Squintin at the Moon
Written & Narrated By: Zackry Colston
A young boy learns how to drive.
Collection Two: “A Traveler’s Guide”: Stories about Space, Time & Other Worlds
Episode #: Four
Release Date: Tuesday, July 16th
Est. Runtime: » 20 Min
Standout Lines:
"There's no sense squintin at the moon, it don't make it any easier to see."
"I am doing about the same now, but the only funny difference is that now I’m not just doing something, I’m thinking about doing something while I’m doing what it was that I am thinking about while I am doing it"
“Sometimes adults say things without saying things and you’re still supposed to know what they mean.”
From the Author:
I set out to write a story about what it felt like to drive a car for the very first time. When I was a young boy-- the first truck I ever drove was also a total at the body shop where my father worked. He gave me a very similar "pre-flight" briefing. It was one of those memories that (as I wrote the story) I unfolded and remembered remembering. Like it was all stored in my head waiting to be dusted off. I had essentially forgotten it up to the moment of writing it. Something about being back in that headspace, feeling that mix of suffocated, watched, free, mature, childish, terrified-- it just brought it rushing back.
The Niel Armstrong layer was something that I felt best exemplified how I felt about it at the time with the information I would've had circa 2003 as a 10 year old kid. I feel like the space race was something prevalent we were taught at that age. Like cursive, or the dangers of quicksand. Everything needed a coat of theatrics when I was young (he said-- as if he has somehow outgrown it). You didn't ride your bike around the neighborhood, you rode on your horse and slayed dragons. That distance made something feel real. I like contrasting that with a moment in which a child sees themselves growing up, too. Those two things at the same time: clinging to the imagination of boyhood, while crossing a mile-marker of maturity. I think it's beautiful how sad and funny that is. I like that combo.
— Zackry
