The Terror of Suburbia

Sunday night

The eyes of the nation were glued to their TV screens to witness America's latest venture into space, and my eyes were no exception. We watched as a lunar module approached a previously unexplored planet; down it went, through the blackness, approaching its intended landing site. Suddenly something went wrong, and the spacecraft veered off-course. I gasped, as I'm sure many people did. How could this happen, after all of the money that was spent -- and after all of the careful plans that had been made? Where would it land?

The module landed in what looked like a pleasant American suburb; so pleasant that it seemed to be a throwback to another time. A dog and a cat looked on inquisitively at the thing that had just fallen from the sky. Unfortunately for the astronauts, their troubles had just begun. They had landed safely, but somehow a balloon (the size of one that might be found at a child's birthday party) escaped from one of the hatches; it contained miniature United States astronauts. Now that they were untethered, there was no telling where they would end up; they simply floated away, out of control. It was a serious disaster for the space program and for the country.

*****

We went to the movies last weekend (to see "Eastern Promises" -- very good, but quite bloody in places) and I happened to notice a poster for a forthcoming documentary called "In The Shadow of the Moon," presented by Ron Howard. This dream appears to have mixed that poster with my memories of the classic French film "The Red Balloon" (1956) which I saw in elementary school. It might also mix in an episode or two of "The Twilight Zone," particularly the one in which a kindly old lady who lives in a farm house is terrorized by tiny aliens. Of course, at the end, she gets up the courage to crush their spaceship with a broom, and in the last shot we see that the spacecraft says "USA" on the side. One of the astronauts is heard radioing back home: "Incredible race of giants here!"