Saved by Sweet Alien Box Set (25 page)

Life.  When you’re with your girl, it’s so much more enjoyable. 

Now, she doesn’t seem to be excited at all.  That I
understand.  For her, the memory stops along with her life.  She continues from
there now.  So… today is just another day being with me.  Her worries are
pimples, hair styles, and walnut loaf. 

What else does she have to worry about?  Nothing.  We are
common people.  We enjoy a simple life.  We have good jobs.  We are together. 
What else do we need?

I know that space travel is very safe now.  But, still… I’ve
heard so much about that black hole X908W.  It’s so huge that spaceships travelling
to the solar system have to
go through
the black hole. 

What’s inside?  What will happen to the spaceship?  No one
knows because the black hole sucks in everything, including radio waves and
light.  You pray and wait, hoping the spaceship will eventually come out.

“Ryan, why are you here?” Stacey looks at me.  I look
around.  I’m in a spaceship.  Right, why am I here in a spaceship at all?  I
thought Stacey was coming to the Earth.  Why are we travelling together now? 
“I don’t know.  Stacey.  Do you know?”

She thinks for a while.  “Right.  We are taking a vacation
in the black hole.”

“What, Stacey?  That’s crazy.  No one wants to have a
vacation in that black hole.”

“Why not?” She smiles.

Right, why not?  You can take a vacation in remote
mountains, or enjoy a cruise tour in the Caribbean.  You don’t feel dangerous
at all.  Why do you have to worry about that black hole then?

I sit down and hold her hand.  She pulls the blanket to
cover us.  Soon, my eyes grow heavy…

Suddenly, I feel a strong vibration.  “Please fasten your
seat belt.  We’re experiencing the black hole turbulence.”  a soft voice announces.

I reach for the seatbelt.  But I can barely raise my hand. 
It’s so heavy.  “Stacey?” I gasp and look around.  Gosh, Stacey is now crushed
onto her seat, absolutely motionless.

Super gravity.
That’s the last thought flashes
through my mind…

I open my eyes.  This dream really worries me.  Well, I
never believed in any dreams.  But this time, I feel like something might
happen.

What could that ‘something’ be?

I keep staring at the ceiling and worry until I have to go
to work.

I check the status of the spaceship.  The space port shows
the status in green light: On Time.

Great. 
God, please.  Let Stacey come back to me safely.

A tiny white dot is approaching the black hole.  I look at
the space map and worry.   Really worry.  I’m so tired.  But I want to make
sure the spaceship does come out safely.

I stare at the space map.  Nothing comes out.  I look at the
status.  It has changed from On Time in green to Delayed in brown.  I bite my
lower lips hard. 
God.  Please help.
  I pray.

It’s now one and a half hour late already. Still I don’t see
the white dot coming out.  What happened?  Did they really get stuck with the
super gravity like in my dream?

I try to calm down but my mind is raging.  I lost Stacey
once.  I can’t afford to lose her again.

I close my eyes and cover my face with both hands. 
Is
she suffering?  Or… is it all over?  If so, I wish she didn’t suffer too much…

“Ding…” Is it Stacey?  Is she trying to talk to me?  I pick
up the mouse but my hand is shaking so hard, I can’t move it to the button on
the screen.  I use both hands to hold the mouse and hold my breath. I click the
button and see
You have one message.

I open the message but see nothing on the screen.  I stare
at the blank screen, chills crawling all the way up along my spine. 
Stacey…

Suddenly, I see a few random dots on the screen then they
disappear right away.  The signal from the spaceship must be very weak.  But
these weak signals tell me the spaceship is out of the black hole!

I stare at the screen. 
Stacey, talk to me, please.

After what seems like an eternity, I hear a weak voice, “Ryan,
this is Stac....  We were thrown out of the black … from a diffe… dire…”

Thank God, they are out of the black hole now.  But being
thrown out from a different direction?  Where is she now?  Is she still coming?

After a long while, I see black dots flying all over the
screen.  Then I hear Stacey’s voice again, “They sa.. the landing gear is
damaged and asked every… leave …ssage.  I love you, Ry…”

Then dead silence.

Oh my gosh, the spaceship must have been badly damaged.  Otherwise,
they wouldn’t have asked the passengers to leave a message for their loved
ones.  I don’t want to use the word
final
.  But I worry this might be
the last message I could ever hear from Stacey.

What do they mean “the landing gear is damaged”?  Is it a
landing gear like on an airplane?  Or those small rockets to slow down the
spaceship?  Or what?  I feel like my body is dropping all the way to the bottom
of the Arctic Ocean.

What could have gone wrong?  Where is Stacey now?

I don’t know.  I wait for two more hours.  Eventually, I see
the white dot on the space map again. 
She. Is. Coming.

I know I can’t go to work like this.  I call Ashton and
explain my situation.  He is so understanding.  “Ryan.  Take a day off and take
care of your girl.  Good luck.”

“Thank you, Ashton.  I really appreciate it.”  I believe
Stacey is going to arrive safely.  The spaceship must have additional ways to
land.  They must have the ability to deal with this kind of emergency.

I spend the day to clean up my condo.  I know it smells like
shit.  It used to be our love nest, nice, clear, and comfy.  But I haven’t cleaned
it once properly since Stacey left. 

I grab a black garbage bag and toss in all the shit:
newspaper, pizza boxes, empty cans and bottles, and who-knows-what.

I used three garbage bags to remove all the shit.  I then
clean up the floor and the kitchen.  Well, the kitchen is such a mess I will
have to hire someone to do a thorough job the next weekend. 

After a quick lunch, I go out to cut my hair and buy
flowers.  The long stemmed red roses look good.  They smell very good, too.

I get home and check the space map again.  The spaceship is
only four and a half hours away.  I get so excited but so worried. 

What if the landing fails?   

My heart tightens.  Then I tell myself,
Ryan, Stacey is
going to be with you safely.  She can make it.
  I pray…

It’s almost all dark.  I have been waiting for over two
hours.  The huge hall at the space port is full of people.  I see cops,
firefighters, and reporters everywhere.  My heart sinks.  Gosh, is the
spaceship in big trouble?

A Fox News TV crew is nearby.  The reporter is talking to
the camera.  “Here’s the latest update of the spaceship
Mayflower
.  It’s
approaching Earth now.  After four minutes, it will enter the atmosphere.  As
we reported, the landing gear of the spaceship is partially damaged.  The captain
has ordered the use of the emergency system.  We will be back after a brief
commercial break.”

Gosh, what kind of TV network is this?  They still want to
air their commercials when the spaceship is such a critical situation. 

Time ticks on like forever.  I see an ad on the TV screen, and
then another one, “Join us to lose up to twenty pounds this summer.”
Right.  Forget
your fucking weight loss shit and show me what’s happening now, will you?
 
I grind my teeth.

Now the reporter is talking again.  “Ladies and gentlemen,
the
Mayflower
is entering the atmosphere.  I believe the emergency
landing system is working now because the spaceship is slowing down.”  He looks
at a small screen nearby and then continues, “Twenty one thousand miles per
hour.  It’s a little bit too fast.”

I can’t breathe. 
God, please help…

“Twenty thousand… Nineteen point eight…. Eighteen…” 
Thank
God.
  I let out a long breath and close my eyes. 

Suddenly, I hear loud sirens.  “Stay back,” the cops are
yelling.  A few ladies are crying.

I open my eyes and look at the sky.  I see a bright shooting
star dropping down quickly. 
Stacey!
  My head turns blank completely.

I hear a huge explosion and see a fire ball shooting into
the pitch-dark sky like a nuclear bomb explosion. 

The long stemmed roses drop to the ground.  So does my
body. 
Stacey…

I don’t know how I got home.  I stare at the ceiling for the
whole night. 
Why?  Why us?  Why Stacey?  She’s such a sweet girl. She
wouldn’t even hurt an ant.  She shouldn’t have been treated like this.  Maybe
it’s a big mistake trying to get her back?  I’m sorry, Stacey.  I’m so sorry…

It’s seven o’clock in the morning.  Time to get up and get
ready for work.  I struggle to the washroom and look into the mirror.  I’m absolutely
shocked.  I see a man totally out of shape, totally lost.  He is only a moving
shadow, with
no
life attached to his body.

I take a quick shower.  I want to go to work today.  I’m
going to keep myself busy, super busy.  This is the only way to stop me from
thinking of Stacey.

I drink a glass of milk and dress up quickly. I’m running
behind a bit.  I have to hurry now.

I open the door a see someone, a girl.  I blink my eyes. 
Stacey!
 I drop my briefcase and jump over.  “Stacy, is it you?”

“Yup.  Me.  Did you have good sleep?”

I shake my head and hold her tight.  I feel a real body.
Yes.
She.
Is.
Back.

Our lips lock.  I kiss her hard, tears running down my
cheeks…

After a long, long while, we come into the room.  “Stacey,”
I look at her.  “I thought you were…”

“Silly, we have the emergency system, right?”

“But I see the fireball and explosion.”

“The passenger capsule ejected.” She smiles so sweetly. 
“You didn’t know that?”

I shake my head.  “Stacey, when did you get here?”