Flying Burger

by Jared Martin

  Inside this Big Playground, many Moravians were having a good time enjoying themselves at the different theme parks. Our passengers had a fleeting glimpse of a huge, colourful toy-aeroplane attached to a long metal rod, which carried many Moravians inside. This toy-aeroplane was whisking its passengers around in the sky at break-neck speed. Many bear grunts could be heard. The choo-choo train continued on its journey after stopping only for a short while at Big Playground. The lights flickered back and forth on the choo-choo train and the horn sounded "choo choo choo".

  "Choo choo choo," Samuel said happily. He was good at imitating the sound.

  "Choo choo choo," Antonio also followed.

  Mrs. Andersen sat behind Antonio, and the little fellow always wanted to stand up whenever the train sounded the horn. Mrs. Andersen had a hard time keeping Antonio seated. Somehow the 'choo-choo' sound had a magical effect on Antonio.

  There was a red button by the side of each train compartment. Antonio was feeling bored and out of curiosity, he pressed once on the red button in his compartment. A series of loud sound, 'oink, oink, oink' flooded the train and could be heard by everyone, including the train-master.

  'Don't press the emergency button for fun!' the train master yelled back.

  Antonio grinned innocently and stuck out his tongue.

  Travelling on the plastic train to Moravian Institute of Space Science, Nikita could see many young Moravians on the streets. Some were cycling, others were dashing from one place to another on roller-blades, yet others used power gliders. Very few adult Moravians were on the streets. Nikita was puzzled. Melissa was deep in thoughts as she took in the sights and sound.

  Suddenly, Samuel saw an adult Moravian trying to steal honey from a beehive hanging from a tree, some distance away. This was a short, funny-looking tree with branches and leaves arranged like a fan. A big beehive hung on one of the branches. While this Moravian was about to leave after having eaten his fill of honey, a big bee as big as a terrestrial cat, flew out from nowhere. It tried to chase this Moravian away. However the Moravian was too big, and the bee was nearly knocked down by its opponent's paws. This bee made a loud, buzzing sound and before long, more bees came and joined in the fight. The Moravian quickly turned and ran for its life. It finally ended up in a pond! Only then, did the bees flew away.

  "Hahaha," Samuel laughed heartily, pointing his finger at the Moravian in the pond.

  "What is so funny?" Antonio asked curiously, looking in the direction Samuel was pointing.

  "See that bear head above the water, so cute! It tried to steal honey and was chased into the pond by bees."

  Antonio turned his head in another direction and saw one young Moravian pulling a caterpillar truck by a string attached to the caterpillar head. This truck had a long body which looked like a fat caterpillar. It could make a series of funny noises, “click clack, click clack, click clack,” to attract attention.

  “Look, a caterpillar truck!” Antonio said excitedly.

  At the next stop, Toy House station, the choo-choo train played the second tune.

  'Old maid Dona had a farm,

  eee ai eee ai o,

  and a quack quack here,

  and a quack quack there,

  here quack, there quack,

  everywhere quack quack quack.

  Old maid Dona had a farm,

  eee ai eee ai o.’

  Antonio laughed out loud. He was so excited by this tune.

  The choo-choo train stopped at Toy House station. Here, one could find many plastic houses painted with different colours. A grand-looking house, Miranda Villa, stood near this train stop. It was a double-storey villa made entirely of hardened plastic. It was painted yellow, red and green in different combinations. Surrounding the villa, there was a large area of grassland where many types of wild-berries and shrubs grew on it. A gentle breeze was blowing at this time. Fresh sweet scent of flowers drifted through the air and greeted our passengers. Nikita could also smell the sweet fragance of the woods, not only that, she could detect the faint masculine smell from Chen Wei seated in front of her. She was intoxicated!

  Before reaching the final destination, the choo-choo train began to slow down, and finally came to a halt. The train-master yelled from the front that there was no more battery power!

  "Could everyone get down and help to push this train?" the train-master begged.

  Looking at the not so gentle slope up the hill, Mrs. Andersen asked, "oh my goodness. You mean I have to push this train up that slope?"

  “Sorry about that,” the train-master yelled from the front.

  The train-master remained in the train. He urged everyone to come down and push the choo-choo train. Actually, this train was not too big and did not look quite heavy either, as it was made of plastic. Everyone huffed and puffed and pushed this train up the slope and over to the other side. However, the slope at the other side of the hill was also quite steep. This choo-choo train rushed down-slope at breakneck speed, the train-master waved both his bear paws frantically out of the window, one bear paw on either side of the train!

  "Ahhh!" yelled the train-master.

  Antonio and everyone else could not help laughing.

  The train dashed up the next slope before it lost momentum and began to reverse. It travelled back and forth for a while before it finally came to a halt at the bottom of the U-shape valley on the other side of the hill. The train-master went to search for spare batteries and finally found five new batteries in a locked cupboard. He quickly changed the batteries and the train carried on with its journey to the Moravian Institute. The lights flickered back and forth on the choo-choo train and the horn sounded "choo choo choo" .

  "Choo choo choo," Samuel said happily.

  "Choo choo choo," Antonio also followed.

  In a short while, the choo-choo train stopped in front of a magnificent building. The building architecture consisted of a gigantic sphere supported by three slanted pyramids at the base, all made up of the same greyish-white material. A spectacular sign in front of the building read, 'Moravian Institute of Space Science'. The headmaster led this group of visitors into the academy compound.

  Once Antonio and Samuel entered the gate of the institute, they saw rows and rows of flying young Moravians landing in a big pool of water. The water was pink! The headmaster told our guests, that this was the aquatic centre. Many Moravians were swimming happily in another big pool nearby. Antonio and Samuel were attracted by this interesting show and Antonio wanted to go and take a look. The two little fellows ran into the aquatic centre as fast as their little legs could carry them. Mrs. Andersen also entered the aquatic centre and stood next to Antonio. In the centre of a big pool stood a long mechanical swing. They saw many youngsters getting on this swing. Once everybody was up on the swing, the operator pressed a button by the side of the wall. This swing began to move back and forth. Before long, it was reaching incredible heights. Many of the Moravians on this swing started to jump off the swing, to land in the pink water! It was most exciting!

  "I wanna try the flying swing!" Antonio almost yelled. His adventurous spirit was ignited at this moment and he was dying to go on the swing.

  "Errh, I wanna try the swing, errh, errhhh.." Antonio grabbed hold of Mrs. Andersen's hand and shook his body and stamped his feet.

  "No way! No. Don't even think about it! If anything were to happen to you, your mother will scold me," Mrs. Andersen defended her decision. Antonio tried to play rough, but Mrs. Andersen grabbed him and carried him in her arms. Before he knew what happend, he received a tight slap on his buttock! He kept quiet henceforth with a pout on his face.

  At the main door to the school building, a small band of five young Moravians was playing to welcome our guests. They were hitting on the xylophone, making a melodious tune. Our group of visitors made their way into the academy hall where more aliens were gathered. There was a total of five rows of competitor seats, arranged in single file facing the front. A big screen was erecte
d on the front of the hall. The headmaster directed Chen Wei and the rest of the kids to one of the empty row of seats at the far left. The rest of the seats were already taken up by alien beings. Behind the hall sat an audience anticipating a competitive round of astronomy quiz. Many anxious parents were also waiting to cheer their kids on in this quiz.

  The Moravian headmaster walked to the front of the hall and addressed the audience.

  "Dear creatures of the galaxy, we are gathered here today to take part in our annual astronomy quiz. This time round, we have added an additional component, project section, which evaluates each team's overall aptitude in astronomy. Let me brief you on the point system, each correct answer will score ten points and a wrong answer will minus five points from the team's total score. The maximum score for the project section is twenty points. The team with the highest score will be the winner and will be awarded a grand prize - Moravian Visual Encyclopaedia of Astronomy. Now, I will hand you over to our Mentor."

  "First, let me introduce the competing teams from the various star systems. Team one, Metrozoid from Ross 154. Team two, chimpanzees from Altair. Team three, Moravians from Epsilon Eridani. Team four, tiger cubs from Arcturus. Team five, Earthlings from planet Earth. Let’s clap our appendages, and welcome our contestants. Let the quiz begin, " said the Mentor.

  The Metrozoid was a robot with a round metallic head, funny looking eyes and a rectangular mouth. On it's head stood an antenna with a few circular rings. It had a short neck attached to a white cylindrical body. Two powerful pincers were attached to its robot arms. Every now and then, it would move its head and survey the surroundings with utmost attention.

  "All contestants have to wear the Language Translator Device in order to give an answer in the universal language understood by all creatures. Press the buzzer first before you make an attempt to answer,” the Mentor instructed.

  “Are we ready? Question one, what is the average age of our universe?"

  "13 billion solar years," Chen Wei answered.

  "Correct. Question two, state one theory for the formation of our universe."

  "Big Bang Theory," Metrozoid responded.

  "Correct. Question three, name the quantum of electromagnetic energy and also state its characteristics."

  "Photon. It is a particle with zero mass, no electric charge and has indefinitely long lifetime," Nikita answered.

  "Absolutely correct. Question four, name the galaxy in which our star is located."

  "Milky Way Galaxy," Chimpanzee gave an answer.

  "Correct. Question five, what is the diameter of Milky Way Galaxy?"

  "100,000 light years," Metrozoid pressed the buzzer immediately and gave the answer before anyone could even had time to think.

  "Correct. Question six, how many known globular clusters are there in the Milky Way Galaxy?"

  "140," Tiger cub team was not to be outdone.

  "Correct. Question seven, what is the composition of the cosmos?"

  "77% hydrogen, 23% helium and 0.000,000,1 % lithium," The Moravian team managed to give a response before others could.

  "Correct. Question eight, name the four fundamental forces controlling the universe."

  "1. Gravity. 2. Electromagnetism. 3. Weak force governing how stars shine. 4. Strong force binding the nuclei in atoms." Chen Wei displayed his profound knowledge of astronomy. Nikita found herself admiring this young man beside her more and more.

  "Excellent. Question nine, how many galaxies were found in the Hubble Deep Field?"

  "3000 galaxies," Metrozoid fought back with a vengeance.

  "Right. The last question, how many galaxies were found in the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field?"

  "10000 galaxies," the Moravian team refused to give up without a fight.

  "Correct. Now, let us take a look at the score of each team. Metrozoids have scored thirty points, chimpanzees, ten points, Moravians, twenty points, tiger cubs, ten points and Earthlings, thirty points. Metrozoids and Earthlings have both scored thirty points. The next round of quiz will determine the overall winner. Each team will have twenty minutes to complete this section. A panel of judges will award the points and its decision is final. Here's the project title, Design an Effective Weapon System for a Star-ship. The time starts now." The Mentor brought all teams to the next round of Quiz.

  At the signal to start, each team went to work using the writing utilities available and discussing with each other in their native tongues. Suddenly, a chorus of mixed frequencies could be heard, ranging from low to ultra-high notes. Our terrestrial team members also worked hard, with Nikita doing the writing and the rest contributing ideas. Chen Wei talked most of the time with Melissa interjecting at odd instances. At this moment, Samuel took out a gigantic pencil from his utility pouch. It was more than thirty centimetres long and needed an adult hand to hold it firmly! Antonio, Chen Wei, Nikita and Melissa laughed loudly when they saw this pencil.

  “Samuel, stop playing the fool! Be serious,” Chen Wei chided him.

  Samuel kept his big pencil and took out a proper pencil from his pouch. Together with Antonio, the two little fellows began to draw the kind of weapons that they thought were powerful and deadly. Twenty minutes flew by quickly. The Mentor gave the signal to stop all writing. He instructed each team to submit their work to the panel of judges in an orderly fashion.

  Silence prevailed in the hall.

  "While we are waiting for the results of the quiz, I’ll call upon our famous Moravian Acrobatic Troupe to perform for us. Let’s clap our appendages!" The Mentor applauded loudly. Everybody followed. A group of humanoid with bear heads walked onto the stage, dressed in acrobatic outfits.

  A special spotlight was attached to the ceiling of this stage. Suddenly, this spotlight was switched on with a loud ‘click’. In front of the stage, the wall was painted green. Six concentric circles of yellow lights were projected on the green wall in front. Techno music flooded the background. All at once, those yellow lights in odd-numbered circles began to revolve in a clockwise direction, while the lights in the even-numbered circles revolved in an anti-clockwise direction. The audience was treated to a spectacular acrobatic performance by the Moravian troupe against a captivating backdrop.

  Halfway through the performance, the yellow lights stopped moving. Out of a sudden, these lights began to move outwards from the centre. As they moved towards the outer realm, they also got bigger. It gave the person looking at it the effect of moving rapidly through space filled with yellow balloons! This acrobatic performance lasted for nearly twenty minutes. The applause from the audience was resounding.

  "Dear fellow creatures, I have the results of the quiz in my hands," the Mentor announced.

  Everybody held his breath.

  "Third in position, we have the Metrozoid." Everybody applauded as the Metrozoid stomped to the front to collect its certificate and medal.

  "The runner-up team, we have the Moravians." Everybody applauded again as the Moravian team leader went to the front to collect their certificates and medals.

  "The champion team, we have the Earthlings." Everybody applauded loudly as Chen Wei and Nikita went to the front to collect the certificates, medals and the grand prize - Visual Astronomy Encyclopaedia. This encyclopaedia, in the shape of a crystal ball was cased inside a transparent box. Nikita held the certificates and medals while Chen Wei lifted up high the encyclopaedia with both of his hands. A thunderous applause followed.

  Onboard BURGER123, everyone was talking about the quiz and viewing the astronomy encyclopaedia excitedly.

  "Well done kids, I am proud of you," Mrs. Andersen praised her students.

  Back in the privacy of their sleeping quarters, the two girls were once again talking about their dream idols.

  "I wonder what is he doing now?" Nikita was curious.

  "Need me to find out for you?" Melissa teased.

  "No! I'm just wondering, that's all," came the reply.

  "I wonder what is he doing now?" Melissa suddenly aske
d.

  "Who?"

  "Oh, you know who I'm talking about."

  "You mean Zorak, the Fontasian?"

  "Yep."

  "Need me to find out for you?" Nikita's turn to tease her friend.

  "No! I'm just wondering, that's all," came the reply.

  Both girls laughed helplessly.

  Chapter 9

  Planet Goron was the fifth innermost planet in the Pollux star-system. This planet was twice as big as Earth and its average surface temperature was ten degree Celsius below Earth’s average surface temperature, being further away from Pollux than Earth is from the sun. Goronites lived mostly near the equator of the planet, as it was warmer there.

  Goronites were humanoids and they were a strictly monogamous society. Each Goronite would take only one life-partner in his lifetime. Goronite had yellow hair, brown skin and red eyes. Inside a big castle on Goron, a baby alien was born admist much commotion. The father-alien waited impatiently outside the delivery room. When the medical doctor walked out of the door, he shook his head at father-alien.

  “I am sorry. I have done my best. Say your last words to your life-partner. Hurry!” said the medical doctor.

  Father-alien dashed inside the delivery room in three steps and was beside his life-partner in seconds. Looking down at his life-partner who had just given birth to a healthy baby alien, the father-alien felt extremely sad. His life-partner looked up at him and smiled. Her face was pale and she seemed to be gasping for air.

  “Take good care of Veah…will… promise me?” she nearly ran out of breath.

  No response.

  “I remember the time when we first met. By the Lucenda river..”

  “You fell into the river after you saw me…”

  Mother-alien closed her eyes, smiled and breathed her last.

  Father-alien kept quiet and his eyes were filled with tears. He held his life-partner’s hands and weeped. The newborn baby was crying loudly by the bedside.

  A week had passed since the grand funeral was held for mother-alien. A Goron nobleman was sitting by the Lucenda river gazing into the distance. He wore a red headband. He was deep in thoughts. Veah's father, Caros, sat quietly by himself, recollecting the past. It was here, by the Lucenda river, that Caros first met his life-partner. At that time, Caros was on his way to meet a business partner when he caught sight of a lovely damsel dressed in a rough cotton dress. This damsel was none other than Veah's deceased mother. She looked at Caros and smiled. This smile captured Caros's heart instantly. Caros lost his mind totally at that moment and was not careful to fell right into the river! From that time onwards, a romantic courtship began and ended in a pompous, extravagant wedding.