It was time for me to leave. I kissed my younger sisters and hugged my mother goodbye. Delilah and Cath clung to my sides, not wanting me to leave. Mom held them back with pain in her eyes. It will be months until the next time I see them. I clutch the photos of them in my small hands, tears streaming down my face. The day was bright and void of clouds. My navy-blue overalls reflected two different shades off the sun's light. Only for a second, I regretted my decision of becoming an astronaut. Is this really what I wanted my life to be like? Did I take my family into consideration? I would miss even more moments in their lives. I wouldn't be able to watch Delilah in her final orchestra performance or Cath easily beat everyone in the Bridgendale High School's Spelling Bee. Even though I knew I was definitely missing my chance to be the best sister and daughter ever, I knew I had a purpose for being here. Since I had the top scores in the science department, I was chosen to be NASA’s head botanist. Plus, it was one of the best paying jobs I have ever had, so I couldn't just turn it down. Taking care of two siblings and a mother alone can be a challenge. It was hard enough looking for someone to help me; being in space for months at a time didn't help the situation.
“Mom, take care,” I breathe.
“Oh, Lulubelle, I always do. Come back home safely.”
“Sis, be safe. We love you! We’re so proud of you,” Delilah said as Cath nodded vigorously. I laughed happily. It was a good feeling knowing your sisters cared for you so much. My hand went to my face, wiping away the tears. This moment felt like deja vu. Each time I went out to space, it was harder to say goodbye to them; I never knew when it would be the last time I did that.
The intercom came on, reporting for all the astronauts to start boarding the rocket. I looked up at the magnificent white shuttle- my home away from home. I hugged my family one last time and took a step backwards. As if in slow motion, I turned towards the rocket and made my way towards another half year of space.
Once I boarded the rocket, my closest friend, Ruby, grinned, looking at me amusedly. “You´ll never get over your crybaby stage, will you?” I breathed out a laugh. She was right.
We buckled into our seats, getting ready for take-off. The two-way radios dotted the area, buzzing loudly along with the people talking into them. I looked outside the window to see tiny figures standing at a distance. A clump of three could be seen waving their hands frantically. Sucking in air so I didn't start bawling again, I switched on my monitors and spoke loudly in the intercom, “Ready for lift-off.”
Everything went perfectly fine, or at least, for the first week. The lights had been blinking and beeping normally, but all of a sudden, the large red alarm began to blare uncontrollably.
I whipped my eyes away from my computer screen, looking to my sides to find Ruby with eyes wide. She spotted me, too, a visage of turmoil.
“What happened?” I ask urgently.
“I… Don't know. Maybe-” Suddenly, the intercom crackled on.
“-NASA, this is Astronaut Thomas Sandburg. Something hit us… I… Don't know what it was. It wasn't a meteor or debri. The damage is very severe. It could be
life-threatening. Everyone on board the Scorpion 14, evacuate to the space pods immediately. Do as we did in training. I don't know how long-”
The whole space shuttle jerked. Ruby and I unbuckled from our seats and floated towards the pods as fast as we could. Before I got into my pod, I faced Ruby, tears forming.
“Ruby,-” I began.
“-No. Don't. We're going to meet again soon. Don't you dare think we aren’t going to survive. We trained and practiced for this, MC.” She kissed me on the cheek and hugged me tight. Hurriedly, she entered her pod. She looked at me, waiting for me to do the same. I got in, too. We looked at each other, one last time, and pressed the EJECTION button together.
The second I left the shuttle, I was sucked into the vast area of space. Only a split second later was I already free-falling towards some sort of planet. The sphere seemed as if it popped out of nowhere. I frantically clicked all the buttons to stop the falling, but to no avail. The pod started to get hot. I had to figure out a way to slow my acceleration towards the planet if I didn't want to die. Just before I started to give up, I found the button for the parachute. I pushed it and was instantly jolted forward, forcefully crushing into the dash before me. In a flash, I blacked out. This is why people should always wear seatbelts.
“Do you think she's alive?” Whispered a Korean male's voice.
“Of course she is; she's breathing,” Retorted another male. I tried moving my head to the side to try to wake myself up. The sound of people’s voices vaguely swam in my mind. I thought they should shut up. I wanted to sleep, and they were quite noisy.
“This is not safe. We should call the authorities-,” It was a woman.
“-No. We can’t. Don’t you remember this is a secret base, Assistant Jaehee?”
“Ohh, a lady! She’s very cute... Is it an angel from heaven?!”
“Wahh! Check if she has a phone on her; I can hack into it and figure out who this person is!”
My eyes popped open to that. The group of people gasped at my sudden motion. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. I could only partially see since my glasses broke during the crash. The space pod was smoking and dug halfway into the ground. I was still sitting in my seat, but now I was also bruised and bloody. The land was like a rainforest. Tall trees and ferns covered the area. In the distance, I saw a glimpse of tall grey buildings. It reminded me of Earth. Blinking hard, I directed my eyes towards the crowd again. There were four men and a woman- all Korean. Two of the men including the woman were dressed up formally while the other two men wore regular jeans and jackets.
“Where am I? What planet is this?” I coughed, taking off my glasses to rub my eyes. One of the formal men answered. He had black hair was swished to the sides of his face.
“You’re on Planet Mystic. Who are you and where do you come from?”
“M-my name is MC… I’m from Planet Earth. I was on a mission for NASA…” The blonde guy with casual clothes popped up in front of me.
“Earth? What’s that? Oh. My name is Yoosung. The guy with black hair is Jumin Han, the grey-haired guy is Zen, the redhead is 707- that’s not his real name by the way-, and the brunette lady is Jaehee Kang. We’re part of RFA!”
“Yoosung!” Jaehee looked like she was ready to knock him over his head.
“What? Sorry! She seemed harmless,” he shrugged.
The redhead stepped towards me, glasses glinting. “Well, now she knows. We might as well take her in for now. V will want to meet her. Plus, maybe we could make good of use of her! We do need another member.”
“For once, I actually agree with 707,” added Zen. He smiled and winked coolly. Once they got consent from Jumin and Jaehee, rather reluctantly, they took me from my pod. Zen carried me princess-style towards the tall, ominous-looking gray buildings.
“Why do you get to take her?” Cried Yoosung.
“Because I’m the one who’s going to be her knight-in-shining-armor,” Zen stated simply.
I laughed at that as my face flushed red. During the whole trip towards the building, Zen and Yoosung kept bickering back and forth. It was quite amusing, really. In no time, we were up on the highest floor overlooking the Amazon-looking jungle of trees.
“So… What’re you guys going to do with me?” I wondered aloud. Jaehee, 707, Zen, and Yoosung all looked at each other. Jumin stood facing me with an evident expression.
“We’re going to have you join our organization. You might as be of use, like 707 said, while you’re here. Of course, that is all up to V whether you can or not.”
Soon enough, a man with light blue hair entered the room we were in. Black sunglasses covered his eyes. He smiled and said, “I’m not late, am I?” I figured it was V.
“Are you V?” I asked.
“Yes. You must be MC. 707 informed me of your arrival the moment you were visible in the sky.”
“...Are you going to let me join this so-called RFA organization?”
“Oh, did they already tell you what the organization is about?”
“No-,” I started.
Jaehee perked up and told me it stood for Rika’s Funding Association. They would host parties for fundraising. Intrigued, I told V I wanted to join. He was taken aback by my immediate answer, but he accepted it generously.
It was only in a matter of weeks when I became close to everyone in the organization. I learned that Jumin was in love with his cat, Elizabeth 3rd. He was also the heir to one of the biggest corporations on Planet Mystic. 707 was a crazy genius nerd who was infatuated with Honey Buddha chips and Dr. Pepper. Zen was an oncoming star who actually didn’t want to become popular. He just wanted a girlfriend. Yoosung was the youngest in RFA and was still in college, but wasted all his time playing a videogame called LOLOL. Rika, the member whose place I was taking, was his cousin and V’s former girlfriend. Unfortunately, Rika passed away not too long ago. Everyone was grateful for my arrival. Not a single party has been hosted since Rika died.
“Why didn’t you guys plan a party without her?” I questioned Jaehee. We had become exceptionally close after a few days. Sure, she seemed very quizzical of me in the beginning, but slowly, she eased me into her life.
“Hmm… I think it was because we… Couldn’t. V seemed to shut us out after she left us. It’s like you can’t even figure him out now. But now that you’re here, we can do anything,” she smiled. I grinned back at her, but only for a moment.
“I wish I could stay here, Jaehee… I want to help all of you host a party. I’ll get as many guests as I can. But after that day comes, I’m going to have to go back… To Earth. I need to go home.”
“I… Understand. I’m sure you have a family to get back to. Jumin will gladly lend you a spaceship to get you to your planet. We… Will definitely miss you; there’s no doubt about that.” Jaehee looked away from me and squeezing the chair’s seat.
“I…” I started to tear up. I could how she was feeling, so I decided to jump on her, hugging her tightly. I didn’t need to talk to express how I felt.
A whole month had passed. The day came almost unexpectedly. Jaehee lent me a flowy grey dress on my request and styled my hair. Everyone looked like untouchable gods. 707 took his headphones and huge jacket off for once. He and the three others wore black suits and ties. Yoosung took his two small bobby-pins out of his hair, Jumin looked even more formal (if that was possible), and Zen… Well, he just looked the same as usual- handsomely idiotic. I grinned enthusiastically and bounced towards them.
“Guys! Hello!” I squeezed each of them tightly.
“MC, you look very cute today,” Zen whispered in my ear. When he backed up, he winked at me. I blushed; he’s such a narcissist.
“It was unfortunate that Elizabeth 3rd couldn’t come to the party,” commented Jumin.
“It’s a good thing, though, Jumin! If she came, 707 would’ve tortured her!” exclaimed Yoosung.
“I would not!” 707 shouted, trying to hit Yoosung over the head. Poor Yoosung; everyone always seemed to want to hit him. I laughed. It sure felt like home being with them.
“So, are you guys impressed by how many guests I managed to bring?” The whole ballroom was filled with more than 60 guests. It was a job well done.
Zen slung his hand over my shoulders, “Nope. I knew you would do a great job.”
“Hey! Me, too!” Huffed Yoosung.
707 came over to me, offering a glass of champagne. “Here, have some. It’s Jumin’s best,” he grinned. “I need to tell you something, MC. Can I talk to you privately?”
Once I nodded, I was suddenly whisked into an empty room. The walls had fancy wallpaper and a single window outlooking the dark garden outside.
“What is it, 707?”
“... I know you’re leaving tonight, but I just needed to ask you… Did you enjoy you’re time here on Planet Mystic?”
I stared at him. I thought the answer was obvious! “Of course! All of you made me feel as if I was home. I felt comfortable and like I never wanted to leave! I still somewhat feel like that,” I admitted.
“Then, stay here! We could host so many more parties, and all the people on this planet would never know you’re an alien. I can hack into all the systems and make you real. You can live with us forever,” he tempted.
I held his hand for a second, to let him know what I said was in all seriousness. “I… Can’t. I want to, but I can’t. I have siblings to look out for and a mother to take care of. Plus, I need to get my dating life started.”
“Then, bring all of them here! And you can find someone here to be your significant other. I’m sure that wouldn’t be hard for you to do,” he smiled warmly.
“Haa… That’s a very tempting offer, but I just can’t... I’m sorry.”
“Okay… I’ll support your final decision. We all just want you to be happy and to know that what you did was life-changing. You made a difference in our lives.”
“You’re… Going to make me cry,” I laughed, fluttering my eyes to get rid of oncoming tears.
We went back to the ballroom to talk to guests. That night, we raised the most amount of money RFA had ever received in all of its history. V had arrived just before the closing ceremony, and awarded our achievement with a plate of expensive pastries. I felt accomplished and as if I actually was making a difference. Even being an astronaut didn’t always make me feel that way.
The moment I helped the last guest leave the building and shut the door, everything went silent. Jumin, Jaehee, 707, Zen, Yoosung, and V all stood behind me, quiet and still. I took a deep breath before turning back to them.
“That was… Fun.” I squeaked. They all mumbled in agreement. Droplets started to fall from my eyes as I realized everyone was looking down at the marble floor. They all whipped they’re heads up simultaneously when they heard me suck in quick breaths. All at once, they ran towards me and engulfed me in the biggest hug I have ever had. I felt like it was in slow motion when they all toppled on me. I sobbed loudly and clung onto them for dear life. Not long after, they started to cry as well.
“I don’t- want- to- go!” I hiccuped.
“We don’t either,” whispered Jaehee. We began to sink to the ground like a blob of mud as minutes passed by. It was warm and intoxicating; I didn’t want to move. For a while, it seemed like none of them wanted to either.
Jumin was the first to make a move. He left into another room; we could all hear him calling out for someone to bring up the spaceship. I shut my eyes, breathed, and opened them again.
“I’m ready.”
I dressed in a new blue-navy suit they made me. Buckled in the head chair of the spaceship, I began my preparations. The comforting sounds of the dials made me realize how much I missed this. The spaceship started to lift-off. Way below, my friends waved their arms in big half-circles. They grew smaller and smaller, becoming a couple of dots surrounded by gigantic trees. I pulled a few levers and pushed a few buttons. Soon, I was on my way home.
Hours went by normally as they always did. I looked out into space, mesmerized by the stars and meteorites that slowly passed by. In the distance, a shining light flickered. I squinted, trying to figure out what it was and how to get around it, but to no avail, I couldn’t get out of its way. I sucked in a breath. This was not good. The moment before I entered the white light, I closed my eyes and wished I was back on Earth.
Beep… Beep… Beep… Eyes closed still, I turned my head. It didn’t feel like the rough velvet texture of the spaceship chair. It felt like… A pillow. I tried moving my arms, but pain shot through them. My legs wouldn’t move either. I slowly opened my eyes, and the light was blinding for a moment. As my eyes came into focus, I realized I was in a hospital bed surrounded by shining white walls. IV’s hooked into my arms, putting translucent fluids in. My uncovered skin showed purple and yellow bruises and huge almost-healed scabs.
“What… happened…”
A pair of feet shuffled quickly towards my bedside. It was… My mom!
“Mom…” I croaked.
“Oh, MC, don’t talk,” she soothed, fluffing my pillow as best she could. “That darn NASA… Putting you in so much risk! If they hadn’t’ve found you-”
“-Found me?”
“Well, yes! They found your pod crashed into Pluto, believe it or not! When they got you, you were out cold. You’ve been in a coma for months, honey.”
“What? But… I was saved… By the RFA! They took me in and… They helped me get home!”
“RFA?”
“Yes, a corporation on Planet Mystic,” I whispered quickly. She looked at me puzzled and worried.
“MC… There is no such thing as Planet Mystic.”
-MTO
