Going to the Moon

The Short story "Going to the Moon" by Nino Ricci is about a young boy who discovers the reality of life, which once seemed like a fictional story to him. ... The story centers around the desire a the boy, to travel to the moon inspired by his first grade teacher, Miss Johnson. She allows her class to imagine going to the moon as well as follow the lives of the astronauts of Apollo I, as they prepare to venture into space. However, on the twenty fifth day of the classes countdown the crew of Apollo I die in a preflight test, and along with this passing the young boys dreams of going to the moon die. ... close enough to throw a stone at" (Ricci 211) Bert has never set foot in it. ... The most dominant aspect of the story that reveals the them is the dream of going to the moon. Miss Johnson makes the idea of going to the moon so realistic to her students, as she lays out two adjoining lengths of newsprint which reveal the students lunar landscape. ... However, Apollo I the space shuttle the class has been following that sparks such an interest to them, never made it to the moon, as the crew dies in a preflight test. The young boys dreams of going to the moon are no longer alive, "I was stranded in my own small world as on some barren planet, with no way to bridge the gap between the promise and the hundred small humiliations that kept me from it" (Ricci