Strangers Of The Universe

1: The stranding of Octavia Pratt

     Octavia's POV

As I frantically run around my empty flat, only one thing crosses my mind. Apollo. The only person I care about. The only reason I'm alive. On a normal day, he would be at his daycare right now. I would be leaving now and driving down to his little school to pick him up. But not today. I glance over at the clock on my stove and frown. Its 1500, which means we should be boarding one of the space shuttles in about ten minutes. I take one last glance at my now empty flat and sigh. I'm going to miss this place. I squeeze my eyes shut before grabbing my three maroon bags and throwing them over my shoulder. I don't need to worry about Apollos bags, he has them with him. I push the thought of Apollo out of my mind and race out of my flat. I run down the long corridor and push open the heavy metal doors at the end. I fill my nostrils of the icy cool air for what seems like the last time, and I smile. I get to go to space. Ever since I was a little girl, all I thought about was space. And now I get to live in space. The thought of Apollo and space makes me run a little faster on the deserted sidewalk towards the rocket. I only have about 5 minutes before the last rocket leaves, so I need to hurry. I run even faster as I see the rocket in the distance start to heat up. I can't be left on Earth. Apollo will need me, he's only 5. He's all that I have left. If I get left behind, I wont survive. The president of the United States plans on blowing up each major city in the world, and I happen to be living in the heart of Las Vegas, which, according to my father, has a bomb planted only 10 minutes from my flat. I'm only about 30 seconds from the landing site when my heart sinks. The rocket boosters start to light up, and the door to the ship starts to close.

"No!" I yell out, hoping someone will hear me.

I run up to the tall chain link fence that is guarding the rockets and throw myself against it.

"Wait! Wait!" I scream, kicking the fence, hoping to see someone look my way.

But there isn't anyone. They're all on the ship, buckling in their seat belts and talking about what they plan to do in space.

"Apollo." I whisper.

He will have to survive on his own without his big sister. And I will have to survive without my lifeline. At that moment I drop to my knees as a sob escapes my lips. Its like a bomb went off inside my heart. I don't know if I can survive the bomb in my heart, let alone the actual bomb that will go off as soon as this rocket leaves the atmosphere. The rocket door finally shuts completely, and the ship takes off. I scream out Apollos name, thinking he might hear me. But I am wrong. As I stand up, one final thought crosses my mind. I'm stranded on Earth.

   Apollo's POV

Today was a good day, I got to be the line leader of my kindergarten class! I led everyone to a big rocket, and then we got to go inside and sit down! I sat near a window, and my best friend Amethyst sat next to me. I like Amethyst because I'm only 5 and she's 6. She is really cool, and she has a big sissy like me. My sister is cool too, she's 17 and her name is Octavia. When mommy and daddy died Octavia took care of me. She fed me and got me ready for school everyday, just like mommy. Amethysts sister is 16, and her name is Piper. I've met Piper before, and Octavia and Piper are friends like me and Amethyst. Piper would come over to our flat after school and study with Octavia until mommy and daddy died, then she stopped coming over. I miss Piper. I also miss Octavia. I wonder where she is.

"Apollo, want to play a game?" Amethyst asks.

"What kind of game?" I question.

She smiles. "Its called 'Rock, Paper, Scissor.' I say 'Rock paper scissor shoot! Then you either make a fist for rock" she makes a fist with her hand "Hold out your hand flat for paper, or make a two with your fingers for scissor! Paper beats rock, scissor beat paper, and rock beats scissor." She explains.

I furrow my eyebrows. "It sounds hard." I reply.

She giggles. "That's because you're 5. It's not hard."

I frown. "Lets do it. Just because I'm 5 doesn't mean I'm dumb."

She smiles. "Yay."

But we never get to do our game. The ship door starts to shut and the rocket starts to shake. I hang onto the handles of the seat and my eyes grow wide. Where's Octavia? I want Octavia. I start to yell out her name and my teacher, Ms. Glass, tells me its okay.

"Where's my sister, Octavia? I need Octavia!" I yell.

Ms. Glass turns around in her chair and smiles. "Octavia will be on another ship. Were going on a field trip to space!" She says.

"A field trip? Awesome!" I yell. Ms. Glass laughs and turns back around. Amethyst reaches over and takes my hand after the rocket shakes more violently.

"It'll be okay, Apollo. Were on a field trip!" She exclaims.

I nod and smile. "I know! And we're going to space! How exciting!" I say.

Amethyst reaches into her blue backpack that has been sitting in her lap and pulls out a pink bunny rabbit. "This is Mrs. Pinky. You can hold her until we get to space." She says, holding Mrs. Pinky out to me.

I smile and take Mrs. Pinky. "Thanks, A."  I say. We have nicknames for each other, we both call each other A, because its the first letter of our names.

She giggles and smiles. "You're welcome, A."

The rocket gives one last shake before shooting us off into the stars. At first, I only felt a little pressure, but after a few minutes it felt like I was holding the sky on my shoulders. I let out a tiny scream and squeezed my eyes shut as we entered space. Amethyst was still squeezing my hand, and I squeezed her hand back hard. My other friend, Thane, was screaming his head off. He was sitting next to Ms. Glass, and she had her hand on his and was trying to keep him quiet. I held Mrs. Pinky close to my chest and gulped. Finally, the weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could finally breath. I looked out the window and saw the dark sky lit up by a gazillion twinkling stars.

"Wow." I breath.

Amethysts eyes popped open and her mouth dropped as she looked out the window.

"Coolest. Field trip. Ever!" She squeals.

I smile and nod. "This is awesome!"

I let go of Mrs. Pinky and she starts to float away. I try to reach up and grab her while Ms. Glass tells me to not take my seatbelt off. I finally grab Mrs. Pinky and hand her back to Amethyst.

"Thanks for Mrs. Pinky." I say.

"No problem!" She squeals.

I then start to think about Octavia, and how she likes space a lot, and now I can see why. She used to talk about the planets and space all the time! I smile at the thought of my big sissy, and then I frown. Where is Octavia? I want my Octavia.

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Hey guys, its Kaitlyn, the author of this book. I hope you enjoy my first chapter of 'Strangers of the Universe'! All of the ideas are mine, so I don't want people to comment that I copied someone because I haven't. I just want to say that I love all of you guys so much, and I mean it when I say it. Don't forget to vote and comment! <3