Keep It Spinning

• Katie Groundwater, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2016

My name is Emma and I am just an ordinary girl. Well, that’s what I thought until last Sunday, when something extraordinary happened. I was in my front yard happily playing with my baby sister when suddenly a bright light blinded us. I squinted my eyes and looked up. As my eyes slowly adjusted, I could see an enormous spaceship in my backyard. I grabbed my sister and sprinted towards Mum and Dad. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind came down from the spaceship. It tugged at us, pulling us off the ground. It felt like all the air was being sucked out of me. The spaceship pulled us up and finally dropped us in a small compartment.
I heard the engine roar and the spaceship zoomed off and before we knew it, we had landed on another planet. As soon as we stepped on to the ground, a voice boomed out, “YOU ARE ON A MISSION TO SAVE PLANET ZOOGA FROM EXTINCTION. REMEMBER, KEEP IT SPINNING AND ZOOGA WILL BE SAVED!!!”
I had no idea what all this, “KEEP IT SPINNING” was all about until I looked around and realised that the whole place was filled with rides. In the centre of the field, stood a stationary ferris wheel. Then an idea came to me, maybe we had to keep the ferris wheel spinning! I told my parents this idea and they agreed to give it a go. My Dad, being an electrician, attempted to get it to work. He tried everything he could think of, but did not succeed. Defeated, I sat down on the hot grass and tickled my sister, who by this stage was getting very bored. She giggled loudly and just as she did so the engine of the ferris wheel gave a little sigh, but stopped as abruptly as it had started. This puzzled me. Why had it suddenly started when my sister laughed? Was it because she was happy and having fun? It suddenly all made sense. Zooga is a planet of fun! The ferris wheel could only run if we had fun. When I explained this to my parents we decided to play different games, and with every game the ferris wheel gave a little turn. I had an idea! My sister always screamed with laughter when I scared her. So I crept up behind her and ……sure enough, she let out a high pitched squeal that echoed across the field. This time the ferris wheel started up fully. We ran up to it and jumped on. Our mission on planet Zooga was complete! I wondered why the Zoogarians had chosen us as a family, and the only realistic answer I could think of was that the Zoogarians had lost their ability to have fun and therefore had to come to earth to ask a fun-loving family to help them. So when they saw me playing with my sister, they chose us. So turns out, I am just an ordinary girl after all!