In the Stars

The stars of the forbidden planet Uujoo lit big and

bright against the night sky as a low horn sounded. A

silver flash of a sword is seen by all. Beside me,

Chloe's eyes are saucers, but saucers filled with

tears. As for me, I am not sure. On one hand I don’t

want this battle, but on the other hand I wanted the

king to have a chance to prove himself. I think back

to how much I used to hate the king. This makes me

think how I ended up in a forbidden planet in another

universe…

Chapter 1

                                     On My Way  

              “Okay class, I have some exciting news! In two days we

are going to a field trip to a launch pad” Ms. Kennelly announces

to our class. “We will see the new rocket ship, the Silver Moon take

off”

I shoot an excited glance at my friend Stella, who sits across

from me. She grins back.

    The next two days, even my teacher doesn’t pay much

attention to the lessons. Everyone is really excited. When we get

on the bus, I choose the seat next to Stella. She flashes me a

grin.

    “Aren’t you excited?” she asks.

    “Of course! who wouldn’t be?” I ask in fake shock. She shrugs.

We chatter on about the Silver Moon until we pull up in front

of the launch pad. We file out of the bus, and simply stare at the

rocket. It is HUGE. The rocket is positioned facing upward. My class

files away, but I stay staring at the rocket.

Suddenly I see a beam of light heading toward me. I’m

about to scream, but the light wraps itself around me, and I can’t

hear myself.  I can feel myself shooting upward. Slowly the light

shifts into a bubble and I can see, EARTH?! I can’t be in space! I sit

down and immediately feel drowsy. I could use a little nap. I will need strength to get back home… zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

             

Chapter 2

                               What are you?

    THUD. The sound jolts me awake. I am on the ground, still

encased in the bubble.  I look around and realize I am not on

Earth.  I can tell because the sky is dotted with rainbow

stars.  I stand up and take a step forward.  The bubble moves with

me.  I start walking.  I peer at the plants outside, and they look like

they haven’t been watered in a while. The sun is really bright. I look

at the ground, and it is  sandy.  It looks like I am in some sort of

desert. I can see other bubbles floating around in the sky. I wonder

who are traveling in them.  Suddenly a huge cloud rolls up, and it

starts to POUR.  Really  hard. Luckily I have my bubble as a shield. I

keep walking.

Soon I come to a palace. It is magnificent, with light blue

tower domes. The actual castle is white. It is really big. There is a

moat surrounding it. I get closer and see that the windows are

made of colored glass. Some windows have flowers, some have

pictures of the ocean. I walk up to the palace. The drawbridge

lowers by itself. I notice it has stopped raining, and the flowers

are in full bloom. Weird I think. I walk across the drawbridge. The

inside of the palace looks just like the ones back home. I walk

into a room. I see a bunch of people sitting around a table.

People! I take a step forward. Suddenly all the chairs whirl to

face me.                                  

 “Hello” says one.

 “Sit down and wait for the queen” says another.

    I sit down on an empty chair. Suddenly an enormous throne

comes in. The person sitting on it is ME!?

Chapter 3

                           I am Confused!

“Hello. I am Queen Awesome Aashna.” The person says. I stare

at her. She smiles back at me.        

“You know. I am your alternate Stinklebopper.” she says.

Seeing my confusion, one of the people sitting at the table says,

“Your Majesty, I am afraid she doesn’t understand”

    The Queen watches me. She smiles. “You have to come

with me now” she says. She leaps up, grabs my hand, and

drags me away. I stumble after her into a room. When she

turns on the lights, I gasp. The room is gorgeous. The walls

are gleaming with some sort of amazing pretty metal. Red velvet

curtains hang from the walls. I can see shimmery silver mist

hanging over the room like a cloud.

    “What is your favorite color?” asks the Queen.

    “Blue” I immediately answer. She rummages through a

closet and pulls out a knee length blue dress. She throws it at

me, and rummages some more until she pulls out a pair of

gorgeous silver and blue boots. She snaps her fingers, and I am

wearing the dress and boots. They fit perfectly!

    “Now. This will probably confuse you. I am going to put a

helmet on your head, and you will know everything.”

    “How can I be more confused than I am now?” I joke. But I

am wrong. Suddenly I am very confused.

 

                      

    Chapter 4

                   Drama In the Community

My head fills with thoughts, visions, words, actions, a lot of

things basically. I see giant crocodiles that my mind calls

Boombapas being herded away on a star, and into bubbles. I hear

someone saying “Is that a bomb?”  People, who my mind calls

Stinkleboppers, in bright pink suits evacuating a giant bomb from

the ground. I see different colored monkeys, that I suddenly

know are called Yumbobos, creating the Big and Little Dipper,

and the Milky Way. Also ice cream and milkshakes. Then suddenly,

everything rearranges, and I know history.  

Chapter 5

                   The rest is history

Mocko the Boombapa lifted the giant bomb over his head. He

didn’t care if King Oris punished him. He just wanted to get back

at the Stinkleboppers for winning the Planet of The Year Award

that they won every year! Why not let another Planet have a

chance? He hopped on a star and headed to Stinkeroon.

                                   ✰✰✰

Mocko dug a hole and buried the bomb underground.

He felt satisfied as he rode back to Boombano.

    The next day, a Stinklebopper came by the place Mocko had

buried the bomb. He heard a beep. “Is that a bomb?” he asked

himself. He called the Jailocs. They came in bright pink suits, and

evacuated the bomb. They noticed it was a Boombapa brand.

They destroyed the bomb then confronted the Boombapas.

King Oris denied it because he didn’t know about Mocko. As a

result, the Boombapas were banished to a faraway planet.

Chapter 6

                            My Mission

    I feel as if I were caught in a whirlpool.  I see the

Queen in front of me again. We are back in the pretty room, and

I am wearing the dress and boots. The Queen is watching me.

“You now know our history. I will tell you what happened

after.”   

“When King Oris left the throne, Prince Oris Ⅱ took over. He

decided to have revenge on us for kicking them out. He has

already challenged us to a war. You were chosen to make peace

in our community.  Now we have a mission for you. In two days,

you will go and  try to get the King of Boombapas to change his

mind.”

    “Me!?” I shriek. “Alone!? Can’t someone go with me?!”

    “Trust me” she says. “You are capable of things you never

would have thought of.”

“But I can’t convince my friends to do anything, much less a

KING!” I cry.

“Oh. I forgot to mention, you will take special classes on

how to talk to him.”

    “If Stinkleboppers know how to talk to him, why can’t you

send them?”

    “Well, when the Boombapas were banished, all of the

community took an oath to not set foot on Boombapa ground.”

“Hmph.”

“Please? You would really be helping us.”

“Fine.”

So for these next two days, a Stinklebopper named Anika

Bonika teaches me how to talk to the king. She is the alternate

Stinklebopper of Anika from my class.

“I actually tried to convince the King to call off the war” she

brags.

“Really?” I ask.

“Yeah. He said no way, and I’d better get off his planet

before he exploded.”

“But I thought Stinkleboppers can’t set foot on the

Boombapa planet.”

    “I was not on the planet, I was in a rocket ship a few feet

off the ground.”

“Oh.” I can’t help wondering why another Stinklebopper can’t

go like that.

To talk to the King I have to be polite, firm, sympathetic (it

seems the King has emotional problems), and no matter what, do

not look into his eyes when he is talking! He seems to have some

sort of persuasive powers.

Finally, at the end of two days, I am ready. I say goodbye to

Queen Aashna and Anika Bonika.

“You better come back alive. We can’t replace you to send

back to your home” Aashna says with a playful smile.

“Remember, firm, but polite” Anika Bonika says.

I laugh and assure her I remember. I get into the silvery

rocket. I can’t help but think of the Silver Moon. I get on, and

wave goodbye. As the rocket shoots toward a planet, I feel a

flip-flop in my stomach. Is this really a good idea? What if I fail?

What would happen to me? I am ready to cry, but then the screen

in front of me blares on. I see Aashna in front of me.

“We thought we might as well give you a tour of the

community while you are flying through it” she says with a smile.

As I pass a black planet, Aashna describes the Bonker Bonkers,

who had partnered up with the Boombapas. They are incredibly

dirty, and can’t stand being washed.

I pass a light blue planet, home to Elephoonts. They are

different colored gentle elephants. When I pass a lime green

planet, Aashna explains that it is planet Yum Dum, home to the

Yumbobos, masters of all things yummy. Their planet changes

color according to whatever is being made in the great pot.

Finally I see a grayish, greenish, brownish, planet. Aashna

grows quiet. I learn it is Boombano, home to the Boombapas.

Suddenly I grow tense again. As the planet grows closer I feel

sick.

Suddenly I feel a blast of cold air. I turn and see a huge pump

blasting air.   

“Sorry, this is confidence air, it will make you more

confident”Aashna says from the screen. I relax. Suddenly the door opens. I have landed.  

Chapter 7

                                  Chloe

When I step out of the rocket, I am surrounded by Boombapas.

I stifle a scream. I am led to a brown castle. Inside I am thrown

in a dungeon.

“Hello?” I hear. I turn around and see a girl with blonde hair

staring at me.

“Are you a person or Stinklebopper?” I ask.

“Person. Look, we can talk later. I need your help. I created

something to help us get out of here. But I can’t do it alone. Will

you help?”

    “Anything to get out of here.”

We take a big pole, and with a running start, knock the door

down.  It lands with a loud CLANG! A loud alarm goes off. we

rush out, dodging guards the whole way.

    “Follow me! I know where to go” I yell to her. I lead her to

the rocket. We jump on, and I make the rocket go above the

ground, but not too much. The girl is panting.

    “Can you tell me who you are?” I ask

    “My name is Chloe, I was sent by the Stinkleboppers to talk

to the King. It obviously didn’t work.”

    “My name is Aashna, I am the Stinklebopper Queens

alternate. I was sent to talk to the King too.”

“Well, you will probably have to go do that” Chloe says.

“Are you kidding?! They will put me back in Prison!”

“I have an idea.”

Chloe steers the rocket to the top of the castle. She shows

me a trapdoor.

    “Can’t you come with me?” I plead.

    “The King will recognize me, and know I escaped from

prison.”

    I climb down the steps. I end up in a dark space. A closet

maybe? I push on the wall, and it opens. I am in a large room. I

see a large Boombapa sitting on a throne in the back. Could that

be the king? He seems to be eating something. I sneak around the

pillars, getting closer. He is munching on… chocolate?

“Chococrocos” says the wrapper.  I pop out from the pillar,

startling the King.

    “Who are you?”

         “That’s not important. I need to talk to you. Please don’t

continue the war. Can’t you just move on?”

    The king gets a strange look. For a second, I think he may

agree with me. Will I succeed?

“Why? Because the Stinkleboppers banished us for no reason? I just want to prove myself to the world. I know what you are doing. That Chloe tried to do it to. Her first mistake was to barge in without noticing the guards. Then she did a horrible job of trying to convince me to stop the war. Don’t you think that is wrong? ”

The king shifts his head, and looks into my eyes. HE. LOOKED.

INTO. MY. EYES. Suddenly I agree with him. But the other part of

me, is urging me to turn away. I try. I can’t.  I remember Chloe up

on the roof. I whip my head away. I back away from him. “Your,

your powers, The Stinkleboppers warned me!!!!” I turn and run

away.

Chapter 8

                             The Yumbobos

      Chloe is waiting for me on the roof. We get in the rocket. As

soon as we are off ground, Chloe asks me if I convinced him.

    “No, he tried to use his persuasive powers on me, so I ran

away” I say, hoping I don’t sound like a coward. But I am really

worried. If I don’t convince him, I may never get home!

    “That is okay, we will try again later” says Chloe. As we

head back to Stinkeroon, I notice the rocket starting to turn.

Suddenly the screen blares to life. I see Queen Aashna.

    “Can you stop at Yum Dum for me? I need another supply of

flavored icicles. They are SO good. The yummiest ever. ” she says.

“Sure” I say. Aashna looks behind me at Chloe. Her eyes widen.

Chloe steps forward.

    “Chloe? Is that really you?” Aashna asks.

    “Yup. I know you tried to free me, and I am sorry that I was

so mad at you for sending me.”

    “It’s okay. After you pick up the icicles, come back. We can

talk about what to do with the king.”

    “Okay.”

    We travel to Yum Dum. It is now red. I can’t help but wonder

what is cooking in the great pot. When we land, I see two

elephants coming towards us. Elephants? That doesn’t seem right at all. I thought Yum Dum was home to the Yumbobos, not Elaphoonts.  We step out of the rocket. The Elaphoonts greet us.

 “Hello. I am Rachel. The blue Elaphoont is Mikaela” says the

purple Elaphoont. “Welcome to YumDum!” they say in unison.

“How come you are on Yum Dum instead of Elaphentar?” I

ask.

“We came to pick up a new supply of strawberry milkshakes”

says Mikaela. “What about you?” asks Rachel. I look at Chloe.

    “Well, we need some Flavored icicles” I say.

    “Come with us!” they say.

    We go to a big forest. Chloe tells me that everything on

their planet is made of food. When we reach, I look at the

giant pot. We are greeted by a Yumbobo named Chef Lily-O.

She hands us the icicles. Suddenly, a giant screen on a tree

blares to life. It is Aashna.

    “The war is starting! Hurry, take a star and get here

fast!” she cried.

    We say goodbye to Rachel, Mikaela, and Chef Lily-o.

Then we go to try and catch a star. Chloe tells me that

there are little tiny mice attendants on each star.  We each

hop on top of a star. A small mouse comes out on both.

    “Where to?” asks my mouse.

    “Um…” I turn to look at Chloe.

    “I talked to the queen, I think it is planet Uujoo.” she

says with a shrug.

    “The forbidden planet?!” the mouse cries.

    “Well, if that is what it is called.”

    The star takes off toward a dark orange planet. When we

land, I see Aashna running toward us.

    “What should we do?” I ask her.

    “I don’t know!”

I give up I think. I’m sorry, I tried and

failed.  I feel like leaving, even though I never leave a scene.

But what can I do? I already tried. But, there is no harm trying

again. Who knows? I can at least try.

    “All we can do is watch” Chloe said grimly.

    As we watch, the battle begins. I scan the crowd

and find the King. He does not look happy. In fact, he looks

pretty sad.

        I wind my way through the crowd, trying to avoid being

mistaken for a Stinklebopper.  I run up to the King. He scowls at

me.

    “Aren’t you the one who snuck into my castle?”

    “Yes, but please, I will ask you one more time, stop the war!”

    “Why would I do that?

“Because it is not worth fighting about. And I know the Queen

is willing to give your planet back if you do.”

He gives me a strange look.

“There is nothing I have wanted more, than to see my old

planet again. Are you sure I will get it back?”

“I am sure.”

He takes a deep breath and shouts,

“Wait!”

He looks at me. “I cancel the war. We will live on our planet.”

“Why’d you change your mind?” asks someone in the crowd.

“Someone made me rethink my choices, and I figured it was

not worth it. Goodbye everyone!”

And just like that, the Boombapas disappear.

Chapter 9

                             Going home

I can not believe it was so easy. I feel like I can take on the

world. I mean, out of all people, how was I able to convince a king?

Stella would definitely call it a day to remember. Thinking of Stella

makes me remember my life back home. I feel a throb of

homesickness. I understand what the King meant, you will always

want to go back to your real home, no matter how great one place

is.   

“Well, I guess I have to go” I say.

    “Agreed” says Chloe.

“How do I get home?” Thinking about my previous thoughts, I

tap my heels together and say, “There’s no place like home,

There’s no place like home, There’s no place like home”

    Chloe laughs. “This isn’t a Dorothy in OZ situation.”

    “Well, is there a rabbit hole I could go down? That’s what Alice

did”.

    “Your bubble will take you back. But it won’t take as long. Last

time we had technical difficulties, and we had to put you to sleep to fix it” Aashna says.

“How much time has passed at home?” I ask. I was here for a

while, at least two days. If two days has passed at home, my

parents will sue the school!

    “Only a couple of minutes. Time here passes much faster than

in your world. A year here is a couple of months for you!”

    “Oh, good!”

    “Bye!” everyone cries. I am wrapped in the same bubble, and

shoot off the planet.

    I land back in front of the rocket. I can see my class far

ahead of me. I run to catch up. Stella smiles at me.

    “Are you excited?” she asks.

    “Yup.”

    “As we watched the Silver Moon take off, Stella whispered,

    “I wonder if this rocket will discover new aliens.”

    “No idea” I say, hiding a smile.

    We go back to school, and finish our day. When I go

home, my family has me tell all about the rocket. I have to restrain

myself from telling them about what else I had seen.

    That night I stare at the stars, and wondered if the

universe I had seen that day, was just a star in the night sky here,

and vice versa for them.

Chapter 10

                             Meeting again

I wake up that night to see a giant screen in my

bedroom. It has Aashna on it.

“How are you?” she ask.

I leap out of bed.

“Can I talk to you from now on?!” I cry.

“Sure!” she answers.

Rachel, Chef Lily-O and Mikaela pop up on the screen.

“How’s it going?” asks Mikaela.

“Hi!” says Rachel.

“Hi!” says Lily-O

“We went home with Aashna” says Mikaela.

I talk a little longer, then we say goodbye, and the screen

flies out of my room. I go to sleep with a smile on my face.

                                   The End  

                            (Or is it?)