Stellar

Chapter 2

I look back at my friends and clench my teeth. Fresh years spring to my eyes. The voice on the phone told us that following these instructions were our only chances of surviving, and I could see why. The Earth started trembling beneath us, shaking and shuddering until it cracked like a baked potato. Steam shot from the crack, and then a spurt of lava. I made sure that all of my friends were in their space craft, then slammed my hand on the Go button. Mary buckled herself, then nodded at me to do the same. I buckled my seatbelt as the engine hummed to life. Instead of a roaring engine, the machine purred, reminding me of a cat. We started ascending slowly, then more quickly. We sped up to where, in a matter of around 2 minutes, we were just outside of our atmosphere. I could see Asia from how high up we were now, and I could see rockets just like mine shooting into space all over the world. We got faster and faster, until it got to the point where the stars blurred by. I looked over at Mary, and her cheeks were being blown back from the quick ascent. My stomach felt like it was trying to escape through my throat, and my whole body felt light. I reached to my scalp and found that my hair was floating calmly. Mary's hair looked like she was underwater, making a shiny blonde halo over her face. Her orange archery shirt seemed out of place in the futuristic spacecraft, as did my purple and gold Huskies football sweatshirt.

I looked out the window once again and found that Earth looked like it was a million miles away; in face, the sun didn't even look all too big anymore. It was no secret any more that they were sending us into their space ship, which they said was just outside our galaxy.

I gripped Mary's hand and we closed our eyes, waiting for the ordeal to get over with.

After another 2 hours of flying through the galaxy at light speed, we finally landed on a spaceship around the size of Florida. It was huge! Enormous lights blinked on the sleek black ship. Clear, black tinted windows covered most of the ship. There was no way everyone on Earth would fit on this spaceship. What would happen to the people who didn't fit on the ship?

Our tiny spacecraft connected like a puzzle piece on the side of the ship. A voice hummed through the speaker of our spacecraft.

"Attention, people of Earth. You may have noticed our fairly small ship. As a challenge, only 3000 Earthlings will be able to embark on the ship back to our galaxy. Our staff has created a bunk room for each country- however, they are built for only 10 people from each country. Therefore, If you have made it to the ship, congratulations. The humans who have not will be sent back into outer space to simply float away."

I looked back, and I saw thousands of spacecrafts cutting off power, then floating away. The thought that occurred to me next made me sick to my stomach. My parents were both at work, and there was no way they would get here on time. My brother went to the middle school, so he may have gotten out on time. But only ten people could have made it...

Mary and I disembarked from our vehicle and walked straight into a hallway. The sleek, black floor had arrows flashing on it, all of them pointing forward. Mary and I looked at each other, then nodded. We ran and ran, until we heard muffled voices up ahead. We walked into an auditorium with 8 people in it, now 10 people since we're here. We were the last ones to make it from America.

I searched the room frantically for my little brother, Beau. I searched for a bit of sandy blonde hair, or the flash of the gray blue eyes we share. And then I see him.

I run toward him, crying and screaming his name. He sees me, then runs to me. When we meet, I felt like the happiest person on Earth. Or, on the spaceship, more precisely.

Despite being in 6th grade, he hugged me fiercely. Mary joined in, creating a group hug. Our backs heaved from the racking sobs. I managed to quickly compose myself, to be strong for Beau. His small, muscled frame fit easily in my arms. I looked around the room, and found everyone was dressed in American clothing. Each room must be is own country.