Sunstar Mission Failure

    "And this year's new astronaut is..." The man says to the large crowd he has gathered. 

    "Kaisley Burns!" He exclaims as he opens the envelope. My eyes go wide. That's me... I'm Kaisley Burns! I think to myself. My best friend, Kai Stockington, turned to me and elbowed me. 

   "Get out of here." He says as people begin searching for me. "Nobody every comes back from that trip okay or alive. It's a small chance you'll even make it there and back without any problems." 

   I nodded and turned around. I closed my eyes before walking off, trying to cover my face and anything to give away that it was me. 

   "Kaisley? Where are you?" The man over the microphone called out stepping off of the stage.

I'm almost there. I think to myself smiling as I walked towards the end of the large crowd. I didn't know what I was going to do once I made it home, but right now my only concern was to get out of there. 

   I felt a shoulder bump into me and I fell over. "I'm so sorry! I tripped over-." They said helping me up. "You're Kaisley!” The man exclaims pointing at me.

   "Yes but I can't go-." I started but he grabbed my arm and led me back up to the stage. 

   "I found Kaisley, sir." He said, gripping my arm even tighter and blocking the sun from his view as he stared up at the man with the microphone. 

   I could see his features clearly now. He had a small mustache growing, brown eyes, and a bad haircut. "Excellent." He said glaring at me. "Your ship is all ready." He says. I opened my mouth to protest but he started speaking again. "It's an autopilot flyer, so you shouldn't have any problems." 

    I closed my eyes and sighed. "Can I at least say bye to my friend first?" I asked slowly. 

    "I suppose." The man said rubbing his chin. "But you have to come back here as soon as you're done." 

    I nod and head off to where Kai was last, pushing my way through the crowd, I found him standing exactly where he was, and he was staring at me his eyes filled to the brim with tears. I run over and pull him into a tight hug. I didn't want to let go. I didn't want to leave. I looked up and gaze into his eyes. His big blue eyes sparkled in the afternoon summers sun. I stood in my tip toes and game him a kiss. He seemed surprised at first but went with it. 

   ”Kaisley." The man over the microphone called. 

   "I guess this is it.." I said pulling away.

   "Yea." Kai said, his hands still around my waist. 

   "I'll see you when I get back.." I said before walking back towards the stage. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. What if I don't get back... 

   "Ah, yes follow me Kaisley.” He said once an arrived back at the stage. He waved me over to behind the stage, pulled back the curtain, and I gasped. How did I not notice this?

    Standing five feet away from me was a rocket at least 100 feet tall. It was painted a dark gray with red stripes at the bottom. He turned to face the crowd gathered before him, and got ready to make his monologue. "Young Kaisley Burns will enter this rocket, and arrive back on Earth in three months! We hope she will be able to find anything new about our solar system! By sending up amateurs we hope to educate each and every one of you and prepare you for anything life throws your way!" 

   He turned back to face me, and gave me a smile that seemed like it was meant to be calming, but only made me more nervous. 

   He nodded and I slowly walked towards the rocket. The door opened and laid out a stair case for me to climb up and into the ship. I took one look back at the crowd, and saw Kai‘s blue eyes sparkling as a tear dropped down his cheek. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and smiled sadly. 

   I nodded slightly and smiled towards him. I turned around and focused my attention back to the rocket. I was chosen to go up to space. I couldn't believe it. Out of the three thousand people living in my small town, I was chosen. 

   I walked up the stair case and stood inside. Looking around I realized that it wasn't as large as it seemed from the outside. It had a small sleeping quarters on my left, a kitchen ahead of me, and a bathroom to my right. From the kitchen there was a small window so I could see my surroundings. Im assuming the top of the rocket had all of the equipment and piloting stuff. I wasn't very good with engineering or navigation, so I was glad that it was automatically on autopilot. 

   The first week went pretty smoothly. I woke up, made myself breakfast, I observed the stars and planets around me, taking notes every once in a while just to bring back. I had a small notebook tucked away, I wrote in it as if it were a diary. Documenting the small things and what I thought about being up in space. Of course the whole time I was thinking about Kai. I had finally built up the courage to tell him I love him and I’m sent up into space!

   But after the first week is when things started getting weird. I started noticing that some things were off. Like how there wasn't a radio to call over if there was an emergency. There wasn't an extinguisher in case of a fire. I looked at the leftover blueprints up in the control room and there wasn't a shield for when I came back onto Earth, or in case I got in too close contact with a star. 

   The kitchen wasn't packed with enough food to feed me for three months, and there didn't seem to be anywhere near enough water. Sometimes the power would flick on and off, without reason. Nothing else was plugged in, nothing broke, and none of the circuits broke. 

   Slowly but surely it started getting hotter in the shuttle. I tried avoiding the window as much as I possibly could, just in case it wasn't installed correctly or something hit it and it shattered. One day though, it got so unbelievably hot that I had to. I stood up from the kitchen table where my breakfast was, and walked quickly over to the window. I blinked, hoping what I saw wasn't true. But no matter how many times I rubbed my eyes, or pinched myself as if to wake up, it was still there. I was headed directly into the sun. I ran into my bedroom, and slammed open the hatch to the control room. I pulled myself up, and sprinted to the computer screen. I clicked the mouse to turn it on and logged in. I finally opened the folder to the plans for this trip, and found the route I was taking. 

He planned this.. I thought to myself. He purposely programmed for the shuttle to run into the sun. That's why I had a low food and water supply. It was only supposed to last me a week or so. That's why this rocket had no shields or anything. 

   My hands started shaking and I pulled them away from the computer like it had burnt me. If I'd already been on the rocket for eight days, and the route took at least two weeks, I had somewhere under a week left.

    I slowly walked back downstairs and laid down in my bed. This is why the people who came back were so horrified. This is why they came back without any trust in people. 

    I decided that I shouldn't mope around, but instead try to enjoy my last week. I was in space after all. I closed my eyes and went to sleep for the night. 

    I woke up the next morning in my boiling space shuttle. I sluggishly stood up and brushed my hair. Changing out of my pajamas, I went down to the kitchen. I opened the cabinet and pulled out my box of Fruity Pebbles. Pouring myself a bowl I sat down at the table and started eating. I could feel the shuttle growing hotter with every minute, but I tried to ignore it. I must be getting closer now. I stood up and scooted my chair out, and walked over to the window. I looked ahead of the ship and the sun is at least a million miles away. My eyes stung extremely bad from looking at the sun, and I turned away. 

    I rinsed my eyes with cold water and dried them off before continuing my cereal. After another 10 minutes I heard a bang from my bedroom.

    Opening my bedroom door I saw the metal of the shuttle melting under the pressure and heat of the sun. 

    My eyes widened as I watched the metal bunk bed begin melting as well. Tearing my eyes away from my melting ship, I ran into the main room. 

    Slamming open the door of the main room I quickly shoved my legs into the pants of the extra space suit that was hidden away in the closet. I finished putting on the suit in about thirty minutes and slammed the helmet onto my head. This should keep my alive in space for a little.. I remind myself. 

   I run back up to the control room and grasp onto the table. Where is the thing to control this ship?!

   I ran my hands all over the table, and everything on it, but there was no way to steer the shuttle. 

   I ran back to the door of the rocket, and prepared to jump out. The shuttle grew hotter with every second until I couldn't take it. I wasn't thinking correctly and I jumped out of the ship. 

    I could feel the flames of the sun licking at the boots of the suit, but I kicked and tried to get closer to the Earth. Slowly but surely, a satellite came circling maybe a thousand feet away. It seemed like a spec from where I was floating, but I kept pushing towards it. 

    I kicked for what seemed like forever, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. It finally clicked in my head that a satellite has cameras attached to it. I tried waving but the satellite was still too far away for it to see me. I kicked off of a flying piece of debris leftover from the shuttle and inched closer.

    After probably two hours I got within 100 feet of the satellite and tried waving again. This time I saw a faint blinking red light. I pointed behind me to the sun and to the debris my ship left behind. 

    While waving to the satellite I accidentally hit the helmet with my forearm, and I heard a soft click in my right ear. What was that... Slowly breathing gets harder, and it seems as though the air is filing out of the helmet. 

    My eyes fluttered shut and my heart rate slowed. I feebly kicked over to the satellite and wrapped my arms around it. Closing my eyes, I felt myself drift off to sleep.

    When I awoke I was in a small shuttle with two other men. Both were in full space suits, and I was in my clothes from the ship, with a pillow tucked under my head. I shut my eyes again, taking a deep breath in. I closed my eyes, and buried my head into the soft pillow provided for me. 

    I woke up to someone shaking me awake. It was one of the men in the ship with me. “Miss. We’ve arrived back at Earth. Can you walk?” He asks me and I nod feebly. I stood up slowly, and allowed my legs to get used to being used again. I stepped out of the ship and squinted as the bright sunlight beamed into my eyes. 

“Dr. Mayor got death row for planning all of this.” The second man says stepping out behind me. I wasn’t really paying attention to him because I was taking in my surroundings.

    As I looked down I saw Kai standing there, smiling brighter than ever. I smiled and ran and jumped to hug him. I wrapped my legs around his waist and arms around his neck. I allowed the tears gathering in my eyes to fall onto my sun kissed face as I hugged Kai. I looked up at him and he was crying too. I leaned in and stared into his eyes. 

    “I love you, Kai.” I said quietly. 

    “I love you, too.” He says giving me a quick kiss. Looking back up he wiped my tears away with his thumb. “Never leave me again?” 

    I nodded and giggled. “Promise.”