The First Child To Explore Space

• Laura Porter, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2015

Six-year-old Luke woke up on 27th July, his birthday. He woke his teenage sister, Ashley, and brothers, Ben and Peter. They were ten-year-old twins, but Ben let everyone know he was five minutes older. Luke excitedly gave his mother the note for his class’s excursion on Thursday to the International Space Museum! It was all he could talk about!
Thursday finally came. Luke, Ben and Peter smelled banana-bread and strawberry milkshakes. It was Ashley cooking; she was in a good mood, providing a delicious breakfast.
Luke’s teacher marked the roll. The bus trip was ninety minutes because of peak hour! For excursion buddies, although it was a class of twenty-two, Lilly had chicken-pox, so Luke had to buddy up with Mrs Nicolia.
At the tour section about Neil Armstrong, Mrs Nicolia had her back turned while she read information. Luke got distracted in the Rocket and Space Shuttle section and found a big door.
A man quickly ran in, swiped an I.D. card and ran through the door. His I.D. tag fell! Luke picked it up as the door closed. He couldn’t help it but let curiosity get the better of him and swiped the I.D card.
Stepping through the door, he saw red, flashing lights and suddenly the ground shook! Luke slipped down, head-first, as if on a slide, and heard a voice on a loudspeaker.
It was a big voice, a deep, man’s voice.
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Lift-off!!!” Everything shook and then it hit him, HE WAS IN A SPACE SHUTTLE!!!
He came across an astronaut named Buzz Aldrin. In the control room, they played Monopoly. Luke won, so Buzz had to make him a sandwich. Luke thought it was cool because they had a special microwave and in that same room, Buzz pressed a button. Luke found himself, Buzz and the sandwich floating! After lunch, they reached the Moon.
Buzz found an old space suit and washed it to shrink it. Another wash to get a perfect fit! Outside, they collected the rocks they could carry. It was a great experience but sadly, they had to leave. In the shuttle, Buzz asked why Luke had photographed the ground.
Luke replied, “I wanted to prove the moon wasn’t made of cheese.” They laughed and Buzz pointed out the view of the Milky Way. Luke thought it was truly amazing, like a beautiful light show of blues, purples, yellows and greens. He thought the colours looked like spread out fireworks; it was truly nothing like you’ve ever seen!
They could see Earth. Reaching the museum, they saw a crowd of people arguing. Buzz thought it might be a dispute about Luke going into space and no-one knowing. When they stepped out, the crowd stared. They were amazed Luke had gone into Space!
Buzz drove Luke home. Ashley answered and yelled to her parents to stop calling people! They had been so worried and were about to call the police.
Buzz happily signed the twins’ autograph books. During dinner, Buzz and Luke described their adventure. When they finished, Ashley said that they should tell the Daily Telegraph their story, so they did and I reported it.