1987

That summer, Leo’s older sister had spent hours "feathering" his hair for his school picture, insisting he wear his favorite to complete the look. They had spent their evenings at the local cinema watching Empire of the Sun or arguing over whether the new Yes album, Big Generator , was actually good or just a "coked-out" mess.

The world didn't end, but it felt different. The neon-lit optimism of the mid-80s was beginning to fray at the edges. Yet, for Leo, the year remained a "wonderful testament to the 80s"—a time of transition where the analog world of his father’s spreadsheets met the digital future of his Macintosh, all set to the hum of a decade that didn't yet know it was ending. flames | The Lost Boys (1987) | revised - BEFORE WE BEGIN That summer, Leo’s older sister had spent hours

His father, a weary analyst at , had been coming home later than usual. The bull market that had defined the last five years was reaching a fever pitch, with the Dow hitting record highs. But in the quiet moments between the clicks of Leo’s mouse, there was a sense of unease. The neon-lit optimism of the mid-80s was beginning

Then came October. The air turned crisp, and the atmosphere in the house shifted overnight. On , a day that would forever be known as Black Monday , the stock market plummeted. Leo watched his father sit in the living room, the flickering light of the evening news reflecting off his glasses as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 500 points in a single day. The bull market that had defined the last