STUCK ON PLUTO

"Hello," I said, slowly. "I'm Chantessy." Plume frowned at my space suit. She was wearing a thin sundress and was fanning herself. How did she stand it! Plume studied me and said," You might want to change clothes. You might get hot." "In your dreams," I thought. Aloud I said," No thanks." Plume shrugged and led the way. Strangely, as I neared the small city, it got warmer and warmer. Soon I was fanning myself with one hand and thinking," I either have a very high temperature or a vivid imagination. I'm roasting on the coldest planet!" Plume led me to an old-looking house. It was made of wood and the curtains on the windows were torn. The only pretty thing was the roof. It was made of silver! I followed her inside and sat down on a chair with a woven grass cushion. On a small wooden table, there was bowls of strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and nuts. I popped a delicious cherry in my mouth. Mmm, good! Plume sat down beside me and said," Well, you probably have some questions." I nodded and said," Only one. How do you keep warm here?" Plume laughed and replied," We send ships to Earth to get the coal and matches. There are fires everywhere. Some Plutonians also go on vacations to Earth. There's a place for passengers on the ships. I've been there once or twice. I didn't like it all that much." I snorted softly. Earth was much better than this old house. It looked like it was about to fall down! "Um, are you all poor here?" I asked. Plume shook her head and said," No, we just-" She was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Excuse me," she said and got up to answer it. When she left, I glanced at an ID card on the table. It said," HEAD OF THE CAPTURING COMMITEE." I stared at it, now very worried. What if Plume was capturing me! I had to get out of here. I saw an open window in the back and snuck out. Maybe I could get on one of those ships to Earth. I walked around town until I saw a building that said," The Space Station." Smiling, I went in and stood at the counter. The woman behind the counter turned around and asked politely," Can I help you?" "I need to get to Eartth," I answered. "When?" she inquired. "As soon as possible," I said. She messed around with some papers and said," That would be in fifteen minutes. But we're all full. No, wait!" She looked at her clipboard and said," There's one seat left. Mr. Pluck canceled." I nodded. "Ship # 14 is in the back, ready for lift-off," she said. "Here's your ticket. Better hurry up, now." I turned to go out when a man raced in, almost knocking me down. "I'm Mr. Pluck," he said breathlessly. "I had a flight scheduled for today. My sister cancelled it. Could I get my seat back?" I glanced at the woman's name tag. Pisa. "Look, I really need to get to Earth, Pisa," I said. "It's urgent." Mr. Pluck turned to me and said," My wife, Peri, is on that ship! Only my seat was canceled. I can't just send her to Earth." He looked at Pisa and said," For our wedding anniversary and we had decided to go to Earth on ship 14 and come back on ship 16. A whole week on Earth. I called and reserved seats on both ships. My sister disapproves of Earth, so she cancelled my seat. Please let me have my seat back!" Pisa looked back and forth and asked me," Why do you need to get to Earth?" "I live there!" I cried in annoyance. Mr. Pluck looked at me nastily and pointed out," If she lives there, then she can wait for a few days." Pisa nodded and took back my ticket. She gave it to Mr. Pluck. I shook my head violently, but Pisa gave me a different ticker, saying," Ship # 15 leaves day after tomorrow." She began writing on her assorted papers. Then I got mad. I slammed my fist down on the table and growled," No, I don't think so. I need to get to Earth NOW!" Pisa ignored me and said," Hello. How may I help you?" The woman smiled. "My friend cancelled just now," she said. "I heard that this young lady needed to get to Earth. If she would like Plora's ticket, then she can get on shop # 14." Pisa looked surprised and scrabbled around in her papers, She needed to get organized! "Your friend had seat # 25, right?" she asked. "A Miss Plora Pucker?" The woman nodded. "Yes!" I cried. "Now we're getting somewhere. I don't really care what seat I get, just as long as I get there." Pisa gave me a ticket and I ran to ship # 14. I was finally getting home! I gave the pilot my ticket and he pointed out seat # 25. I sat down and took a travel magazine that listed all of the features of Earth. Like I needed that! It was interesting, though. As I was reading, a red light started blinking and a voice said," Please fasten your seatbelts. Thank you." I fastened mine and we blasted off. We flew for a few minutes and then another beeping sound started. The pilot yelled," We're going to crash! The engine is overheated!" People started screaming and suddenly the ship exploded. I was thrown onto a hard surface. "Ohhh," I groaned, rolling over. I lifted my head to see if there was anybody with me. There wasn't. I dropped back down and went to sleep. I woke up when a foot prodded me. I opened one sleepy eye and closed it again. "Go away," I said, groggily. Instead, I was pulled to my feet. I opened my eyes and screamed. I was looking into the mean face of a giant scorpion. "Help," I whispered.

Copyright 1999 by Chantessy