I wish i could...

• Matthew Vowell, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2006

I wish I could travel at the speed of light, zooming through space, flying as fast as a cheetah. I’d look back at the universe… like a grain of sand… as I entered another. But I never will…. I could never fly that fast…I’ll continue lying in the grass, by the window, listening to my parents bellowing.
“I’m not sending him to space school!” dad yelled “We can’t afford it!”
“I’m extremely sick Harold, I don’t have much time, spend the money,” mum sobbed. “Our money is needed for hospital fees,” dad explained. “I don’t wish to die that way; tonight at midnight I’ll jump off Mt Meriwether!”
No….! Mum can’t jump off a cliff to settle her life, especially Mount Meriwether, the highest cliff in the state.

…..Later that night…

I hid behind a bush on Mount Meriwether. A dark figure walked towards the cliff, leaned over and disappeared. I tried helping, it was too late. With mum’s loss I lived with dad. He was so depressed and left, smashing pottery and ripping out plants.

……10 years later…

Mum had disappeared, dad had run off. It was safe to say my life was miserable. The postman arrived at the front gate and tossed the mail, held together with a rubber band, through the air. I pulled out a newspaper; it read “Nixon taken hostage!” I pulled out a white parchment letter. It said ‘NASA... We need you! You are needed to test a prototype that will send you out of the universe. Safe landing guaranteed.’ This was the letter, not just any letter, it was THE letter. I replied saying, ‘NASA I accept your mission.’

….Florida…. months later…

As I pulled into the NASA car park I saw a rocket shooting into space. I went in a buzzing door. Heaps of people were staring at me. A man was waiting to greet me. “Welcome to NASA, I’ll show you to your spaceship and we’ll be up and away.” He showed me into a room with a single elevator. I followed him. I saw a huge rocket, the fastest vehicle in human history.

……..Hours later…

‘5…4…3…2…1…Blast off!’ As I zipped into the air I saw millions of people looking up. I saw clouds flying below as the blue sky turned black. I exited the atmosphere. The back booster fell off and for a moment I was just floating. My cheeks were flapping and white lines were flying past like in a sci-fi movie. I saw a bright blue light which I figured was the universe’s edge. Then gravity used its force. The ship turned slightly and headed back to Earth. I tried turning the boosters off…faulty! I was rocketing back to earth. ‘Safe landing my…’ My body was crisped.

Life had made a fool out of me. It wasn’t my destiny.
I saw a white light, I tried walking to it …but I couldn’t…. so I will continue lying in the grass, by the window, listening to my parents bellowing.