It was a perfect lift-off. We looked down, the ground shook violently. Smoke cloaked the area around us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the tip of a pine tree fall towards the ground. The air was thin and the smell of the fuel nauseated me. The clouds in the moonlit sky with the light drizzle of the rain seemed to give me power. The wind ruffled through my light brown hair. I slammed the window down hard.

“I’m sorry honey.” Mom apologized “I know how you never wanted to leave, but this is for the good of our family”

I was angry, upset. I could feel the rage boil up within me, ready to spill out. But if you want to know how I was pulled into this mess you’ll have to go back earlier.

? Two Years Earlier ?



“Ding, Ding, Ding.”

The bell rang indicating the end of the school day. It was the perfect sunny day that everyone wanted to see, with fluffy white cotton ball clouds and skies as blue as the heavy binder that I was holding.

Adam ran up to me “Hey Sean!” He wore glasses, a plain white t-shirt, shorts, and an energetic smile on his face. “Do you want to come over to my house later?” Adam asked.

“Sorry” I replied “I’ve got a boatload of homework to finish.”

“Oh, well okay” Adam said disappointingly. His happy smile formed a frown as he turned around to head off.

“Wait!” I yelled as I tried to catch up with him. “Adam, I’m sorry. Maybe we can do something tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry too.” Adam apologized. “It’s just that you seem to never be able to come over any more. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay, bye.”

I turned around and stepped onto my bus. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with him, it was just impeccable timing. Whenever Adam or I would like to do something together I have to help my Mom and Dad out with something, and it’s been happening a lot lately since I’ve been getting older. It’s been a daily event now. Saturday is the first time this week I’ll be able to be free from the work. Today I’ll have to seal leaks around the house with some ultra-bonding spray. Other times I’ve had to repaint the house with the same ultra-bonding spray or even spray water on the roof to test for leaks. Thank God that there’s just one more week of middle school left! As I watched the houses go by the bus so did the time. Before I knew it I was standing in front of my house, though oddly enough my house is completely different from the others. My house was two stories tall while the others had only one, it was also the only yellow house, all the others are brick.

In the attic is where I found my mom and dad. The attic is what they call their “Lab”, as always they wore white lab coats. Mom and Dad are famous meteorologists for the discovery of new stars, planets, and galaxies, yet I still lead a pretty normal life. The door to the attic was shut, but I could hear arguing behind it.

“We can’t tell him.” Dad said.

“He has a right to know!” Mom argued.

“About what?” I asked as I entered the room.

They both stood up, Mom started to play with her hair.

“Uhh, nothing. Nothing at all honey.” Mom replied. “Why don’t you get a snack honey, you’re too skinny.”

That’s when I became curious of what they were trying to hide from me. Since then the favors I’ve been doing for my parents have been getting weirder, such as carrying oxygen or fuel tanks into the “Lab” or helping Dad put together multiple engines; causing my suspicions to only grow. Since then I’ve also have had no free time for friends.

?Two Years Later?
?Thirty Minutes Before You Entered?


Thunder echoed throughout the house; the rain pounded on the roof. Soaked by the rain, I wearily made it up the stairs to the “Lab” in search of my parents. Of course I found them there surrounded by the controls set up mostly by my dad. One of the controls reminded me of a computer game control stick. Mom came over to me.

“Honey, we’ve ran into an issue. “Mom said.

Dad stood up as he said “Our species is going to end in about five years when a coming asteroid hits our planet. This asteroid will put a ton of dust into the air blocking out our star. It will be impossible for our food chain to continue with the lack of light. It will cause a mass extinction.”

“What, what do you mean?” I asked.

“We’ll have to move to another planet where intelligent life thrives, much like ours in order to escape this apocalypse.” Mom said “The work you’ve been doing was really helping us turn our house into a space ship.”

I made a run for the door only to find that it was locked. I spotted the keys in my Dad’s hand. He must have locked it when Mom was explaining stuff to me.

“You have to come with us. We aren’t letting you leave this room.” Dad said.

The window was too small for me to crawl out of and the only door was locked. I had no means of escape. I sat there helplessly as my parents started up the ship; even if I could escape what would I do? I was powerless compared to my parents. I stood up on the chair to look out the window away from my parents.

?After You Came In?


“No” I said.

“No what?” Dad asked.

“No, I’m not going with you.” I said. “If we can turn our house into a space ship in two years everyone else can do the same in five years. We can save everyone else too.”

I made a dash for the controller stick. It had seemed like it was controlling the ship. Dad chased after me, but it was too late. I had already pushed the controller stick forwards; the house leaned with it. Beeping started and the controllers counted down to impact. Everything slid; Dad lost his balance and hit his head against the floor. He was knocked out cold. Two minutes until impact. I was about to pull back the control stick when the table behind me slid into my back. Pain shot up through my back, I was knocked to the floor hard. I felt my head pounding against my skull. One minute until impact. The controller stick lay just a few feet from where I was. I couldn’t move my legs; I made a reach for it. Thirty seconds until impact. I grabbed it! I immediately pulled back the controller stick. I blacked out.

?At The Hospital?
?About A Week After The Incident?


When I woke up I was in the hospital. My doctor said that had a mild concussion from hitting the floor with my head and some minor bruising. I was currently healing then and needed much rest. The doctor allowed me to speak to my parents for a moment. My parents then entered as the doctor left. Mom had a few visible scrapes and bruises while Dad had gauze wrapped around his forehead.

“We’re very sorry Sean” Mom apologized.

“We thought about what you said and decided to help everyone else.” Dad said. “We’ve notified the space studies corporations of the coming asteroid and what everyone must do to avoid the apocalypse. I’m sure that our entire planet is thanking you Sean.”
?Epilogue?

In the end everyone was able to make it to the newly found planet and able to adapt easily into their culture. The best part is that Adam and I became neighbors on the new planet and without all those crazy jobs I can now spend more time with him and others. Things now seem to be looking up for me on planet Earth.