by Korey Troyer
Ethan waved his hand as the purple swirling sphere reappeared in the middle of the room. The ball grew to the size of a small tent. The bubble cracked down the center and opened wide enough so one boy could enter at a time. Ethan gestured to Tyler as if to say ‘after you.’
Tyler stepped into the bubble, with Ethan following directly behind him. The boys stood shoulder to shoulder.
“Are you ready?” Ethan asked carefully.
Tyler gave Ethan a confident and determined stare. “Yes.”
Ethan waved his hand again to close the orb.
Tyler had the sensation of being light as air. The bubble floated up and they slid right through the ceiling, then the roof. The two young adventurers found themselves hovering above Tyler’s neighborhood.
“Ethan, is this your space ship?”
“No, think of this as an elevator. My ship is parked on the dark side of the moon. That’s where most of the interstellar visitors park.”
“Cool! So we’re going to the moon?”
“Flying in the bubble may be a bit strange. The first time can be kind of freaky. Brace yourself - here we go!”
Ethan peered toward the heavens as the bubble ascended rapidly.
Tyler erupted with laughter as he fixated on the twinkling lights of Orlando Florida below, “Hey, there’s Disney World!”
“Would you like to fly by before we leave?” asked Ethan?
Instantly they skimmed over Magic Kingdom and watched the workers preparing park the grounds for the next day.
“Can they see us?”
“No, we are invisible,” Ethan said. “However we can see other cloaked vessels similar to ours. This way we don’t run into each other.”
Tyler started chuckling, so Ethan asked what he found humorous.
“Me and my Dad always laugh about Wonder Woman because her plane is invisible but she isn’t,” Tyler explained. “All you see is a sitting woman flying through the air at jet speed! I bet we’d look funny too, standing next to each other floating over the park.”
“Tyler that’s a good one,” laughed Ethan. “But wait…you know an Earth woman with a cloaking device?”
Tyler laughed abruptly, which made some spit spray from his mouth “No...ha, ha, ha! Wonder Woman is a superhero from a comic book!”
Ethan laughed.
While Tyler attempted to explain superheroes, cartoons and comic books, they found themselves over Universal Studios. Tyler pointed. “Right there! Spider Man! That’s a superhero. It’s make believe, you know, pretend.”
“Ah, I remember them from the wall in your bedroom,” Ethan said.
“Yeah, what you saw in my room are posters. Universal Studios is where you can go to see the super heroes in person.”
“So a guy thinks he’s a spider and that makes him a hero? Strange…”
Even though touring the parks was a lot of fun, they had to depart. The bubble began to rise rapidly. The city lights below shrank away, gradually turning into giant glowing blobs. With the full moon on a cloudless night, the outline of the Florida peninsula jumped out at them from the shimmering ocean.
Ethan placed his hand on Tyler’s shoulder, and gave him a reassuring smile. “You’re okay. You are perfectly safe. My mom and dad would only allow me to ride in secure vehicles. Dad made sure the bubble operated in top condition before I left Ganrea. My parents worry about me too. I have faith in them to keep me safe and they trust me to make the right choices. We respect each other. So you are in no danger now. Enjoy the ride!”
The heat dissolved from Tyler’s face and the butterflies in his stomach fluttered away.
The travelers watched the sun rise over Europe and Africa. The corona burst over the horizon and washed the boys in a glow of yellow, orange and gold. They pierced the atmosphere and threaded the belt of satellites.
Tyler felt zero gravity for the first time and loved it! He noticed Ethan’s hair standing on end as if underwater. Tyler reached up to find his hair standing on end too.
“You have to think in three dimensions when traveling in outer space,” Ethan said
“You mean like in 3D movies?”
“Not really. What I mean is, you’re not on a flat surface. You think beyond front, back and side to side. You also think up, down and diagonally. Why don’t you sit back and enjoy the trip to your moon? Get used to the sensation. Once we arrive on the dark side, we’ll be on a ship which will help you get your bearings.”
“I really love traveling by bubble,” Ethan continued with a sigh. “I wish we could go everywhere like this.”
“Me too, Ethan. This is so awesome. Thank you for the great adventure!”
The boys peered back at the Earth getting farther and farther away as the moon grew bigger and bigger in front of them. After some star gazing Tyler asked Ethan how long the trip would take.
“We can’t kick it in to light speed so it’ll take about twenty-five Earth minutes to get into Lunar orbit.”
“I know about the speed of light.”
“You do?”
“Yes, my Dad told me all about it. The speed of light is the time light takes to get from one place to the next. He said it’s the cosmic speed limit.”
“Well, sort of,” Ethan said. “I’ll explain...better yet, I’ll show you when we get to the ship.”