“Are we seeing this right, Dr. Mary? Adjust the scope again.”

“Yes, Dr. Phil.” The woman in casual clothing used the big computer to adjust the humongous telescope.

After a minute, she fell back to her seat’s support looking at the screen with a pale face.

There were many people in that room, all in casual clothing yet the technology around them made the room look abnormal.

Doctor Phil, the head of this astronomy team sat on the ground with a hand supporting his head.

Everyone had the same kind of reaction because of what they discovered just now.

“Are you sure it was sudden, Dr. May?” Phil asked with skepticism.

“Yes, just a day ago, Galaxy 221 was right there.” She said while pointing at the screen of the telescope.

Phil looked at the blank place and went to the computer, he brought up the latest image of the galaxy and gasped in shock. It really was taken 16 hours ago.

“A whole galaxy vanished from sight within a day… Does it mean the theory was correct?” A man at the side chair asked with a baffled face.

“What theory?” Phil became interested in hearing the man.

“Our space is ever increasing and soon… galaxies that we strive to travel one day will get so far from us that it will be impossible to even look at them.” He completed the sentence and saw everyone staring at him with their mouths agape.

Dr. Phil looked at the screen again, the galaxy had vanished for good. They could not tell if it went far from their galaxy or if something even more unbelievable happened.

Yet 50 years went by, and the astronomy team disbanded by this point without gaining any insight into the topic.

The vanished galaxy was yet another mystery humans could not solve.

The unbelievable part was that no other galaxies that were recorded till now had vanished like this one. Astronomers even found more of them in these 50 years.

The case was closed and kept unsolved while the world moved forward uncaring for that mystery.

There was only one astronomer who was still trying to search for the anomaly, Dr. May who was still trying to put the dots together for the last 50 years.

She looked for evidence and facts all her life yet she couldn’t find anything taking this desperate hold of a search to her grave one day.

It was not her fault, the circumstances were anything but normal. The vanishing was not normal, she had already found out a long time ago.

Yet no one was there to believe her, the desperate attempt had made her isolated from the world.

If one looked at her last written file for this mystery, one would be convinced that the vanishing was done by something else, something unnatural.

Yet that discovery went with her death as nobody had the time or the care to look at it.

Until the same thing happened to their galaxy too…

———————
“Wake up, Kyle! Everyone is waiting.”

“Ugh, you are so annoying. Get out of the room!”

SMACK!

The boy who was leisurely sleeping on the bed got smacked on the head by another of the same age.

“Max… I WILL KILL YOU!”

Kyle leaped out of bed, swiftly pursuing Max as he bolted out of the room.

Before Kyle knew it, they both had entered the lobby after coming down some stairs.

“Watch your language, Kyle!”

Kyle stopped and looked at his father who was sitting on the sofa and reading the newspaper.

He wanted to shout again yet he knew getting his father in a bad mood this early in the morning was a bad idea.

“Get ready fast, we will be leaving in 2 hours.”

“I thought this was already clear.” Kyle looked at his father with confusion, “I am not going.”

“Oh you are, and even your mom can’t save you this time.”

“Dave! Be nice!” Another voice came from the kitchen and this was the time when Dave the father also needed to be quiet.

“Kyle” His mother came out to the lobby and stared daggered into Kyle’s eyes.

Max was looking with a smirk from the side, he knew if Kyle said anything even a slight argumentative, he would be in for a ride.

Kyle looked back at Max and he shook his head, Kyle sighed and just nodded towards him.

It seemed Max wasn’t going to help him this time.

“I will be ready in an hour,” Lucas said and went back to his room in a grumpy mood to get ready.

“See, honey? That is how parenting is done.” Kyle and Max’s mom said and went to the kitchen again.

“Like mother like son…” Dave whispered and looked at the other boy still in the lobby.

“Max… take care of your brother when you get there. Don’t just keep fighting.”

“Of course, uncle.”

Dave looked at Max for a few seconds and went back to reading the newspaper again.

Two hours passed and Kyle, Max, and Dave were in the car already.

“You both will enjoy a lot there. And Kyle, keep that girl away from Max, alright?”

Kyle looked at his father and snorted, there was no way he was going to do that and with the way Max was smiling, even he knew that he wasn’t going to do anything.

They both may not have the same blood but the bond was as strong as brothers.

In an hour, they finally reached their destination, it looked like a conservation park from the outside and when they entered the big gates, Kyle could see camps made in the open.

His eyes flashed with excitement for a second before he reverted back to being grumpy.

Dave noticed that but said nothing about it.

“Alright, get your bags and go to the main building. The receptionist will handle everything from there.”

The moment Dave was done talking, Kyle took his bag and went toward the building leaving both Max and Dave alone in the car.

“Sigh… when will he become mature, Max? Why can’t he be more like you?” Dave said while caressing his nose.

“Uncle… he is still upset about the solder…” Max said carefully.

It was a sensitive topic for both Dave and Kyle because of a past incident.

“I know… but you already know he was in wrong for that. I didn’t overreact this time… Take care of him, alright? I will come to pick you both up in a week.”

“Alright uncle, bye.” Just like that, even Max left the car. Dave stayed there looking at them get inside that building with a distanced gaze.