Midnight Creek Tales

#5. Lunar Darkness / Chapter 6

RING-RING-RING! "Takeoff shall proceed in two hours! Have your things arranged as planned and report down to the main hall to be escorted to the takeoff site!" RING-RING-RING!

As more alarms went off my eyes slowly opened to the chimes of drills going off like landmines.

I hopped off the bunk bed and noticed that Simon too was woken by the screeching racket. I looked at the alarm clock and realized it was 2:30 in the morning, and I could feel my eyes drooping down like sandbags as I walked into the bathroom.

The entire time I spent grabbing my belongings; my stomach felt as if it were a volcano ready to burst. I had been so nervous, and yet still so full of all the savory and exotic foods that I consumed from the last 24 hours, which didn't make for a good combination. (If you get what I mean).

After I had finished using the bathroom, we proceeded to lock up.

"Rich you got everything?" Simon asked slipping on his slick geek glasses.

I grabbed my duffel bag from the floor beneath the side of the bunk beds and nodded my head, "Yeah, just double checking."

"How nervous are you?" Simon asked putting his hand on the doorknob.

"I'm already shitting bricks." I let out a nervous sigh as he opened the door, "You ready?"

I looked at him and slugged my backpack over my shoulders, "Ready as I'll ever be."

When we arrived down to where Mr. Marchisio instructed us to go, we were quickly transported to the launch site. There, we waited for security and some final testing.

"What is this?" One of the security guards asked taking out my medicine.

"That's my medication; I need to drink two tablespoons a day."

"What for?"

"Sensitive stomach, prescribed by my doctor."

"Yeah and if you don't believe him just go check out the toilet in the room we stayed! There's probably still some shit splattered on the sides of the bowl."

The guard gave us a face of disgust and shoved the meds back into my duffel bag, letting Simon and I pass.

A small golf cart came for us, and we began to drive to where we would soon take off.

Mr. Marchisio turned to us in the car and expressed his gratitude, "Guys before you leave this planet for science, I must tell you how much this means to the community and me. It won't be the same without you both, and I only wish the best of luck to you on your mission."

The golf cart stopped and pulled into the site, and as we stepped out Mr. Marchisio patted us both on the back, "Good luck boys."

"Thanks Mr. Marchisio, we won't let you down."

He watched us leave until we were a small smudge in the distance.

Minutes later we got suited up, secured, and guided through a panel that was connected to the ship and space station. As we took our first steps on the ship, we felt as if we were entering a new world of unlimited possibilities.

"You guys all set?" The commander asked leading us into the rocket and showing us around.

"Yes, we're good. Thanks again for showing us quickly where everything is," I said with a slight chuckle.

The commander nodded and saluted us, "Good luck on your journey, I expect you both to have your hands full." He smiled closing the valve shut, locking it from the outside now leaving us secured in.

Moments later we could hear the internal radio of the ship calling out to us, "Hello, are you guys there?"

"Yes we're all set, are we commencing for take-off now?"

"We are indeed. I'd advise to get fastened in and hang on tight; it's going to be a bit bumpy."

Once we both strapped ourselves into position, we heard the voice call out again, "Are you ready to commence?"

"Yes we are," Simon replied.

"Okay guys, we are going to start the launch in minus ten seconds. Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four..."

One hand was pressed against the buckle of my strap, and the other was holding Simon's hand. As the commander counted down, I could feel our pulses beating together like heavy conga drums in unison, with my entire life flashing before my eyes!

"Three... two... one... blast off!"

All of a sudden there was a faint click that was followed by a loud sound which was the rocket. In a flash we began to shoot up into the atmosphere like fireworks on the Fourth of July, and the skin on our faces stretched out like Play-Doh!

We went higher and higher into the air! Gaining and increasing more speed so much so, that we thought we'd burst into another galaxy! Eventually the velocity of the ship began to slow down and level out, and it took a while to process what was happening. As we marveled looking out the window, we knew that we weren't home anymore. We were now in the empty and infinite abyss known as space...