Blast off!

“Do I really have to?” I asked the director of the spacecraft. “Every year, people are sent. You are lucky to be sent in your twenties, some go at the age of twelve. And we still need more space samples. ” “So it’s a yes?” I questioned, hoping I was wrong. “There’s no doubt.” He replied rather sternly, “Here, try on the spacesuit. Your training starts tomorrow.” “How lucky.” I murmured as I exited the lab. “Excuse me?” “Nothing.”

Back at home, I collapsed on the sofa. I didn’t hate outer-space, but what they didn’t know was I was not the most comfortable in areas without any extra space, and I failed mechanics badly in college. “What am I going to do?” I thought out loud. This was going to be the worst year in my life.  

The next day, I checked my body to see if anything was wrong. I hoped something was so I could skip the lesson. To my luck, there wasn’t. I wonder if I could pretend to forget the lesson altogether. My training started at 2pm so at 1:55 I went to take a cat nap. Just as I was actually falling asleep, my phone rang. Then, someone pressed the doorbell. I looked at my phone screen. “Spacecraft Director Dr.Kyle.” Nooo! I got up and checked the door. Double no! He was there himself, Dr.Kyle, at your service. 

He dragged me out of the door, down the steps, and into the space lab. Man, that guy is strong! “I see you forgot about the class.” I looked at the ground. “Go try on the suit. And sit back down. This is not a good first impression.” “Whatever.” The lesson began. I basically just sat there, not even listening. I hoped it wasn’t too important. 

The lessons went on for a month. Each time, I dread it. I either fell asleep, didn’t listen, or stayed in the restroom. This was just not my type.

Finally, the day of the blast-off came. I woke up in the morning, bummed about the whole day. I was going into space. Outside, people crowded around to see us board. I had no idea what to do. My specialty was math, not mechanics. I put on my suit.

“Hey you, it’s on backwards!” yelled my rocket roommate. He laughed. I sighed. I’m in for a long ride.

I boarded the spaceship and looked around. Really crampy. The tubes and machines lined up the walls, making the big space machine look awfully small. Five minutes until blast-off. Here goes nothing.

I could feel my roommates breathing heavily in the next seat. They didn’t look happy, but they weren’t scared either. For a minute, everything was blur. Then black. We were on our own. 

Half an hour in, one of the two other guys fell asleep. An hour later, the other one was out cold too. I unstrapped my seatbelt to look for a snack. Without gravity pulling down, I was so light I felt like I could fly. That was probably the only good part about the trip. 

I floated around the ship, but I couldn’t find anything. I should’ve taken the lessons more seriously. What I did find was a little weird, but I didn’t think much about it. There was some kind of gas leaking from one of the gadgets, but like I said, I failed mechanics. 

I went back to the headquarter, and one of the guys woke up. I later learned his name was Jake and the other who had laughed at me was Graft. His eyes looked not fully awakened, like it was almost going to close again. “Hey dude, got somethin’ to eat?” he asked. “No.” I answered, trying to look like I had been in my seat for a while. There was absolutely no way I was going to blow my cover. 

Jake loosened his seatbelt and got up. I guess spaceships make people crave for food. Seconds later, I heard Jake call my name. “Chris, come here! Why is there a leak in the Command Module?” “Where’s that?” I asked. “You’re dumber than I thought! The command center!” I wasn’t offended. After all, I didn’t make the effort to try to listen to the lessons. 

I got up and went there. Oh. The leak I saw earlier. “I don’t know. I haven't come here yet.” I lied. “Why is it leaking?” “I don’t know, we didn’t learn this in class. Did you?” “Nope.” 

Graft walked in rubbing his eyes. His eyes completely woke up at the sight of the leak. “The gas leak! We might not have enough gas for the trip back, and we still have 2 days until landing! Quick, who’s good at math?” I raised my hand. “We have 2 days left, each second uses up a milliliter of gas……..And we need a ride back.” I quickly got the answer, and turns out Graft hadn’t failed mechanics. He estimated the gas leak and tried to stop it. 

Jake was a genius. He figured out a way to use less fuel, while still making it on time to get some rock samples. 

We landed in no time. The Arox spacecraft came to a stop on the moon. We made it. I gathered rock samples while Jake watched the leak and stayed in the command center. The suit was heavy on land, but in space it was light as a feather. 

Once back on the ship, we blasted off for earth. I think we were meant to be spacemates. Couldn’t have done it without each other. We eventually found the snack cabinet and safely landed on earth. People congratulated me and the guys as we got off the ship. Me and the guys bumped hands and gave each other their phone numbers. We had become friends in a short span of time and it looked like a strong bond. I had learned about teamwork and couldn’t wait for our next adventure. A trip to the red-planet Mars.