short stories: middle grade: The Voyage
The Voyage
By Kelsey Gallant (2020)
Kate clenched the armrest, trying to calm her racing heart. Relax, she told herself. This is not a big deal. Not a big deal at all.
She was lying to herself. It was a big deal. Kate, her parents, and her twin brother Ben were aboard a spacecraft, traveling to a whole new planet.
No, not just traveling. Moving.
“Kate, it’s okay.” Ben’s voice was soothing, but Kate couldn’t share in his calm.
“Do you even realize what a big deal this is?” she whispered, her teeth chattering. “We might never be back.”
“Sure we will,” said Ben. “Remember what they said in immigration prep class? Travel between Earth and Mars takes three weeks. Which, yeah, is a long time to be in transit, but still doable. It’s not like in the olden days when it took months.”
The reminder that this single trip was going to take three whole weeks brought another wave of panic through Kate. Sure, once the initial acceleration period was over they would be able to get up and move around, but still. Three weeks was a long time to be confined to a hunk of metal hurtling through space.
“Besides, maybe we won’t even want to come back.” Ben’s voice broke through Kate's thoughts. “Maybe there will be so many cool things to do there, we’ll want to spend every day exploring. Maybe we’ll make a bunch of new friends.”
Kate snorted. “Friends with aliens?”
Ben gave her an exasperated look. “Kate. Just because someone was born on a different planet doesn’t make them an alien. We’re all humans.”
But Earth humans and Mars humans are accustomed to completely different lifestyles, Kate thought, remembering the topics that had been covered in immigration prep class. The gravity was different. The food was different. The landscape, sunlight, and resources were different. Thank goodness the original colonists who’d settled on Mars two hundred years ago had decided that Mars would follow Earth’s calendar--at least time would be the same.
The spacecraft suddenly slowed, easing into a horizontal position, and the roar of the engines died down to a soothing hum. The acceleration period was over.
Kate’s dad was the first to get up. He took a few steps toward the magnifier window and froze.
“Dad?” Kate asked in a wavering voice, her mind rushing through all the worst possibilities of what might have caught his attention. But when her dad turned back around, he was smiling in awe.
“We have a good view from this angle," he said softly. “It’s small, and we can’t see it in detail yet, but… come look.”
Kate’s mom and Ben immediately got up and peered out the window. “Wow,” her mom breathed.
“I can’t believe we’re actually going there,” Ben commented.
Kate unbuckled her seatbelt and headed over to join her family. When she reached the window, she couldn’t resist a gasp.
There it was, still millions of miles away, but visible through the magnifier window as something other than a bright speck in the sky. The barely perceptible wisps of color hinted at the deep, rich hues she would experience when she arrived.
Kate felt a shiver of excitement worm its way through her body, pushing the anxiety aside. Ben was right. There would be so much to explore when they got there. To their new planet. Their new home.
Earth.
She was lying to herself. It was a big deal. Kate, her parents, and her twin brother Ben were aboard a spacecraft, traveling to a whole new planet.
No, not just traveling. Moving.
“Kate, it’s okay.” Ben’s voice was soothing, but Kate couldn’t share in his calm.
“Do you even realize what a big deal this is?” she whispered, her teeth chattering. “We might never be back.”
“Sure we will,” said Ben. “Remember what they said in immigration prep class? Travel between Earth and Mars takes three weeks. Which, yeah, is a long time to be in transit, but still doable. It’s not like in the olden days when it took months.”
The reminder that this single trip was going to take three whole weeks brought another wave of panic through Kate. Sure, once the initial acceleration period was over they would be able to get up and move around, but still. Three weeks was a long time to be confined to a hunk of metal hurtling through space.
“Besides, maybe we won’t even want to come back.” Ben’s voice broke through Kate's thoughts. “Maybe there will be so many cool things to do there, we’ll want to spend every day exploring. Maybe we’ll make a bunch of new friends.”
Kate snorted. “Friends with aliens?”
Ben gave her an exasperated look. “Kate. Just because someone was born on a different planet doesn’t make them an alien. We’re all humans.”
But Earth humans and Mars humans are accustomed to completely different lifestyles, Kate thought, remembering the topics that had been covered in immigration prep class. The gravity was different. The food was different. The landscape, sunlight, and resources were different. Thank goodness the original colonists who’d settled on Mars two hundred years ago had decided that Mars would follow Earth’s calendar--at least time would be the same.
The spacecraft suddenly slowed, easing into a horizontal position, and the roar of the engines died down to a soothing hum. The acceleration period was over.
Kate’s dad was the first to get up. He took a few steps toward the magnifier window and froze.
“Dad?” Kate asked in a wavering voice, her mind rushing through all the worst possibilities of what might have caught his attention. But when her dad turned back around, he was smiling in awe.
“We have a good view from this angle," he said softly. “It’s small, and we can’t see it in detail yet, but… come look.”
Kate’s mom and Ben immediately got up and peered out the window. “Wow,” her mom breathed.
“I can’t believe we’re actually going there,” Ben commented.
Kate unbuckled her seatbelt and headed over to join her family. When she reached the window, she couldn’t resist a gasp.
There it was, still millions of miles away, but visible through the magnifier window as something other than a bright speck in the sky. The barely perceptible wisps of color hinted at the deep, rich hues she would experience when she arrived.
Kate felt a shiver of excitement worm its way through her body, pushing the anxiety aside. Ben was right. There would be so much to explore when they got there. To their new planet. Their new home.
Earth.
|
The Story Behind The Story:
In February 2020, I heard about a competition in which participants had to write and present a story that could be read out loud in under three minutes. My brother Cody is really interested in space, and he and I had been talking about the possibilities of people living on Mars someday. We talked about how weird it would be to be a kid who grew up on Mars and then went to Earth for the first time. I decided to use that idea as a launch pad to write a very short story with a twist. |
"When something is important enough, you do it even when the odds are not in your favor."
-Elon Musk
