Space Girl

"Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say," Annabella pushed the telescope away and walked back over to her bed and plopped back down beside Eric, who was reading her latest comic book of Space Girl.

"What I don't get, is how can they know that, did they scream at their fellow astronaut to pass the ketchup and he didn't hear?" Eric flipped another page of the comic before continuing on, "maybe he was just ignoring them and now they just assume you can't hear screams in space." Eric put the comic book down and sat up. "Think about it, my mom screams at me all the time, and I don't hear it, but I'm not about to say my house is a vacuum of silence."

Annabella laughed, "Eric, your mom's calling you."

Eric shrugged, "See what I mean, proof of my theory." Annabella laughed and chucked a stuffed animal at his head. Dodging the bear, he winked and grabbed his backpack off the floor. "Tomorrow?"

"Ya." Annabella and Eric shook their secret handshake and he headed home.

After Eric left, Annabella stared out her window at the stars twinkling back down to earth. Tomorrow was their class field trip to the International Space Station, and her and Eric had planned to sneak away from the group to talk to, Space Girl herself, Ms. Freya Lee Dobson. Annabella was so excited and couldn't wait to ask her what space life was really like.

Since 2022, space exploration took off, a company called Astro-Linkz had developed a way to travel safer and more economically without the use of helium, Which meant once a year Eldridge Elementary School sent its grade six class to the International Space Station. It was an Astro-Linkz recruiting tactic into their space exploration programs but that didn't dampen the excitement she and Eric shared.

Space was still pretty much a mystery, even in 2034 and she really wanted to be apart of unraveling its mysteries. The news was constantly reporting on wars breaking out in other countries where resources were dwindling and the hope that the International Space Station would locate a new planet rich in natural resources was desperately waited upon to save them. She wanted nothing more than to help and if the answer was out there, it was in the vacuum of space.

Yawning, Annabella closed her window and climbed into her space themed bedsheets she had gotten two Christmas' ago and went to sleep.

----

"Hey, wanna scream in space?" Eric slipped in line behind Annabella as they boarded the bus to Astro-Links. He was always late.

"Is there dust on the moon?" Annabella shot back behind her inching up in line.

Eric leaned over her shoulder, "Depends, is my mother on this moon?" Annabella couldn't help but laugh out loud. Eric was always joking around, since they were toddlers, he could always make her laugh.

The bus ride to Astro-Linkz was short and once they were boarded on the rocket, the safety instructions were given via video.

"Welcome aboard Flight EES to the International Space Station. Please make sure your headsets are on and you listen to the following safety instructions should an incident occur..."

"Are you ready?" Eric reached for Annabella's hand and squeezed. Annabella, just nodded and squeezed his hand back. Silence fell as the rocket began to come alive and shake them with anticipation. She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand tighter. "It's okay, Anna, I'm right here with you. Just breath." Eric could always calm her down.

Just because Annabella dreamed of going to space, didn't mean she still wasn't afraid of flying.

10....9....8....

"Breath Annabella or my hand is going to fall off." Annabella slowly breathed out and loosened her grip on his hand. "Remind me not to arm wrestle you." Annabella laughed and began to relax into her chair.

7.....6......5...

"Eric, when do we scream?"

4.....3.....2....

"Whenever we want."

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