With fingerprint in hand, it was difficult to enter the clean room.  My emotions were running high with the possibility of being caught. If discovered, they would say I jeopardized a multi-million-dollar project.

I never dreamt of doing anything like this until last night. My son finding that old science lab kit from my youth in the basement brought back memories.

Everyday, my father pushed me to do my best in school. He would say, “Reach for the stars and you will not be working in the mud like me.” Always involved in my education, he provided for our family by working on the farm.

I transferred my father’s fingerprint from our last science project together onto the upper wall of the observation cone. Securing a brace over it was part of my job as an aerospace engineer. The print would never be seen and this section would soon be on the moon for final assembly. A part of Dad would forever point where he could not attain in life because of lack of education and opportunity. Somehow I hoped he would know. 

“Thanks Dad,” I whispered. “Tonight, I plan on picking up a new Science kit for your grandson.”

Charles Yedinak [Colorado Springs, CO] is a business high school teacher who wants to develop writing skills.

© 2008 Charles Yedinak. Original for CCF  (Yedinak grants CCF  first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology).