Max.
“Good morning Max and happy 22nd birthday!” Mrs. Grey greed’s Max with a big smile on her face two seconds before he entered the kitchen.
“Wow mom I was trying to be as quiet as I can, how do you do that?” Max asks with a puzzle on his face. “I guess we all have our special talents” Mrs. Gray answered his question while putting her cup of coffee down on the table.
“Today is a big day, huh Max?”
“Yup, I’m ready”
“Max do you realize that this is not just a test?” Mrs. Grey looks at him and notice that he has a sad look on his face. “Yes mom I realize that. I realize that this is the NASA test”
“You don’t have to do this Max, it’s your birthday”
“Yes I do mom, we need the money. We need the money so we can eat and pay the bills” he said while pouring himself some coffee.
With tears on her eyes she adds “I don’t want to see you hurt or disappointed if you don’t pass it son”
Max walk’s across the kitchen and hug’s her “It wont happen. I promise.”
It was a beautiful spring day. The birds were singing and the soft breeze was making a gentle melody with the trees. “I can do this” Max thought “I can do this.” When he arrived to the NASA offices, he notices that there were a lot of people. Some were talking on their phones, some were reading and some were just standing. He looked down to the paper that he was holding and he read Room 4-B, he was in 4-A. He walks across the room, down the hall to the small 4-B room. He entered the classroom and notice that there were only thirty-five people. He was a fast counter. He took a sit far from the door seconds before a tall man with glasses entered the classroom.
“Good morning everyone I’m Mr. Thomson. Please get a pencil out and get ready to take the test.”…
Sonia
“I can do this, I can do this” Sonia was thinking while Mr. Thomson was passing down the tests. She got her test and she look down at it…
Five hours later Sonia finally got out of the NASA offices. “God please help me, I need this job, and I need the money” While she was walking, she notice that someone or something was looking at her. She turned around and notices that a tall guy was staring at her. She gave him a bad look and turned away. “In five days is the day that I get my results, God please help me.” She thought.
Five days later at the NASA offices…
“Good morning everyone, my name is Dr. Johns and I’m a representative of the NASA Company. Here today on my hands I have the results of four new members of the NASA. This test doesn’t just showed the knowledge that you have about space, math, science and critical thinking. It showed who you are, what you like, your ability of thinking for yourself and your responsibility…”
“Gosh… I’m so nervous” thought Sonia.
“If I announce your name, please stand up. The following people stand up.”
“Oh God… I can’t do this, I’m so nervous.”Sonia was thinnking
“…Alex Rittman from the University of Africa.”
“Good for him” thought Sonia while biting her lower lip.
“…Jennifer Moore, from the University of California.”
“I’m jealous of her.” Thought Sonia while biting her nails.
“…Max Grey, from the University of Florida.”
“Oh God the last person; Please God let it be me” Prayed Sonia silently
“…and the last person is…Sonia Lopez, from the University of Colorado.”
“Yes!” said Sonia. She notices that she said it aloud after everyone in the room turned around and looked at her.
“Well at least someone is excited. Congratulations the four new members and I’ll see you in two days…”
Tears were falling down on Sonia’s face. Her face was pink and her eyes had a happy and excite shine.
“I can’t believe this.” She thought.
“Thank you God. Thank you.”
Jennifer
“I can’t believe this. I’m in. I’M IN!!” She thought over and over.
“I can’t wait. This so exciting and what a challenge, I like challenges.” She was saying to herself and smiling.
Alex
“I wish my mom was alive. She would be so proud of me. I worked hard to get here. I’m in. I’m in!” Alex thought.
“I can’t wait till I get to know my mates. I’m going to rock this party!” With a smile on his face Alex turned around and looked at his new mates.
“Well at least there are two girls.” He smiles even more.
“There is the blond one. She is cute, but she looks bossy. I think her name is Sonia or something like that. The brown headed one looks nice, but she looks stuck up. She might be rich, but she is cute too.” He thought and turned around before they notice him looking at them.
“…and a guy, he looks pretty cool. He looks like he is down to earth. I hope I’m not wrong. I hate guys that are mean and guys that think they know it all.”
Two days later….
“Good morning the four of you. I’m Dr. Johns, but I guess you guys know that. You guys are extremely lucky to be here today. I’m going to be your helper and teacher as long as you need me”. He said while sitting down on the chair next to Sonia. “I want to start with a little presentation!!!” He had a big smile while saying that. “Let’s begin with a simple introduction. I want each one of you to tell us about yourself. Let’s start with you.” He points at Jennifer.
“Ok” she said with a big smile “My name is Jennifer, but I go by Jenny. I’m from the University of California. I’m 19 years old and I love challenges. I guess that’s what got me here. I also love parties and having fun!” She finishes and sat down. “Sonia” said Mr. Johns.
“My name is Sonia I’m 20 years old. I’m from the University of Colorado. I believe that hard work is what got me here today. I like schedules and having everything organizes.” She finished
“Max” Mr. Johns said
“My name is Max. I’m 22 years old. My writing scholarship is what got me here. I like exercising and I’m helping out my mom, that’s why I’m living with her right now.” He finished very quickly and sat down.
“And Alex” said Mr. Johns
“I’m Alex and I’m 21 years old. I’m from the University of Africa. I love Science and that’s what got me here today. I also love music and dancing.” He smiled at Jenny and Sonia and sat down.
Next day at the NASA offices…
“Good morning everyone, I was reading through your profiles and I am pretty sure that you guys are ready for your first assignment.” Mr. Johns said “Like I said, your first assignment is coming up!” Mr. Johns said excitedly
He sat down and began saying “The assignment is very simple. We discover a new planet. Its name is Selcouth. We are going to send you to investigate the planet and your mission is to observe everything about this planet. If the planet has atmosphere, we want to know about that. Any plants or signs of life, then you guys are going to return to earth and report your observation.” Mr. Johns got up from his chair “You guys are leaving in three weeks.” He said while walking towards the door.
Three weeks later…
“I cannot believe that I’m doing this!” Thought Jenny
“Remember that your job is very simple guys. Here is a list of the questions that you guys need to answer while you’re up there.” Mr. Johns said
The sign was giving to everyone to get ready. Max, Sonia, Alex and Jenny finished putting their gear on and began walking towards the rocket. They were very excited and very, very nervous.
“Everything is going to be just fine guys” the words of Mr. Johns were in their minds.
The four of them entered the rocket and everything the saw they said the name in their mind.
“This is it guys!” Jenny said with a big smile on her face
“Let’s get ready to launch this rocket guys” said Max very seriously
Sonia checked that everything in order, Alex began to do the math on his head of how many seconds they have before launching and how many days before they should be back on earth. Jenny was happily checking the bedrooms and food supplies; she was supposed to be helping Alex or Sonia.
“On three guys” Jenny heard Max saying
“One….Two….Three” Max counted loudly.
Max. Sonia and Alex saw the smoke raising outside of the rocket. They vibrated for a few minutes and then the rocket began to move up towards the sky. They watched the people get smaller, the country get smaller, and finally Earth getting smaller.
“Good bye earth, we’ll be back soon…” Alex said
Jenny was looking out the window and she notice that it wasn’t day light anymore. Everything was cover with darkness.
She remembered when she used to look at the sky and watch the little stars for a long period of time. Those little stars were now big. They didn’t look like normal stars.
She finished looking at the rest of the bedrooms and finally she went to the main room where Max, Sonia and Jenny were.
She entered the room skipping
“So… how long before we get there Max?” She asked him
“Three days Jenny” Max answered her with out looking at her.
“Why are we so quiet and blue?” Jenny asked looking at each person for a second. “Isn’t this supposed to be fun?”
“Yes Jenny this is supposed to be fun, but we also need to concentrate and be very careful. This is our first assignment and we need to do everything right.” Sonia said “If you want to have some fun, we can put that on our schedule.” Sonia said smiling at Jenny
“Schedule? I didn’t know we have a schedule!” Jenny said with a high pitch voice.
“What schedule?” Asked Max
“We have a schedule?” Alex said very low, almost as a whisper
Finally Sonia explains “I was thinking that if we have a schedule, things would go a lot more smoothly. We would know what to do and there wouldn’t be any surprises. That’s why I wrote a schedule for us”
“A schedule… My God she is very smart” Max thought
“I personally don’t like schedules” Jenny said quickly
“Why don’t we try it before we make any judgments? Let’s try it for two days” Said Alex
“That sounds great!” Said Sonia with a big smile…
“Dinner time everyone!” Sonia yells from the kitchen
“What’s for dinner?” Asked Alex
“Mac & cheese” said Sonia
“Dinner? It’s only 6 o’clock! We are not going to eat diner at 6 o’clock right? Or are we?” Jenny said flatly
“It’s in the schedule” Sonia answered with a smile
“Where is Max?” Sonia asked
“He is in the main room” Alex said, not looking at Sonia
“He is been there the whole time” Jenny said while looking for a fork
“I’ll go and get him. You guys can start eating” Sonia said while walking out of the kitchen…
“Max?” Sonia said
“I’m not really that hungry Sonia”
“Max I think you should take a break from this, everything is going to be fine.”
Max looks up and smiles at Sonia, she looks away quickly before Max notice that her cheeks were blushing…
“I hope everything is ok with Max and Sonia” Jenny said looking at her plate full of Mac & Cheese
“Why do you say that?” Alex asked
“I just have this feeling. I have a feeling that is telling me that something is going to go wrong”
“Everything is going to be fine Jenny, you’ll see”
“Yeah you are right, maybe it’s just me. May be I’m just very excited and nervous” Jenny said while picking up a spoon full from her plate
“How is the Mac & Cheese?” Sonia asked while walking towards the table
“Where is Max?” Alex asked looking up at Sonia
“He will be here in a minute” Said Sonia
“Why are your cheeks so red Sonia?” Asked Jenny
“My cheeks are not red Jenny. I don’t know what you are talking about” Sonia said trying to hide her smile. Jenny and Alex looked at each other and smile; they were thinking the same thing.
After Max sat down to eat, there wasn’t a big conversation going on. Jenny was the one to say random things that were in her mind. Jenny and Alex finished the dishes and clean everything from dinner. The dishes were only plastic spoons and plastic cups. Alex and Jenny were cleaning the table together when they accidently bump their hands together. Alex was already looking at her when Jenny looked up and smiled shyly.
“Jenny, Alex, Sonia please come here. Quick!” Max yells with a worry tone on his voice
“What’s wrong Max?” Sonia asked as soon as she entered the main room
“Alex how many days before we get to the new planet?”
“Three days Max. What is going on Max?” Alex answered
“We are there” that was the only thing that Max could say
“Huh?” Jenny said
“We are there? What do you mean by ‘we are there’?” Sonia asked
“I’m looking at the map and I’m checking the math. Everything says that this is the planet” Max pointed at the green and blue planet that was showing on the big screen.
Jenny, Sonia and Alex just stared at the planet. Many thought were going trough their heads, but they couldn’t speak.
Finally Jenny said “Well at least we are going to get the job quicker” but everyone could hear the fear on Jenny’s voice.
“This is happening too fast” Sonia thought
“Well I guess we should land soon” Max said very slowly
“I never said this out loud, but I think I’m a little scared” Jenny whispered to Alex
“I think we should wait until tomorrow to go down there. We should prepare ourselves for whatever is out there” Alex said
“I agree” Sonia said quickly
“Me too” Jenny said while biting her fingernail
“Ok. That’s a good idea” said Max
They walked silently towards their bedroom. No one could sleep. Their minds were wondering about the strange planet…
The alarm o’clock went off around 5:30am, after the first two beeps everyone was up. They put warm clothing on and they got their space suits on too. It was eight o’clock when they realize that everything was ready. They walk silently to the main room, where they could see the planet. They looked at it for a long period of time.
“Everything is going to be fine” Sonia said
They stepped out of the rocket and the first thing they notice about this planet was the yellowish greenish grass. They saw some kind of mouse with big ears and six legs running away from them quickly. Jenny took a step forward and turned around so she was facing her mates. She said “This is very weird; there is some kind of life in this planet. That means that means that there is oxygen, right?” She didn’t wait for their response.
“Jenny, what are you thinking?” asked Alex
Jenny took her hands and put them on her helmet. She took it off. She could breath without it.
The other followed her example and they could breathe too.
When they turn around to face the ship, they notice that something was staring at them. They were not sure what it was, but it looked like a big teddy bear with human hands, feet, and face. It also had two little eyes. Sonia, Jenny, Max and Alex turned around and they notice that they were surrounded by this strange kind of teddy bears.
Jenny said shyly to the bears “hi”, but the bears began running. They took their hands and tied them up. They took them to what it seems to be a house made out of some shiny rock. When Max woke up, he noticed that the strange kind of teddy bears were gone. He woke the rest of his mates up and they planed an escape. They walked away as quickly as they could, but there was one teddy bear that heard them. He saw that the prisoners were escaping, so he made a high pitch noise that makes all the teddy bears up.
The teddy bears began running, but they couldn’t catch them. Sonia, Jenny, Alex and Max reached the ship and they got in
“What are we going to do?” Sonia asked
“We are going home. I have a feeling that those creatures are not friendly” Said Alex
“I’m really scared. Let’s go back to Earth and we can tell them why we couldn’t stay longer in this place” Jenny said
“I don’t think that the NASA people are going to be very happy with us when we tell them that we couldn’t finish the task” Max said
“We can’t stay here!” Jenny said. She had tears on her eyes “I don’t want to die” she said
“We are not going to die Jenny” Alex said and hugged her
Sonia looked outside the window and saw that the teddy bears were outside the ship.
“They still outside and they look really angry” Sonia said
“We need to go home now” Alex said
“Ok hold on. We are going home.” Max said. He sat on his chair and began to prepare the ship to leave. But some thing was not right.
“The ship is not starting” Max said “The ship won’t start” Max was getting frustrated and scared.
“What do you mean? We need to go home now!” Sonia said
Sonia looked out the window again and she saw that the teddy bears were gone
“They are gone, I don’t see them anymore.” She said
“I don’t wan to go out there” Alex said
“Ok I don’t know what is going on, but the ship is not starting” Max said with frustration on his voice.
“This not happening, I can’t believe that we are stuck in this horrible place” Jenny said.
“What are we going to do?” Alex asked Max.
“The engines are not working, and there is gasoline in the tanks, but they are not starting.” Alex said “I checked every thing and everything it seems to be in shape. Everything should be working”
That night they didn’t sleep very well. They were worry, very worry…
“Good morning everyone” Jenny said. “I was thinking last night about something”
“I couldn’t sleep last night” said Max “I am very worry. Everything on the ship is working, but it won’t start.”
“What if we go out there and talk to those things?” Jenny asked “We could make a deal and they maybe could help us figure out what is wrong with the ship”
“I don’t think they want us out here. I don’t think they look or they act friendly” Sonia said
“May be they are just scared of us, like we are scared of them. I think we should go out there and talk to them.” Jenny said
“Well what if things don’t turned out like you think” said Sonia
“But what if they do, we don’t know what is going to happen until we try, plus I don’t want to stay here forever” Jenny said
“Ok you two stop arguing. We are going to go out there. We don’t know if those creatures speak English, but we can try talking to them. We all need to stay close and very alert. Ok? That means staying focus on what we are doing. Ok everyone?” said Max
“Ok” said Alex
“Fine” said Sonia
“Great” smile Jenny
They put their gear on again, but not the hats since they know they can breathe out there. They were nervous, but they had faith that those little monstrous would help them. They got out of the ship, but there weren’t any teddy bears on sight. They walk and walk until they found what it seems to be a little town. No one was out. They saw something or some one moving inside of a little shop. They knock on the door, but the door was open.
“Hello?” said Max
“Any one here?” said Alex
“What do you want?” one teddy bear appeared on the door
“We-we need some help” Jenny said. She couldn’t believe that they actually speak English.
“Oh yeah- you need some help?” said the teddy bear
“Yes please” smiled Jenny. She notice that the teddy bear didn’t sound very friendly
“Well we need some help too” said the teddy bear “We are hungry”
“We have some-“but she couldn’t finish the sentence. The teddy bear made that high pitch noise again and he looked at them with hungry yes “You are going to be our dinner” he yell and began running towards them.
Teddy bears were coming out of many different places. Some were coming out of the ground, rocks, houses, and shops. They all looked hungry.
“Where are you going to go, didn’t you say that you need our help?” Yell one of the teddy bears. He laughed and kept running.
“Run guys, we need to get to the ship before they eat us” Said Sonia
“Oh my God, please help us” Jenny preyed
“This is not happening” Alex thought
Alex, Jenny, Max and Sonia kept running but the teddy bears run to fast and they caught up with them. One of the teddy bears grabbed Alex by the leg and began to bite it. The other teddy bears quickly caught up with Jenny and Sonia. They also began eating them alive. Them it was Max’s turn he screamed for help, but no one came…
“Max? Max wake up!” Mrs. Grey screamed
“Max it was just a dream” She kept trying to wake him up
Max sat down on his bed and his sweaty head began hurting. His heart was beating too hard and he was shaking.
“It was just a dream Max, relax please” Mrs. Grey was saying “Go back to sleep, It was just a dream. You need all your energy for that NASA test you have tomorrow.” She said.
Max turned to look at her quickly, but she was walking towards the door. Before she turned the light off she said “Oh! And happy 22nd birthday…”
