**Make sure to scroll up and read the Prologue**

It was already two in the morning, the kids had finally passed out. Silence filled the house. Taylor laid his head back on the couch and shut his eyes, not wanting to breathe for fear of ruining the moment of peace.

It had been a rough year, even though the start had been smooth. Taylor had been fired on Christmas Eve of the previous year and hadn’t been sure what to do next.

Luckily, he’d made a nice chunk of change in the stock market in February that had let him pay off his wife’s car and buy a cheap truck. Taylor had started a small business as a repairman and managed to get by throughout the year.

The kids stayed fed, he had plenty of time to stay home with his wife and children, and he had a bit of free time. Overall it had been a good year.

Of course, things could never stay that way. It was already October, Taylor hadn’t received a job for almost two months. They didn’t have the money to make the mortgage payment this month. If it wasn’t for his wife, Michelle, picking up work making shirts for a small boutique, they likely wouldn’t have made it this long.

He looked down at his four-year-old daughter, who had fallen asleep in his lap. Taylor ran his hand through her hair, smiling. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for his three children, and he knew that he was cutting it close to the wire.

After four interviews, he still hadn’t been accepted even with a decade’s worth of experience. Even offering to take a cut in pay, these places wanted salesmen, not someone who could actually diagnose and make repairs to equipment.

Taylor stood up and picked up the little girl in his arms, carrying her to bed and pulling the comforter up over her shoulders.

“Sweet dreams, little one,” He whispered. He then crept out of the room while avoiding the obstacle of toys between the bed and door.

He poked his head into his sons’ room and found his wife asleep on the bed with their three-year-old snuggled up to her neck. His eight-year-old son’s bed was empty. He was across town with his mom since he had school tomorrow. Taylor looked at the bed for a moment, hoping that summer would come back around soon so that he could see his son more than every other weekend.

Turning the light off, he went out to the backyard and stood in the brisk wind of the night. The chilly weather and the dark atmosphere were something he highly preferred over the heat of the summer.

Laying back in the grass, he looked up at the stars and hoped for a chance to come along.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a streak flew by in the night sky. Shortly after, another flew by, followed by hundreds and thousands. It looked as if a massive meteor shower was passing by the Earth.

As someone who regularly followed the announcements made by NASA and other research departments, he knew that this was unexpected. The phenomenon continued for about five minutes before the sky returned to normal, almost as if it had never happened.

Something he did notice was that the stars looked strange. He couldn’t find any of the constellations that he would typically look at. Not even the moon was in the sky tonight for him to use as a guide.

He shook his head, thinking that he really needed to get some sleep. Maybe he’d find an interesting article on it to read in the morning.

He stood in front of the mirror, brushing his teeth before bed. He looked over how much he’d changed over the years. Not quite thirty yet, but his hair was already receding. He had bright eyes that would alternate between a light blue or a bright grey. A thick, braided, brown beard covered his chin and ran down to his chest.

He still had the same broad shoulders, strong arms, and thick chest from working out in high school and for a few years after. Taylor had thick muscular thighs and calves. Mostly from toting around an 80-pound toolbag up and down ladders and across rooftops through the years. Though, he sneered in disgust at the belly in the middle, holding it all together. Many late nights drinking with friends and being spoiled by his wife’s delicious cooking had taken him from washboard to beer belly.

After rinsing off and preparing for bed, he lay down and scrolled on his phone. He wondered if anyone was talking about the change in the sky from earlier. As it turned out, hundreds of people were posting about it in some of his groups. Not a single announcement had been made by any of the actual astronomers.

Since there wasn’t any relevant information, he switched to his light novel app and read the newest release chapters from that evening. Once those were out of the way, he thumbed through the anime apps and became disappointed. There was not a single new episode for him to watch.

As he was about to plug his phone up and go to sleep, his wife walked sleepily into the room, rubbing her eyes.

Taylor smiled at her, laughing a bit at her shuffling feet. “It seems like we’re staying up later every night getting the little creatures to sleep.” He chuckled while she crawled in bed and pressed her body up against his side.

“Maybe the next one will be easier.” She teased and smiled while clinging more tightly to him.

He just closed his eyes and held her. They both knew that the circumstances weren’t right for having another one.

“Hey, you missed something crazy earlier. There were thousands of…” He looked down at Michelle to see that she was already back asleep. “Good talk..” He said while laughing and rolling over to close his own eyes.