To The Moon-Alice

We all sat silently as the Commander walked towards the podium with an official gold envelope tucked into the palm of his hand. No-one dared breathe let alone talk when it came to the all-important "Moon raffle". The Commander surveyed the room, gazing at the sea of faces with their eyes all fixed on him. This was his tenth year of announcing the lucky winner. The person that gets to quite literally leave all of their earthly possessions behind in pursuit of something "out of this world".

"Number 273190, could you please step forward to claim your prize!"

The looks of disappointment on everyone but the winners face, soon became apparent. All eyes were now gazing upon the "lucky bastard" given the honour that they all hoped would be theirs one day. Trying to put on a smile and a brave front, I slowly made my way up to the stage steps, winning ticket in hand. I must have gotten only half way there, when I suddenly felt faint. I felt myself falling to the hard wooden floor, as everyone and everything around me turned into darkness!

"Just give her some room please!" Commander demanded of everyone crowded around my fallen form.

I tried to sit up, but still felt a little weak and somewhat shaken. The medics had arrived causing everyone to disperse, as they made their way towards me. The Commander ordered everyone to go back to their duties, "Nothing to see here!" which I really wish was the case after my embarrassing display earlier.

My vitals all checked out fine, but my blood pressure was deemed a little too high along with low sugar levels. I had forgotten to eat breakfast this morning. With all the stress of having to turn up for the today's special event, I didn't have much of an appetite.

"Cooper, is everything okay?" Commander asked me with such concern and sincerity in his voice.

"Y-yes sir, I mean.. I don't know", Is all I could muster in that moment. Commander gently grabbed my hands in his, leading me to the privacy of his office. Such a display of affection would normally have caused quite a stir. But the Commander was also my father so no-one would bat an eyelid let alone care.

I loved the smell of my father's office. Old books and comfy leather armchairs permeated into my senses. It really gave me the feel of home. I looked directly into his eyes. Trying hard to find the right words to say.

"Dad..I mean Commander. I-um, I forgot to eat breakfast, and I've been under enormous pressure to maintain a high standard in my assessments that I..."

He didn't let me finish. Handing me a glass of iced water he cleared his throat making a slight "ahem!" sound. Which to me usually meant there was no need for further discussion. Period.

"Okay..so I'll just head back to my unit then." And that was that.

Everyone continued to congratulate me throughout the rest of the day. I pretended to be as excited about it as they were. In truth I was feeling like liquid jelly inside.

I tried my best to get on with things, occasionally glancing over to find the Commander quietly staring at me from across the room. Like he was keeping an eye on me you might say. I don't think he was concerned about me having another "episode" though.

The days seemed to fly by much too quickly for my liking. Launch day was just around the corner. In five days to be exact.

After several sleepless nights, I knew I had to do something. Even if it meant breaking the rules. The Commander had people watching me, when he wasn't around. I was under surveillance 24/7 which meant it wouldn't be easy to put my plan of escape into action. Plan B was starting to make more sense.

A special going away party had been arranged two days before take-off. Which would mean that everyone would be getting mighty drunk and wasted. Giving me the chance to leave without anyone noticing. Or so I hoped.

The Commander seemed to be easing off with his eagle eyes and his watch dogs on my back with the launch getting closer. It did help that I made it look like I was finally getting excited about it too. My drama teacher back in high school would be sooo proud of my acting skills I tell ya!

The theme I chose for my bon voyage was "monsters in the mist". Which meant that there would be costumes and smoke machines. The perfect pairing to get my plan underway. I just had to make sure that everyone wore the same costumes or close to to enable me to pull it all off. Luckily the guy in charge of costumes had the biggest crush on me since kindergarten.

The night had finally come. We were all super excited about the party tonight! The Commander had backed off entirely, giving me the space to say my goodbyes to my friends. Of course I played along for appearances sake. Behind the scenes I had managed to sneak away here and there to prepare for my "great escape".

Everyone looked so friggen amazing all dressed up in their monster suits. The fog machines added a whole new dimension to the mess hall! The food, booze and music topped it all off rather nicely. I almost felt shame for what I was about to do.

"Monsters Inc aint got nothing on us!" I heard a big furry, one-eyed monster say. Of course we all cheered and laughed in agreement as we bumped and grinded to the beat in our awesome monster suits.

Once I knew that everyone was having a jolly good time. That all eyes were focused away from me..that is when I made my move. Checking to make sure the Commander was still in his spot behind the makeshift bar, I boogied and bumped my way towards the side exit of the mess hall. People were going in and out of that exit all through the night, so I knew it wouldn't seem strange that I would be too. Not that you knew it was me. Because we all looked pretty much the same dressed as monsters.

Taking one last look at the people and place I had known as home for just on eight years, I felt a few tears pricking at my eyes. It was sure going to be hard to leave all of this behind. I had made some amazing friends and memories here.

The Commander sat staring into space what seemed like for the longest of time. How could he be so stupid as to let his guard down! Taylor had certainly pulled the wool over his eyes and some! He had spent the better part of the day interrogating everyone he knew that had been close to or were connected to Taylor. Nobody knew anything. It was as though she had vanished like a ghost in the night.

I hated seeing my dad, the Commander in so much emotional turmoil. Yet I knew that I had made the right decision for me. There was no way in hell that I was gonna make it out there somewhere in outer space. I just wasn’t cut out for it. As it turned out, my best friend Dillinger was going to take my place. She was like a sister to me and pretty much a family member anyway. With the amount of time she had spent at our place when we were kids. On the count of her mother working all hours and her dad going AWOL when she was just three. She deserved the spot more than I did.

In time my dad would see this, I hoped with all of my heart. And then, maybe..I might return and explain myself. But for now, I lived under barracks, in a secret hidden bunker that Dillinger and I had discovered when we first arrived as cadets. As far as we knew, there was no records kept of this place. So no-one would find me unless Dillinger told them. I knew that she would never dob in a sister.

“Good luck and God speed Dillie” …

And in the immortal words of P.J Dillinger..”To the moon-Alice”