|
[Story] [Science]
The Nightmare Continues
My palms were sweating as I sat in the front
seat of the ship. My arms were shaking and my
brain felt like it was floating about in my head.
"We okay to go, Alex?" someone asked and I gave
a thumbs up.
Kevin put the key into the ignition and we shot
off, feeling like a ball that had just been hit by
a bat. Then I felt warmth on my face. A warmth
that felt as if it would exceed the heat of the
sun. As I opened my eyes, I saw hot fire and heard
the screams of 5 of my closest friends...then I
woke up.
It had all been a bad dream. But then I
realized that it was April 22, the day that I would
be going to the planet Oobleck. But not only as a
passenger, but as the captain. The captain that
would most likely kill her entire crew.
I knew that I would fail, for I had been having
the same dream ever since I had gotten this
assingment...2 weeks ago. But this dream was
worse. Much worse. This time I saw Jon, the only
one I had ever loved, burning to ashes while
hearing his screams. Even though he did not know
of my feelings for him, I sometimes dreamt that he
did, and he too felt the same way. Yet I knew this
could never happen.
I looked at the clock.
"Oh my gosh! It's 9 o'clock and I'm supposed to
be at NASA by 9:30!" I said, jumping out of bed and
getting ready faster than I ever thought
possible.
I quickly combed my long black hair, then put it
back into a tight french braid. Then I put on a
black shirt, black pants, and black hiking boots.
I then looked at my tall, thin, 22 year old body in
the mirror. I don't know why, because I looked the
same everyday. Day in and day out. I shook my
head and grabbed my suitcase.
I dashed down the stairs and into my car. It
was a cool day in Texas, but I was still hot. My
face felt hot as little beads of perspiration ran
down my face. I wiped my forehead and then put the
keys into the ignition. All of a sudden, my dream
was back and I saw the flames of fire and heard the
screams aging. MY hand jerked away from the keys
and I froze.
"I can't trust myself with the five most
important people in my life." I thought. I knew I
would just be putting them into danger. But I knew
that I had to go. I turned on the car and was off.
I barely made it to NASA in time.
I ran in and saw everyone talking to an
instructor.
"Hi!" I heard everyone say.
Then I saw JOn. He was tall, 23, handsome, the
scientist on our ship and if I might add, in
incredible shape. Just the sight of him made my
knees weak. I felt my face turning red and I
quickly turned away from him. I then noticed that
something, or better yet, someone was missing.
"Where's Lisa?" I ask. Then someone I had never
even seen before answered.
"Lisa has a cough and no one who is even
remotely sick is allowed in space," replied the
stranger.
"And who are you?" I asked.
"I'm Emi Taylor and I will be replacing Lisa and
going to the planet Oobleck with you. I'm also
going to be helping you along the way. Do you have
a problem with that?"
"No, there's no problem," I say, "I was just
wondering what you were doing here."
Emi is tall, thin, and has short brown hair.
She looked about 23, spunky, and I could tell that
she wouldn't let anyone get in her way. I nodded
my head in approval. Then I looked around to see
who else was there.
There was Lanea Akina, my assistant captain.
She was a lot like me, except that she was 21 and
had short brown hair. I was especially happy to
see her, for she was the only family who would be
coming with me.
Then I saw Kevin Olsen, my pilot. He was tall,
kind, outgoing, 21, and loved adventure. Most
likely, he's been flying before he could even
drive. He had brown hair and beautiful brown eyes
that I knew I could trust.
Then I saw Dara Shaw. She would be my
navigator. She was tall, thin, had long brown
hair, excited and 24 years old.
My last crew member was Jon Hamilton, but I
didn't dare look at him for fear of turning red
like a ripe tomato.
We were all here, except for Lisa. But now we
had Emi and I was happy with that. Just then,
somebody named Mr. Davis came to talk to us.
"You six fine individuals will be making a very
dangerous journey. No one has ever been to the
planet Oobleck there and we don't know what you can
expect. But we do know that you can do it. NASA
has personally hand picked you, and we know that
you'll do well. Now, go get dressed and meet me
back here at eleven hundred hours. Good luck."
We all quickly went to change and were soon back
at the spaceship be 11 o'clock. We had all been
preparing for this day ever since we all attended
astronaught school at the age of 12.
We all filed into the spaceship as ants file
into there nests. In fact, I felt like an ant
compared to the giant ship. The ship was about the
size af two football fields in length and maybe
half a football field in width. I felt so tiny
that I thought I would disappear.
Once we were all in the spaceship, I sat down in
the front seat and it was like my nightmare come
true. My palms became moist and my arms began to
tremble, my heart pounding so loud that I thought
someone in China would here it. It felt as if my
brain were floating around in my head and my whole
body was shaking.
I closed my eyes and saw the fire again, but
this time there was no screaming. Instead there
was an eerie silence. I tried to open my eyes, but
it felt as if they were glued shut.
"Alex, Alex, open your eyes." said a familiar
voice.
I opened my eyes and Jon was next to me. I
smiled and he smiled back at me. He grabbed my
hand and all of my troubles went away. Then I
heard the echoing of Kevin's words.
"3........2.......1.......BLASTOFF!"
We were off. There was shaking. Shaking as no
other earth quake had ever shaken. The shaking
increased and then ceased all at once. Jon's hands
were tightly gripped around my own and I could tell
that we had finally broken through the Earth's
atmosphere.
"We're safe now," Kevin was saying, "you can
unbuckle and walk around. The ship is on
autopilot."
"Hey, are there any game rooms on this monster?"
asked Jon, who had finally let go of my hand and
was now standing up.
"I think there's a bowling alley. Anybody want
to challenge the champ?" I say, flexing my
mussels.
"Why, you want to challenge me Alex? After all,
I'm the real champ." said Dara, pretending to roll
a ball down an alley. Then she jumped up and down
as if she had just made a strike.
"Bring it on girl." I say, beckoning Dara to try
to challenge me.
"Cat fight, RAAAAAAR!" says Jon.
"I wanna watch!" says Kevin, waving his hand in
the air and jumping like a kangaroo.
Just when we were about to leave for the bowling
alley, Lanea finally said something.
"Hey guys, come have a look at this." said
Lanea.
"What's wrong?" I ask, my brow narrowing.
"The number 2 booster, the fire keeps going in
and out." says Lanea.
"Why didn't you say anything before?" I ask,
with a hint of frustration in my voice.
"Before, it was barely flickering, see?" says
Lanea, rewinding a video tape with the number 2
booster on it. And it was true. I couldn't tell
that it was even going out. Then not even a split
second later, the damage had increased. Now I
could barely tell that the booster's fire was even
on. My heart sank into my foot. It was my
nightmare come true.
"Kevin, try to control the ship. Nea, see if
you can regenerate the booster on the computer.
Emi, Dara, look up the manuals and see if you can
find anything on the boosters. Jon, come with my
to try to figure out this whole mess. Put your
helmet on, we're going outside." I say, throwing a
helmet to Jon and putting on my own.
"Why me?" asks Jon.
"You're the scientist. Now lets move
people."
Everyone immediately jumped into their positions
that I had ordered them into. As jon and I went
outside, my breath was taken away. What a
magnificent view! I saw the sun and all of the
planets. All of the stars looked like billions and
billions of white ants, crawling over a black
blanket. I was taking it all in when Jon tapped my
shoulder, jarring me back to reality. I then
remembered what we had to do.
Almost swimming, we got over to the booster. It
was barely working now and the ship was starting to
tilt.
"Give me a screwdriver." said Jon, looking at a
small compartment on the booster.
I gave him the screwdriver and he opened the
compartment.
"We're at a 37 angle and falling fast," I say,
looking at a small pocket computer that gave
information on the ship.
"Wire cutter." says Jon, looking nervous.
"56 angle and falling at 73 mph." I say.
"Magnifying glass."
"72 angle and 101 mph!" i say, shaking with
fright.
"Electrical tape!" says Jon, almost yelling at
me, but not an angry yell, but a fearful one.
"84 angle and 132 mph! We're 30 miles away
from Jupiter!"
"SCREW DRIVER!"
"87 angle an 146 mph! 10 miles from
Jupiter."
"Got it!!!!!" Jon says.
There was a deafening silence and it seemed like
forever until the booster came back on. Our ship
slowly began to rise until we were at a perfectly
straight angle. We smiled and embraced.
Everything was fine.
We get in and take our helmets off.
"Hey Alex." says Jon, looking uneasy.
"Yes Jon?" I ask, a little curious.
"I,um........" says Jon, shifting from side to
side.
"I've liked you since we were 12. And my
feelings have grown. I'll understand if you say
no, but....."
"Yes Jon?" I ask, trying not to smile.
"Will you go out with me when we get back home?"
asks Jon.
"Sure." I say, hugging him and trying not to
show that I've also liked him for a long time.
We go back inside and everyone is praising us as
their hero's for fixing the ship. We had a big
celebration at the food court and we were at the
planet Oobleck in no time. We look out the
window.
There is only one big island surrounded by
Oobleck. On the island, there are oobleckfalls,
trees, plants, and everything else Earth had to
offer. All I can do is smile. Jon leans to me and
whispers:
"Welcome to Ooleck."
[Animation]
|
