Planet Nine

• Mary Wang, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

I observed the soundless area quietly and caught a tiny glimpse of the horde of fulgurating stars; that surrounded spacecraft nine. I watched what seemed to be small glowing orbs turn into massive, undiscovered planets as the spacecraft flew closer to our destination. Earth which at one point was our beautiful home had been invaded by vicious, cruel aliens, forcing us to abandon it. Our destination, however, is our only hope, Planet Nine, the only planet other than Earth, supported by life and habitable for humans. Suddenly in the peaceful silence, a voice on the speaker crackled, “Spacecraft nine was permitted to enter the orbit of Planet Nine - please fasten your seatbelts.”

I obediently fastened my seatbelt and stared aimlessly outside the 6-inch thick window, ready for an unpleasant 10-minute ride. Abruptly, an ear-piercing alarm began. The voice from the spacecraft speaker spoke again but with wary and anxiousness; “Unknown celestial body approaching spacecraft, please remain calm and prepare to launch escape crafts.” As soon as the message had ended, panic, apprehensiveness and distress filled the minds’ of the passengers in the spacecraft, whilst I remained calm. A sharp feeling of curiosity jumped on me, which consequently produced an urge that desperately made me want to know what the celestial body was. I reluctantly obeyed the orders of my interest and focused outside the spacecraft.

More colossal than the sun, immensely dense, a monstrous, dark abyss that had devoured many innocent planets. Perplexed and horrified, I froze, paralysed, as my blood ran cold as ice. I knew this was a black hole, and its gravitational pull was too overpowering to escape. Spagettification is inescapable. Even though I knew it was almost impossible, I was determined to elude from it. Suddenly the speaker crackled, “Unknown celestial body has been identified as a black hole. We are being slowly pulled in, remain seated and wait for rescue.”

Wait for rescue? Are they crazy? I quickly unfastened my seatbelt and raced for the escape crafts. I wasn’t going to let a black hole devour me! When I got to the escape crafts, it automatically locked like someone was preventing me from escaping. Bewildered with agitation, I immediately dashed to the control room to find the entrance inaccessible! My eyes searched the area desperately. Shortly, I noticed a keyhole. Rapidly, I took out my hairpin, only to suddenly realise we were almost at the horizon, the point of no return. I frustratedly snapped to my senses and continued to pick the lock. Click!

Angrily, I mustered up all my strength and barged through the door like an exasperated bull. With my eyes wide open, I slowly realised all of it. Spacecraft nine had been set up by the alien invaders. Their purple beady eyes glared at me with their slimy tentacles ready to strike at me. The sweltering spacecraft was boiling because of our distance from the horizon, and I could feel spaghettification was close.

This wasn’t how I imagined my escape to be!