This story with illustrations is from Ruchita Prasad, 10, India.
Max and his
crew were going to Mars.
They were all
feeling very nervous and excited.
10… 9… 8… 7…
6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… BLAST OFF!
“Here we
go”shouted Max.
Everyone cheered as the rocket flew up towards
the sky.
By now they
could see all the planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune, and of course the big hot burning sun.
They could
also see constellations, stars, meteoroids and asteroids.
In space
there is no gravity so Max and his crew were floating in the space shuttle.
They could
see Mars by a special instrument.
“Ohhh there
is Mars” bellowed Emma.
“Hold on
tight we're going to land now” shouted Max, 3… 2… 1… Landing.
“We landed
hooray” cheered the team.
“Now get
ready into our space suits” commanded Max.
“Yes sir” shouted
the team out loud.
So off Max
and his crew went out on to Mars.
Max was the
first one to put foot on Mars.
Max said “Now
it is time to explore Mars”.
“This place
is terrible and I don’t want to go” said Polly.
“Don't be
such a scaredy cat” said Emma.
“Look at the
automatic rovers, they've made a cabin for us to sleep and eat, and the lab,
and so many other things” shouted Jack.
“Let's
explore the cabins then” said Max.
“Yeah” said
Jack doing punches in the air.
“This cabin
is ok” stated Polly.
“I’m thirsty
after that long trip” said Emma.
“Luckily
there is lots of water that the rovers have put for us” said Emma with a
relief.
“I’m thirsty
too” stated Polly looking tired.
“Let’s go and
eat and drink now” replied Max.
“Ok” said
Polly, Emma and Jack together.
“This banana,
spaghetti, dates and fish are way better than Earth’s” said Jack with a shock.
“Mmmmmm...
this food is definitely awesome” mumbled Emma and Polly together with their
mouth’s full.
“It sure is”
answered Max.
After eating
they bounced off to the South Pole to see if there were any creatures there.
Finally they
got to the South Pole.
“Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
its cold” shivered Polly.
“Sure is”
mumbled Max.
“Come over
here guys look what I found - a sort of fish” said Jack.
“Is it
alive?” asked Emma.
“Nope”responded
Jack.
“Cool, let's
take it back to the cabin and study it in the Lab.” said Max, excitedly.
So off they
went to the lab.
After all that research they could not find
the answer.
“I think we
should name it... what about ‘Camel Fish’?”muttered Polly.
“It does look
like a camel so let's keep it like that” explained Max.
They all high fived each other.
Max exclaimed “Well done guys”.
“Now let's head to the North Pole” remarked
Max.
“North pole
here we come” yelled Emma.
“Yeah!” cheered
the team.
Finally they
reached the North Pole.
Max shouted,
“Look it's a kind of bug-like creature”.
“Good
spotting, Max” stated Polly.
“Thanks” replied
Max, ”Now that we've found a creature let’s go to the lab”.
“Lab, here we come” yelled Emma again.
“Yeah” said
Jack, jumping up and down.
When they
reached the Lab, Max exclaimed,
“Look what I
found – the bug that we saw at the North Pole. It is the Assassin bug. Great
work, team”
“Thanks”
beamed the team loudly.
“Now let's go
back to our cabins and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we'll go to see the
rocks, craters, and mountains” said Max.
The next
morning …
Ring ring
ring
“Ahhh it's morning already, I’m so tired” yawned
Polly.
“Me too” said Emma and Jack sleepily.
“Enough of
sleeping let’s get to work” bellowed Max.
“Fine” said
Polly, Emma and Jack together.
“Let's get
into our space suits to go and see the rocks, craters, and mountains. All up
now, let’s go” commanded Max.
“Whoooo
hoooo” cheered the team loudly.
“First the
rocks” yelled Jack.
“Look at that
rock – it looks like a human” bellowed Emma.
“And that looks like a bed... and that looks
like a duck...
and look at everything... it looks like
something...Ahhh, are they real?” screamed Polly.
“No way,
they’re rocks” answered Jack.
“Good” replied
Polly.
“Now let's move on to the mountains then” bellowed
Max.
“Sure” replied
Polly in a worried voice.
“Now the
mountains” yelled Jack excitingly.
“Did you guys
know that the Mount Olympus is the largest mountain on Mars, even larger than
Mount Everest?” asked Jack.
“Wow” exclaimed Polly.
“Cool”
shouted Emma out loud.
“Look inside
there’s lots of rocks” screamed Polly.
“Better to
not go any closer” she mumbled to herself .
“The rocks
are going to tumble down. Runnnnnnnnn, guys, run” screamed Polly.
They reached
a safe place, away from the mountain.
“Phew” said
the crew of four with relief.
“Let's move
onto the craters then” said Max holding his breath.
“Good” said
Polly with relief.
“Craters,
here we come” yelled Emma who was over-excited than the others.
“Oh look over
there – lots of craters” exclaimed Emma.
“Yeah” said Polly.
“They look
like cookies” exclaimed Jack.
“They do
actually” said Max.
“Look inside
there ....are...green, hairy , furry things” screamed Polly.
“And they
have three eyes, two antennas, and they have a fruity scent. I think they look
like aliens” said Polly.
“Ahhhhhhh,
run run run, guys” screamed Jack.
Emma was not
scared at all because she loved pets and they looked like pets to her.
“Look guys,
don't be scaredy cats. Be calm, they are nice cuddly, cute creatures” said Emma calmly.
“Oh” bellowed
the other three together.
“I’ve got a
even better idea – we can train them, feed them, teach them English and do all
sorts of things with them” regarded Jack extremely excited to do all of those
things and maybe more.
“Good
thinking, Jack, well done” beamed the team.
“Thanks” said Jack proudly.
“Lets get on
with it then” told Max.
“So let’s first feed them, they might be
hungry” suggested Emma.
“Ya” bellowed the team.
“But there’s one problem ….. what on earth do
they like?”
“I don’t
know” said Polly in a worried voice.
“Let’s just
give them some vegetables” said Polly.
“Good idea” mumbled
Emma.
“But some of
the aliens are doing it wrong – they are putting them in their ears, and all
sorts of places” said Polly.
“Then we
better teach them how to eat” suggested Emma.
Emma started
to demonstrate.
“Step 1 :
take a vegetable
Step 2 : put
it in your mouth
Step 3 : chew
it
Step 4 :
swallow it” said Emma.
“Look they
are eating it!”said Jack.
“Yeah now
let’s teach them English” shouted Max.
They taught
them English and the aliens learned very quickly.
“I didn't
think they were going to learn English so quickly” bellowed Polly.
“Ya I know” said
Jack.
“Hi kids” said
one of the aliens in the crowd.
“Look they’re
speaking” beamed the group of four.
“Let's try to
move them in a neat, clean, perfect line” explained Max.
“Who wants to
move them then?”asked Max.
“Me me me me
” begged Jack as he was putting his hand up.
“Ok, Jack
will do it then” said Max.
Jack started
to move and the aliens did not move.
“Let me try
now if you can’t do it” exclaimed Emma.
Emma started to move and the aliens followed
in a neat, clean, perfect line.
“Wow, we’re
training them to follow a person” screeched Polly.
“Emma, can
you lead them to our cabins? We’ll put on disco music and then eat something”
screamed Max.
“Yeah” said
Emma with pride.
So Emma took
the aliens in a line to their cabins.
“So let’s
have some chips, fries, chocolate, ice creams and lots more” said Polly.
“Jack, please
get the disco bulb and music sorted out” shouted Max.
“Sure will” mumbled
Jack.
“Disco check,
food check and music check, let’s gets started” said Max.
Booom boom
boom went the loud music speaker.
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhh
this is awesome” said Polly.
“Sure is” stated
Emma.
“Look the
aliens are dancing” shouted Jack excitingly.
“Whooo
hoooooooo” screamed Polly.
“Laa laaa la
laaaaaaaaaaa” sang Emma and Polly to the tremendous tune of the music.
“Laa laaa la
laaaaaaaaaaa” sang the aliens back to them.
“Now let's
eat” suggested Max.
“Sure” sang
the other three.
“Mmmmmmmm...
yummy food” sang the team and the aliens.
“Now let's
start to pack away because we’ve got to return to Earth and with these aliens
it will take longer” said Max.
They started
to pack away.
“Let’s now
get our bags and put them into the space shuttle” suggested Polly.
“And don’t
forget the aliens too” stated Emma.
“Let's get
into the space shuttle. And make sure you haven't forgotten anything” shouted
Max.
“I’ve made a
checklist and we’ve got everything” announced Jack.
“Then let’s
get into the space shuttle with the aliens” commanded Max.
3...2...1… Take
off.
“Look I can
see Earth from this special instrument” said Polly.
“We’re almost
there” screamed Jack wildly.
3...2...1… Landing.
“Yeah, we’re
back to Earth” told Max.
“Let’s go to
our home, sweet, home” said Polly sweetly.
“There’s no
place like home” remarked Emma.
“Look, the
crowd is waiting for us. Look, they’re going to give out prizes” screamed Jack.
“First Max may
collect his award, then Emma, then Jack and then Polly” announced the President.
As everyone
collected their awards, the crowd got louder and cheered.
The team of four
were very happy that they were the first humans on Mars.
The aliens
came on stage too. And the crowd cheered even louder.
The photographers
took pictures and the four people came in newspapers and became celebrities.
Emma took the
aliens to her house and kept them as pets.
“Are you
ready for our next adventure?” announced Max.
“Of course,
we are” beamed the other three.
