Rocking with Spaceman Mac

Rocking With Spaceman Mac

Ellie Sommerset loved alternative music. Every night, after supper when she was supposed to be doing her homework, the young girl was listening to this far out station that broadcasted the weirdest, strangest music that she had ever heard.

It wasn’t the boring classic rock that her parents listened to or the jazz that her uncle liked. It wasn’t grunge or hip hop or rap. It wasn’t country or classical or opera. It wasn’t the blues or folk. It didn’t sound like anything anyone had ever created on earth.

But the DJ spoke English very well. In fact, he told the funniest jokes and anecdotes and she had shared them in school. All of a sudden, the girl that was kind of quiet and a little mousy, was quite popular. Everyone in high school had a handle and she was known as the ‘funny girl.’

The DJ known as Spaceman Mac, was dead on with the jokes about all kinds of stuff. The weirdest thing was that no one was able to get that station. Her best friend Nat Morris had asked her where she got all the funny stuff from.

“Oh, Nat, there is this great station. I stream it over the Internet and you can’t find it on the regular radio dial. I am pretty sure that it is satellite radio.”

Nat tried but couldn’t get it.

Ellie was a little disappointed because the two shared everything.

So, after supper every night she put on the headphones and listened to her Spaceman Mac laying it down and grooving the air with some of the strangest, weirdest songs that ever graced the universe. She had tried to locate some of the bands and none of them had a website and/or could be found anywhere.

There was the Golden Gizzards and they had a song called “Groove me, Baby,” which was just her favourite tune ever. There was the band called the Hopping Dragons that had a song called “Stormy Eyes,” which was such a cool number. And there were another dozen but none of them could be found on Itunes, Spotify or any other music connection site.

Ellie had been listening to this station for sometime when it dawned on her that the radio station wasn’t an earth one, but something from outer space. It occurred to the teen girl when she had tried to request a song and hadn’t been able to dial in the phone number despite numerous attempts.

“How am I able to get alien radio?”

There was no special antennae attached to the house. It was very strange, but the fact was she received the station crystal clear. Actually, it came in much better than stations that weren’t that far away. They certainly weren’t in outer space.

Ellie wondered from what planet that the radio station and Spaceman Mac broadcasted from. He never really gave out his location. Maybe the whole thing was a hoax? Maybe there was some teenager who was pulling a really cool prank?

It was possible. Ellie was not a stupid girl, but not a genius. Some of the kids at school were absolutely brilliant. They could be actual rocket scientists.

Time marched on and she enjoyed the satellite radio for what it was and laughed at the jokes and grooved on the music. She had tried to record some of it but when she played back what she had recorded it was just empty space. It was really creepy.

Then one day, Spaceman Mac mentioned that an earthling was trying to contact him.

“Hey there, you that lives somewhere on that tiny little blue planet. Do you want to connect? It sounds like a groovy thing to do. We can do it, you just have to take a spaceship out to the Planet called Tunes.”

“That is so clever.”

But how was she supposed to come up with a spaceship? Not even the brainiacs in school could build one of them. There was nobody on earth that had ever built one.

Ellie was very disappointed and didn’t know what to do. She had burning desire to meet the guy that made her life happy and special. He just knew how to groove her soul. It was a wonderful distraction from the stuff that went on at home.

Ellie’s parents fought a lot. Her sister was a bad stone and was always getting in trouble. She would come home high on drugs and/or drunk and messed around with boys. In truth, the younger sibling was afraid of the older, wild sister. There was no telling what she was capable of and would do to anyone.

Sometimes, she wished that she had a spaceship that she could escape to and go somewhere else. The music from the alien radio station was usually turned on pretty loud to drown out everything else.

How am I going to get a hold of a spaceship?

It was a week later and there was no more mention of the earthling listening to the radio. Ellie only wished she could connect with Spaceman Mac.

And then one night, there was a connection.

“I am the silliest dude on the planet. How did I expect an earthling teenager to get a hold of a spaceship and come out here when they don’t know how to find it? Tell you what little earthling, we are going to locate you and come and pick you up. This is going to be the most expensive taxi ride in the history of the universe.” 

He laughed his trademark laugh and spun her favourite song.

“I can do this.”

The following night the details were put out for the entire universe to hear. It was also the night that her sister had announced at the dinner table that she was pregnant. Her parents went ballistic. Ellie grabbed her plate and slipped out of the room unnoticed like she had done many times before.

It was time for Ellie to get out of that nuthouse.

They found her exact coordinates and then in one swift motion picked up the teenage girl at the edge of a cornfield. She had her worldly possessions and hoped that she would never have to come back. She loved her family but they were just too much to take.

High school had been torture until she became funny but that wasn’t the greatest either. There were still kids who made fun of her. She was never going to win in that place. 

Her heart broke to leave Nat behind. But Nat had a warm, loving family that rarely fought. They laughed and cared about each other. She would be good. Ellie could send her a postcard from the mysterious planet Tunes.

The spaceship beamed her up and she was terrified. It moved out of the earth’s atmosphere quickly.

Once on board, a very strange looking lady with a furry face approached her.

“Hello, Ellie, we have been waiting for you.”

“Hello. I am really scared.”

“Yes, I don’t blame you. Nobody is going to hurt you. My name is Furnia, I am the program director for the radio station that you love so much.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Ellie had always been thought to be polite and extended her hand. They shook and the young earth girl realized that the woman even had fur on her hands.

“Am I ever going back to earth?”

“That will be your decision.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Relax, because we have a long way to travel.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

Spaceman Mac appeared on a giant screen. He was really weird looking almost beyond description.

“Hey, earth girl, I hear your name is Ellie? Is that right?”

“Oh, my God, it is Spaceman Mac. Yes, my name is Ellie. Oh it is so great to finally meet you.”

“Same here and remember you are on the air.”

“I am?”

“Yes, you are for sure.  Do you want to say something?”

She cleared her throat a couple of times.

“This is Ellie Sommerset and I am from the planet earth. I love this station and think that Spaceman Mac is the coolest DJ in the whole universe. Rock on, everyone.”

“Well, said, Ellie. You are going to be going to a lot of free concerts.”

The young girl was so excited that she almost peed her pants.

They were almost to the planet when something went horribly wrong. The spaceship that had cruised through the sky at warp speed suddenly started to bog down.

“What is going on?”

Furnia appeared.

“Good, you have your seat belt on. There seems to be a problem with the power supply on the ship. I think that it will be shortly fixed.”

The spaceship continued on but was losing power rapidly and was soon going to crash.

Ellie’s facial features were frozen.

All the lights went out on the spaceship and it headed straight for a desolate planet.

“Hang tight, everyone.” The pilot announced.

Ellie screamed.

The spaceship made a rough landing and suffered terrific damage. 

Furnia arrived and made sure that Ellie was okay. She was a little shaken up but not hurt.

“Good news, Ellie, we have contacted someone and a rescue spaceship is on the way. It won’t take more than an hour.”

“That’s good,” said Ellie.

“You are a good sport.”

The young girl looked out the window into the dark abyss and wondered if her sister was going to have a boy or a girl or twins.