Goodbye Earth, pt. 10

Goodbye Earth
Page Ten

Peace and I rolled our eyes. Jerri whispered, “Is your dad always that weird?”
“Yeah,” I responded.

At last, we arrived at NASA. I left the car first and slowly walked towards the watch tower. Luckily, we were the first to arrive in the glass room high in the air and could reserve the good spots. I stood there for a moment.

Mom rustled up behind me and whispered, “I do believe this is the end, Star.”

“Oh Mom, you don’t have to think like that,” I said, turning around.

She smiled and hugged me. Mom wiped a tear from her eye.

“I wish it wasn’t like this, sweetie pie,” she said. I looked downward and tried not to think about it. My grandma walked over and held me tight with her soft, saggy, bony arms.

“Now you don’t ever forget your grandma! Grandma’s old and she don’t care when she dies, so she’s happy you’re going to live!” she said, kissing me.

Grandpa kind of patted me and said, “Bye bye little astronaut!” I stood there looking at everyone in the knowledge that they were going to die while I was up there. I was kind of leaning on the wall when Peace came up to me.

“Star, I’m glad you’re going to live and I die, because you’re the greatest sister anyone could have,” she murmured.

“Really, Peace? I wish it was me to die,” I said, giving her a huge hug.

“Thanks for the tickets,” she said.

“No problem," I smiled.

Dad came walking over, looking strangely mystified about the situation, almost as if he had realized that he was going to be killed. Then that look disappeared.

"You-just- don't get it, Star," he said.

“Star!” called Jerri from across the room as she leaned on the wall.
I glanced at Dad, then walked past him to Jerri.
“Goodbye, Star,” she said, “Hope you have a great time up there.”

“Bye, Jerri,” I said.

Mom turned toward the windows. A large noise came over the intercom.

 "All boarders of the rocket, please come to the lift off station," a voice boomed.

“Goodbye!” everyone called.

“See you soon!” Dad grunted.

In the sea of people who had since arrived, the only ones distinguishable were those related to me. I slowly walked down the stairs, desperate to preserve the vision of their faces.

I walked along the pavement towards the line of people heading into the rocket.  After about 20 minutes, I was finally at the front of the line. The rocket was not yet upright so everyone got in his or her seats the same way as in a train. 
 
"You'd better wave goodbye one last time," the man said, looking up at the tower.
 
I looked up and waved at the tower, but I didn't see anyone recognizable. 
 
"Please get into your seat."
 
 I settled into the soft blue seat, buckled my seat belt, and took a deep breath. The man pulled a syringe out of his pocket, pushed it into my arm, and squeezed.

Then there was nothing. There was nothing at all.

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Goodbye Earth, pt. 8

Goodbye Earth
Page Eight

“Huh?” Jerri answered.


“Can you come over today? Maybe you can sleep over. I just want to have as much fun with you as I can until I leave!” I said bravely.

“Oh thank you so much Star! My mom and I were saying I should sleep over! My dad will drive me over because he has to go to the bank by your house. I’ll be there in ten minutes!” Jerri replied.

“Okay, Jerri!” I said, and hung up. When I see everyone out the window of that rocket, it will be the last I see of him or her, forever, and ever. I sighed and went to talk to Peace.

“Hey Peace, what’s up?” I asked, finding her sitting on her bed solemnly.

“Nothing.” she replied.

“You know you should talk to me as much as possible before I leave,” said I.

“About what, Star?” Peace asked.

“Ask me anything, Peace, please."

“Do you think Joe Frisks is like, hot, or whatever?” Peace asked.

“Well…” I said, blushing. He was the guy I desperately wanted to marry back when I was nine. I do not like him anymore of course.   “I used to, but now strongly believe that he is a jerk,” I replied.

Peace turned white. She looked at me in disgust.

“I am like so totally going to barf! One of the kids at track told me you used to like him,” Peace said.

Then I was mad. The only person I had told that to was Jerri. In addition, she must have told her friend, Deckard, who incidentally was best friends with a girl on Peace’s track team. I could completely scream. I wanted to kill Jerri, but I suddenly realized I should not be angry for I would never see these people again.

I decided to talk some more with Peace.

“I was nuts about him for a while when I was nine,” I said, “Have you ever really liked a guy?”

Peace blushed in this freaky way. “I was just thinking about some guy who I realized is going to die before ever meeting me,” she said.

“Who?” I asked.

“Joe Jonas.”

I was now officially going to die. How could anyone give a hoot about Sharpie eye browed Joe Jonas? She didn't even know him! Nevertheless, I had to be mature about it.

“Well, you know what? I bet you I could arrange for you to meet him for real, in person, Peace!” I dug through my piggy bank, and pulled out my 500 dollars I had saved over the years. It was going to buy a car, but I decided to give it to Peace since I probably would not need it. In addition, Peace had 600 dollars.

"Combine this money with yours and buy backstage passes for the Jonas Brothers concert coming up on Monday, okay?” I said. Last night I'd seen on TV the backstage special for a Jonas Brothers concert down in Wytheville.

Peace’s face lit up. I had always seen her as witchy and annoying, but in fact, she was a cute girl with a lovely face.

“Oh thank you so much Star! I love you!”
 
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Goodbye Earth, pt. 7

Goodbye Earth
Page Seven

The guide was in tears.

"Everyone, we just can't allow pets!" she exclaimed, waving her arms in despair. Then she looked up. “I'm going to be left to die. So, for me, stop complaining about your animals. It just makes me feel terrible. Anyway, there will be animals on the ship raised for livestock,” she murmured, and left the room. I silently gave everyone a glance, and in an effort to make friends, I said to the girl, “I’m sorry about your bird. What’s his name?”

She barely looked up, and grabbed me in a hug, just as Jerri had done.

“His name’s Kakos,“ she said, wiping her tears away.

“My cat’s name is Chunky and I saved him out of a gutter,” I said.

“Oh really?” she forced a smile, “I saved my bird from a gutter too.”

“That’s great," I said sadly.

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” said the girl. Quietly, I walked out of the complex and jumped into the backseat of the pickup.

“How’d it go?” asked Peace, turning toward me and trying to appear comforting.

“Horrible, just like everything else surrounding this. Everybody was sad and mournful,” I replied.

“I’m so sorry about that, Star. I really am,” she said, wrapping her arm around me. I leaned on her back.

My dad then brought up his 2 cents on the situation.

“It's not going to happen!” he shouted, and pounded the dashboard.

I looked down and thought in my mind angry phrases about my father’s weirdness. He was only trying to comfort himself by convincing himself that nothing was going to happen. I sighed and leaned back in my seat. A very quiet ride ensued. At last, we arrived back at home where Chunky walked up to me meowing happily. I petted him and pretended to be happy about seeing him. I mean I was happy, but it felt like I was seeing him for the last time. I went inside and swaggered into the small kitchen. I looked in the phonebook for Tarantelly. I dialed the number.

“Hello?” answered a woman’s voice, sounding strained and slightly angry.

“Hi this is Star Arusta and can I talk to Jerri? I think you met me at track,” I said.

“Oh yes, Star, I'll get her,” Mrs. Tarantelly replied, her voice sounding a little uplifted.

“Hello?” Jerri’s voice asked

“Hey Jerri, its Star,” I said.

“Oh hi, Star! Guess what? I can see you tomorrow! I’m so happy, even though I won’t see you again,” Jerri said excitedly.

“Yeah. Okay. Just come to my house at 9 in the morning so we can have time to hang out before a limo comes to pick me up and bring me to the lift off station at 12 P.M, okay?” I said.

“Mom! Can I walk over there for 9 in the morning?” she yelled. There was a pause.

“Yeah, okay, I’ll be there tomorrow,” Jerri said.

“See you later Jerri,” I said.

“Tra la!”

I put down the phone, and then hit the redial button.

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Goodbye Earth, pt. 6

Goodbye Earth
Page Six
Again, 2 days of Star's life are included in this page. Remember this in order to avoid confusion.

Jerri eyed me in the strangest way and I almost thought I had made a fool of myself. Then she grabbed me in a huge hug and said, "You know, you are my best friend, and I'm glad you're gonna live."


For the first time that day, I felt happy and carefree. I never would have thought that I would have a best friend. The best I could expect in my life was a person who did not just pretend to be my friend, because they wanted to use my badminton net, or whatever.

So that day I finally became real friends with Jerri Tarantelly, but also that day I did other things.

I learned the true meaning of what is going to happen in ten days.

I realized that I was best friends with someone.

I became a VERY stressed out girl.


Saturday, December 12, 2012

I walked through the parking lot of the NASA facility. My family was not allowed to enter the headquarters. I wore my hair in an excrutiatingly shiny style. I wore clean jeans, and a soft sweater. Upon my feet were my mom’s high-heeled black leather boots. Usually, I was not allowed to wear them, but this was a special occasion.

Upon entering the building a receptionist greeted me, saying,

“Miss Arusta? I am so happy to meet you! You are ten minutes early for the tour, but you should go into room 433 and wait for your teacher. There are two other people in there already, so just make yourself at home! These will be your friends and family when you go on the station!”

I smiled weakly and walked into the room. There was a teenage boy with glasses and a young blonde woman wearing a blue dress. I said hi, and they responded. I sat down on a hard metal folding chair. People poured in, mostly teenagers, scattered with a few toddlers. At last, the tour guide entered. She was a woman wearing a suit, skirt, and tie.

“Hello everyone. As you all know, you were chosen to live on a space station far away from home. Tomorrow you will set out on your journey on a rocket. You will be shot with a tranquilizing drug that will last you for most of the trip, up to the last 3 minutes. The journey to the station will take 4 days, and then you will cross a vacuum-sealed bridge. Some people find the trip across the bridge frightening, as it is made of clear plastic. You will be wearing a space suit of course so you can breathe. Space suits will be very heavy and you may feel exhausted and hot. However, after you cross the bridge, you can board the dock and strip of your suits. In the space station, there is a video arcade, bedding quarters, a cafeteria, a pool, and various other places to pique your interests. I’m going to pass out some papers telling what you can do at the dock,” she said, and passed out the papers. I felt excited for a moment, and then felt deep sorrow because my cat was going to die, my parents, my sister, my friend…” I could go on and on about all the people whom I was betraying. Then the woman continued.

“I must remind you that there are stem cells in a special room. When we are certain that everyone is comfortable in the space station, we will give birth to these children. In addition, there will be marriages in the space station. Everyone is required to, at some point, marry and reproduce. I understand some of you may already be married. Nevertheless, since your spouses will be dead, you will be a widow or widower. Every one of you married folks will definitely be widowed by April.” At that point, a sort of sad gasp emanated from the group. One woman started crying. The sound of her sobs made my eyes water.

The guide cleared her throat. “Soo that is our lesson. Go back home and say goodbye to your loved ones. A limousine will come to each of your houses tomorrow morning and pick up you, your family, and who ever else wants to watch you leave. Questions anyone?”

A teen boy spoke up. “Can I bring my dog?”

“No sir, we have size limits. Your dog cannot come.”

I felt the urge to ask if Chunky could come. “Ma’am, I think it’s absolutely unfair not to allow people to bring any personal belongings. I truly cannot leave my cat alone to die!” A chorus of yells came up in the group.

“I want to bring my pet rat!” one little girl shouted.

“My bird!” yelped a girl my age.

Soon the group was aloud with shouts of what pets they wanted to bring.
 
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Goodbye Earth, pt. 5

Goodbye Earth
Page Five

“Hi!” I exclaimed, as I jogged onto the track field.
I looked at Jerri Tarantelly, a girl who I hung around with at track.
“Hey, Star!” she said, her infectious smile beaming, “Today is game day at track and we just play soccer and tag!”

“Wonderful!” I said, rubbing my legs, “I’m exhausted!”

“I had a tiring day too. I went swimming all day at the Nautilus!” Jerri replied as I grabbed a soccer ball. Jerri’s friend Deckard came running over and the two girls danced a weird dance.

“I have got to go back to my team Jerri!” Deckard breathed between giggles.

“I'll call you later, Deck!" Jerri called.

“Umm, Jerri?” I asked.

“Yeah?” she answered with that same huge grin on her face.

“Have you heard of the Mayan calendar?” I inquired.

“Yeah. And it ends on December 21st this year, right?” she asked, rolling her eyes and kicking the ball between her legs.

“Yeah. Guess what else happens on that day? A planet that is usually far away from Earth will pass through our solar system, close and cause awful things to happen, like fires. People think that when it passed a long time ago, it may have caused Noah’s flood. There will also be a polar shift that will make people, like, drop down dead!” I said.

“Oh my gosh!” Jerri exclaimed, “That is the weird huge star I have been seeing lately? I thought it was Venus!”

Then she laughed. "It is Venus, isn't it?"

I shook my head with foreboding.

“Well, Jerri, there is a part that I haven’t told you about yet.”

"What?" she asked quietly, making the ambience one of bizarre horror.

“I’m going to live while everybody else dies,” I said, shrugging.

“What, did some wacko tell you that?" Jerri asked, regaining a smile to her face.

“No, NASA did. You see, a group of people is going to live on a space station way up in the sky where they can survive! You have to be invited to go, and I was invited.” I explained.

“Is that really true?” Jerri asked doubtfully.

“Yes! If you want proof come the day after tomorrow to see me go off in a rocket!” I said.

“You’re inviting me?” Jerri asked excitedly.

“Yeah, sure, why not?” I replied.

“Oh, thanks so much!” Jerri exclaimed.

“No problem,” I said.

There was silence out there on the field at George Wythe High School.

“Star?” Jerri asked, “Are you just going to abandon your family, and your friends?”

I had a sinking, disgusting feeling in my gut.

“Yes, I am.”

Jerri looked at me strangely as if I were doing something wrong.

“I guess I’ll go to heaven before you!” Jerri forced a smile.

Then suddenly I realized something. For the first time in my life, someone thought of me as a friend. Jerri really thought of me as her friend and I only thought of her as the girl I talk with at track.

“Jerri, you are such a great friend!” I said, smiling, “I won’t forget you. I’ll never forget you.”

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