunar surface and then stops abruptly.

On reaching safely, we unfasten our seatbelts, wear our space suits including our helmets, each having a dedicated light, and strap the oxygen tanks on our backs.