Maya's Moon Mission, by Eva
It all began when my father, Charles Montgomery, got a job as an astronaut when I was five years old. I remember how excited he was to go into space for the first time. "Honey" He called to my mother, Lila. "Did you remember to pack my helmet?" "You already asked that!" My mom laughed back. She had a wonderful laugh, light and musical. Mom has dark-as-midnight black hair that frames her face and chocolaty brown eyes. She's not very tall, but she's not short either. She has a pleasant face and is a good listener.
My father, on the other hand, is very tall. He has brownish blonde hair and blue as the sky eyes. His laugh is deep and booming, and you can hear it from a mile away.
Me, I inherited my mother's olive skin and dark as midnight hair, as well as my father's blue as the sky eyes and his personality: fun, exciting and a good friend.
My father laughed too. He called, "Well then, I guess I'm leaving. Bye Lila, Bye Maya Montgomery!" I remember running down the stairs for a last hug. Dad laughed again, picked me up, and twirled me around in the air before giving me a hug. He gave mom another hug and promised to be back in five days.
Mom and I missed him that week. After that, every time he left we'd hand it a little better. He went into space about twice a month so by now, since I am 10 years old, I can let him go in the blink of an eye.
One day, last Friday to be exact, my father came downstairs while I was doing homework and said, "Maya?" "Yeah" I mumbled, focusing on problem 14. He asked,"well.. I have this extra ticket for my trip next Saturday..." He had my full attention now. "I was wondering if you would like to go with me, IF it's okay with your mom." Before he was done asking, I cried, "Yeah! Why wouldn't I?" I ran upstairs yelling, "Im going to pack!"
I stopped in parent's room first and asked my mother, who was reading Artemis Fowl:The Arctic Incident, "Mom,dad just told me I can go to the moon with him if its okay with you, Is it okay, I really really want to and I'll only be gone one day I won't even miss any school 'cause its on a Saturday can I please please please go?"
My mom answered vaugely "mm-hmm"
"YES!" I shouted so loudly I'm sure the neighbors heard. Then I went to my room and pulled out a suitcase.
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After one whole long boring week of waiting it was time to go. We ate a hurried breakfast and we were on our way. It was about 20 minutes to the space shuttle. I could not hold still. When we go there I kept saying, "I cant believe it! I'm going into SPACE!" I cant remember much about the building the spaceship was in except it was big and really clean. All I could think about was that I was going to the moon.
Imagine what the kids at school will say when I tell the, "You went swimming last weekend? That's cool. I went to the moon.
My dad and I boarded the ship. Well, my dad boarded. I bounded onto it, full of excitement. Dad helped strap me in and I heard through the mic, "3...2...1...liftoff" A soaring feeling, like I was flying, which I was, and we were off. I knew this would be the most memorable moment of my ten year old life. The ship, my dad explained, was on autopilot. We would land at about 11:30, visit the moon, and the ship would head back home at exactly 1:30, weather we were on it or not. I only half listened to him. I was watching out the tiny window at the shrinking buildings.
I must have somehow dozed because I woke up to see the huge whiteness of the moon. I gasped. It was HUGE. Much bigger than it looked from SLC, Utah. My dad tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Maya? Time to put spacesuits on."
He helped me into a white suit. It looked just like you see on TV. Only, I'll tell you one thing you cant tell from watching; those suits are heavy. So heavy, in fact, that I almost fell when I first took a step inside the spaceship. The helmets had a microphone with two settings; base and other. Others let me talk to the other astronauts and base, to home base. The visors made everything look orange. I liked wearing that suit, despite it's weight.
My first step on the moon was very fun. I fell on my face. Luckily the spacesuit stopped me from getting hurt. Are you wondering what it feels like on the moon? Well I'll tell you now. I felt like I was in slow motion. It was the weirdest feeling ever. I could've jumped into the air and done a frontflip, except for my bulky suit.
My dad and I played around. Once, dad went into the ship and brought out golf clubs and balls and we played moon golf. It was just the two of us, like a daddy daughter trip.
Later he went back into the ship and brought out astronaut food. It was disgusting! I only at about three bites but my father ate a whole serving. "You get used to it," He said.
After our picnic, we decided to leave as many footprints as we could. Daddy said they would stay there forever because there is no wind on the moon.
I walked in the shape of my name M-A-Y-A- M. When dad saw what I was doing he laughed and wrote D-A-D. We both looked at the marks that would be there forever and we smiled.
That was when I checked my watch. It was 1:33. I turned pale. My dad turned to me and his smile disappeared. "What's wrong?" I gulped, "Look what time it is." He checked his watch too. He yelped and the sound echoed around my helmet. I reached up to cover my ears but realised that I couldn't.
Dad took a few deep breaths. He said, slowly, "Maya don't panic. I'll call base and they'll send us another ship. We have a weeks supply of astronaut food" I made a face. "And I'll tell Nick to call your mom." Nick is dad's partner. I was shaking and scared but I managed a nod.
My dad clicked his mic. to base and said "Nick" I couldn't hear Nick's reply but I could imagine what he was saying. I walked over to where I had written Maya earlier and started to draw loopy swirls next to it. I thought, I cant believe the rocket left without us. I can't believe I didn't check my watch earlier. I can't believe.....
The first thing my father did when he got off the phone with Nick was say, "Well kiddo, you might want to get some sleep. It'll be a while till Nick gets up here. I nodded miserably and laid down on the hard ground. I fell into a worried sleep.
I awoke with a start. I realized I was in my soft bed, safe and sound. I laughed in relief. That had been a weird dream, so vivid. But I was okay now. My father had quit working as an astronaut when I was 7 years old. He's an editor now. How silly of me. "Although...." I thought, "A dream is a fulfillment of a wish." FIN
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