Furry Launch

Eddy and his family just moved to a new city, since his dad had found a great job opportunity. The new house was still a mess, with a lot of packed boxes from the move, and even, there were some belongings of the previous owner still in the attic. The house needed a lot of work, but Eddy was happy that his parents were happy; this sacrifice meant a better future for them. However, Eddy was having troubles to adapt to his new life, because he did not have friends at the new school or in the neighborhood yet. He knew it was just a matter of time; he would eventually find great friends to have all the possible adventures they could imagine. For now, he enjoyed spending time with his little furry male hamster named Churro, which had become his best friend for the last few weeks.

Eddy always loved pets and he was very happy that his parents had bought Churro for him, it was so much fun. He had promised his dad he would look after Churro very much, and he had done it so far.

Every morning before school, Eddy fed Churro, filled his water dispenser, and rubbed his small head. In the afternoon, Eddy got home from school, ate a little snack and had his play time with his furry friend, which was his favorite part of the day.

They had all sorts of adventures, from having snacks together, to play in the garden, teaching Churro some tricks and having fun in the amusement park Eddy’s dad made out of plastic bottles and cardboard core of roll of paper towels for the little animal.

One day, Eddy went to the attic with Churro to search for materials to attach to the amusement park. Eddy put the pet inside an empty box while exploring old things. When he turned around to check on him, he discovered the hamster was not there anymore.

Eddy started to panic just to think about the million boxes and things in the attic where Churro could hide in. He was calling Churro, walking very carefully not to step on him but he could not see him anywhere. He kept quiet just looking, when suddenly he heard a noise coming from behind a desk. He approached, called the hamster again and waited, and heard the noise once more. He felt such a relief because he knew it was his little friend. He started crawling towards the sound, and moving boxes and stuffs to open the way. He achieved to see Churro through a gap and reached him with his hand. Poor Churro was all covered with dust, but Eddy was so happy, he just cleaned Churro a bit and before standing up, glimpsed a weird object. He took it and it was a bit heavy, he gazed at it, but he did not know what it was, although he found it very interesting.

He took the mysterious object to his room, trying to figure out what it was. Eddy sat on the floor with his legs crossed and placed the object in front of him. He picked it up and thought the object was similar to a bottle, actually, it was as big as a bottle of beverage and it seemed to be composed of four parts from the bottom to the top: it had a dark metal disc shape base, with little holes in the form of stars, then, a four metal framing legs that connected its base to the third part, which was a sort of a metal disc the same size as the base, with no holes but with a tiny lock and a chain, and on top of this disc, a finest part in form of a cone, with little holes in the form of stars as well.

In the area among the metal framing legs, there was a dim capsule, which confused Eddy even more. He put the object again on the floor, and stared at it, moving the little chain that hung from the lock. He managed to unlock the top of the object, and realized it opened. He lifted it again, and checked inside, the capsule was hollow. He closed it and looked at Churro, and said aloud: “I know what it is, this is a rocket!”

“We have to find you a spacesuit Churro, they are waiting for you in the Space Station for your mission” said Eddy exited and prepared the bags to take Churro to the airport; the pet was going to take a flight to the Kennedy Space Center to begin training, he would be the first astronaut hamster in the world, he needed to prepare for the launch as soon as possible.

First, Churro started learning about space equipment. He was taken to the Astronomy School, where he was studying about the stars and how to use a telescope. Eddy was sure Churro would do okay in class because he was a very smart hamster. At the school, there were different kinds of telescopes; Churro learned every part of them in order to know how to repair them, part of his mission was to do that once in space.

After several weeks of Astronomy, Churro learned about how to live in a weightless environment, as he would be in zero gravity in the Space Station. Churro’s high technology spacesuit was very heavy, mostly because of the oxygen supply. However, Churro was enjoying every step of the process.

The final classes were of course, learning to operate a rocket. He trained to fly the space shuttle and to understand all of its systems for several weeks as well. The rocket launch was scheduled.

The day had come. Two hours previous launch, Churro put on his spacesuit and began his walk to the lauchpad. Since another part of his mission was to carry cargo, some packaged food was already been fitted in the rocket. Churro took the elevator and crossed the bridge directed to his rocket capsule. The capsule opened and Churro boarded it. While he waited his scheduled time, he made the last safety checks and confirmation of optimal weather conditions with the mission controller.

The countdown started and Churro became a bit nervous. He took a deep breath and prepared to operate the rocket directly. When the countdown reached zero, all visitors watched the rocket blast off. Churro felt a huge kick as the rocket motor ignited. The sound of the explosion was huge as people witnessed the first astronaut hamster go to space in his own tiny rocket. Soon he was as high as the clouds, and looking down, Eddy’s house seemed smaller and smaller every second. All of a sudden, he was seeing mountains, rivers, even the ocean, so small and far away, while he was reaching the Earth’s atmosphere. He was marveled by the immensity and beauty of our planet as he drew near the Space Station in its orbit. After several hours…

“Honey, put Churro on his cage and wash your hands, dinner is ready”

Eddy’s mom was calling him for dinner while walking towards the yard, where Eddy was playing. When she spotted him she saw him with the mysterious object. She came closer her son to find out that he was carrying something heavy with both hands while uttering explosion sounds.

“What is that?” she asked.

“Look mom, Churro has a rocket, he is flying into space!”

She approached him and took the thing, and she could see the hamster inside the glass globe.

“Sorry honey, you cannot play with this, it is dangerous, this glass could break, where did you find it?”

“In the attic” said Eddy with a sad countenance.

She placed the object on the floor and opened the capsule to take the pet out. She found a little cardboard box alongside Churro, which contained sunflower seeds and about half teaspoon of pieces of carrots. She smiled. Then, she addressed to Eddy:

“Well, this is a lantern, it was a portable lamp that used a candle inside this glass globe, people used it long time ago, this one should be a valuable antique. So, we are going to take it back to the attic, and your dad could make you a rocket for Churro with plastic and cardboard like the amusement park, it would be better because it will not be that heavy and your dad could in fact, put a comfortable seat for Churro, this lantern does not seem comfy at all, is that okay for you?”

Eddy nodded smiling and placed his little friend in his sweatshirt pocket and took his book of Astronauts Stories to his room to be ready for dinner.  

The next mission will be going to Mars, but for that, Eddy and Churro would have to wait for the next day to come.