The 9th planet

As I watched the mailman make his way towards my mailbox I started to fill with excitement. As I walked out of my apartment to get the mail that was just placed in my mailbox, my excitement turned to nervousness. I opened my mailbox, it's finally here. The letter I've been waiting on for almost a month now. Once I got back inside my apartment, I sat the letter on my table unable to open it. I just starred at the it, nervous to read the results. After what felt like hours, I finally opened the letter. "Dear Sahara Rose, we are excited to inform you that you have been selected as a winner of the science fiction writing contest! You, along with seven other people, have won the chance to explore the new planet!" Excitement once again flowed through me. I almost didn't even finish reading the letter before I started planning my trip.

Earth has been the only planet known to support life. Than, a couple of years ago, a new planet appeared in the solar system. A fetch rover was sent to collect samples, and returned with proof of life. Plants, bugs, animals, even bodies of water. There was no sign of humans, but that didn't stop the rumors. A science fiction writing contest took place a month ago to see who would go explore the new planet for three months. Eight contestants won, including me! The other seven winners names' are Nichole Sanders, Benjermin Springs, Kelvie Dawn, Billy James, Brenda Lee, Spencer Smith, and Brian Yaworski. Feeling like a stalker, I started looking up the other winners on facebook. Kelvie Dawn has short, bleach blond hair. Along with tan skin, and bright blue eyes. Judging from all the selfies Kelvie posts, she wears enough make-up for three women. According to her facebook profile she's from New Jersey, works for Avon selling make up, and is 26 years old. Kelvies' facebook wall is full of videos showing how to apply make-up in multiple different ways. I wonder if she's going to be the stuck up type who think they're better, and prettier than everyone else. The kind of girl that's afraid to get her hands in the mud and some dirt on her clothes. Benjermin Springs has short, curly, red hair. His eyes were hazel, and his skin was pale yet kind of sun burnt. Benjermin has a lot of photos of him hunting, fishing, hiking, mountain climbing, camping, and all other kinds of adventurous stuff on his facebook. Benjermins' facebook also shows that he's from California, he is a photographer, and he is 21 years old. This guy really knows how to live life to the fullest I thought to myself. I bet he's beyond excited to get some photos of whatever awaits us on the new planet. Assuming his photos are not photoshopped, it seems like Benjermin has already achieved so much at such a young age. Billy James also has short, curly hair. Except half of his hair is black, and the other half is blond. His eyes glowed bright green, and he had slightly tan skin. Billy wore a Dimond earing in each ear, and seems to have a silver chain with a cross on it around his neck in every photo. His facebook wall was filled with different rap songs shared from YouTube. Juice World seemed to be his favorite artist. Billy even posted a couple songs of his own, he's not to bad. His facebook says that he's from Detroit, works for daily tunes radio station, and is also only 21 years old. Brenda Lee has long, curly, bleach blond hair. Her eyes are bright blue, and her skin has a dark tan to it. Almost everything on Brendas' facebook wall is shared from a page ran by Poohs corner daycare. Poohs corner daycare is where Brenda works. She's from Houghton Lake, and is 30 years old. Spencer Smith has short, curly, black hair. His eyes are a bright brown, and his skin is darkly tanned. He also has a perfect smile that's contagious. Spencer is a model, of course, and his facebook wall is full of photos that he has modeled for. Shaving stuff, jewelry, different clothing brands, sports drinks, work out gear, shoes, a little bit of everything and anything. He's from Kalamazoo, and is 26 years old. Spencer is definitely someone that I am excited to meet. Brian Yaworski has short, wavey, brownish blond hair. Bright blue eyes, and cream colored skin. He didn't post much on his facebook wall, A couple depression quotes every here and there. Brian is from Bay City, works at pit stop mechanic shop, and is 22 years old. There's not that much information to find on his facebook. He must not be much of a social media person. Most people can't go a day without it. Nichole Sanders has dirty blond hair that falls to her hips, and squared black glasses that rest on her little nose. Her eyes are bright green, and her skin is so pale it could almost blend in with snow. Nicholes' facebook is full of motivational quotes and charity event reminders. According to her facebook Nichole's from Cadillac, works at the rise and shine dispensary, and is 28 years old. All of a sudden I got a friend request on facebook from Nichole. It's almost like she knew I was looking through her facebook profile, weird. Maybe Nichole was also looking up the other winners on facebook. I started to wonder what the others would think when looking through my facebook profile. I've always loved my name, Sahara Rose. Looking through my facebook photos you'll find many different pictures of me having many different hair colors. Sometimes, multiple hair colors at one time. Naturally my hair color is red, but currently the color of my hair is black. black, curly, and shoulder length. My skin is pale, but not as pale as Nicholes. I have hazel eyes with three stars tattooed next to each of them. The night sky has always seemed so beautiful to me. My facebook wall is filled with random memes and videos that I shared because I found them funny. I'm from Travers City, I work for the newspaper writing articles about whatever I want, and I'm 24 years old.

Monday is the big day. Today, Friday, I'm traveling to Houston Texas to stay in the Moonlight Hotel until the big day. All expenses paid for by those who held the writing contest. What do you even pack to explore a new planet? A pot to boil water incase the water there is not safe to drink, a pack of lighters to help start a fire, a pan to cook on, a hunting knife, snacks, bug spray, sun screen, a first aid kit, clothes, and stuff to balance good hygiene. I’m also going to bring a couple journals with me to keep track of notes and stories for the newspaper. As I started packing, my phone let out a chime sound. Nichole Sanders added me to a group chat on facebook. The group chat was titled "contestant winners." Nichole sent a message in the group chat that says “I think this group chat might make It easier for us all to communicate. There's a bar right inside the hotel we're staying at, I think we should all meet there tonight. Around 8pm?" Kelvie sent a message saying "Sounds good, see everyone there." Brenda, Brian, Benjie, Spencer, and myself all sent a thumbs up emoji. Billy sent a selfie of himself holding up two fingers to show off the peace sign. Right as I set my phone down, my mom pulled into my drive way to give me a ride to the airport.

Excitement radiated through out my body as I entered my room in the moonlight hotel. I couldn't believe all of this was actually happening. I realized how nervous I am to meet everyone. In just a few hour I'm going to be meeting seven complete strangers. Seven complete strangers that I'll be exploring a new planet for three months with, in just a couple days. What if they don't like me? What if I don't like them? After taking a shower I decided to go to the hotel bar, calm my nerves a bit. I ordered a strawberry daiquiri, and a plate of loaded nachos. The man sitting next to me shouted "go ahead and put that on my tab." politely, I smiled and replied "no thank you, I can pay for it." The man shot me a drunken dirty look, and moved to a different seat. Three more strawberry daiquiris later, Nichole arrived. Nichole scanned the bar with her eyes until she spotted me, than a look of excitement came over her as she rushed to my side. "Sahara right? I'm Nichole, super excited to meet you! Should we move to a table?" Nichole and I found a booth in the corner of the bar, and ordered a round of candy apple shots. Right as the waitress walked away with our drink order, Spencer walked in and joined us. I could feel my face redden when he sat down right next to me. "Hey, I'm Spencer. Sahara and Nichole right?" My stomach filled with butterflies. The only reply I could give was a huge smile accompanied by a giggle. The next person to arrive was Benjermin. Than Kelvie, Billy, Brian, and last to arrive was Brenda. The waitress returned with the candy apple shots, Nichole passed one to everyone. "These should help calm the anxiety a bit" she said before throwing back her shot. "Can we get a round of liquid marijuana drinks?" Nichole asked the waitress. "Oh, and another round of candy apple shots" said Kelvie. The waitress nodded, flashed a smile, and walked away. "Is anyone nervous?" Brenda asked. Kelvie raised her hand. "I don't really travel much. I've never been to a different state until now, and in a couple days I'm going to be on my way to a different planet. By the way, does anyone here have survival skills? Spencer raised his hand saying "I have military training." Of course he does. Than Benjermin chimed in with "I live off the land. I'm a traveler. I brought two sets of walkie talkies, a fishing pole, a hunting knife, a big box of matches, and a 20 ft. x 30 ft. tarp. Did anyone else bring survival stuff?" Brian gave a little wave with his hand. "I brought two guns with extra bullets." Spencer raised his hand again, this time saying "I brought four dozen MREs, two ka-bars, a dozen road flares, and four flashlights." After telling the group what I had brought for survival purposes, the waitress returned with our drinks and shots. On the count of three we all made a toast to exploring new things, and threw back our candy apple shots. That shot made me realize how drunk I was starting to feel, and I decided to hold off on the liquid marijuana drink for a while. Billy asked "what do you guys think we're going to find there? I know they said there's no signs of humans, but maybe they were hiding." That made me think of something fearful. "Or there's something in the air that's fatal for humans." Everyone stared at me with blank faces. Maybe I should have kept my thought to myself.