The Accidental Astronaut

by Matthew K Wyers

  Among the Stars

  The Accidental Astronaut

  Matthew K Wyers

  Reflect Light Publishing

  Copyright © 2019 by Matthew K Wyers

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Book Cover Design by ebooklaunch.com

  Created with Vellum

  This work is dedicated to my long time friends:

  Jimmy Dockery and Lara Eide

  Without your encouragement, I never would have taken writing seriously.

  Rest in peace my friends.

  Sign Up For Info on Matthew K Wyers

  To get info on the latest releases, sign up for the newsletter, or follow Matthew’s blog.

  Go to:

  https://www.matthewkwyers.com

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  THANK YOU!

  About the Author

  We are not alone.

  Chapter 1

  “Young man, what type of person do you want to be?” The principal leaned over his desk and peered at the alleged troublemaker.

  Micah Alfero raised his head and made eye contact. “My father was an astronaut and all I ever wanted was to be just like him.”

  “If that’s what you wanted then perhaps you should have stayed in the Junior Star Force program,” replied the principal. “As it is, you’ve chosen to enter our school and apply yourself to academic prep, but you don’t seem to understand that there’s no adventure to be had here. There’ll be no antics from little kids pretending to be heroes and there’s certainly no room for anyone who picks fights.”

  “Sir, I didn’t pick a fight. I was trying to protect Hannelore,” Micah said.

  The principal huffed and straightened his back. “Ms. Allbrooks is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. If you see anyone acting out of line with the code of conduct, then you should report that immediately to a teacher or a supervisor. You do not take matters into your own hands. Do I make myself clear?

  “Yes sir,” replied Micah.

  The principal pointed at Micah. “You come highly recommended by the Star Force commandant, but I don’t care. Anymore episodes like this from you and you’ll be expelled. Is that understood?”

  “Yes sir,” replied Micah.

  “You can go,” the principal sat back down and dismissed the boy with a wave of the hand.

  Micah got up and left the principal’s office.

  Outside waiting for him was Hannelore, the girl who had captured Micah’s 12-year-old heart without knowing it.

  “Hi, I’m Hannelore.” She extended her hand.

  Micah looked at the floor. “Yes, I know.”

  Hannelore cocked her head to the side. “Huh?”

  His eyes widened after hearing his own dumb words. “I mean, hi, I’m Micah. Micah Alfero.”

  “You live down the street, don’t you?” Hannelore said.

  “Yeah, we just moved in last month,” Micah replied.

  “Well, I wanted to thank you.” Hannelore bit her lip.

  Micah smiled. “Oh, it’s no problem. I don’t like bullies and that Travis kid is a real jerk.”

  “Yeah, he is. He’s been picking on me since last year, but he’s never pushed me down like that. I wasn’t sure what to do.” Hannelore smiled back.

  “Maybe he’ll leave you alone now that all the teachers know what’s been going on,” Micah said.

  Hannelore swung her arms. “Um…ya know, what you did was really cool. I mean, I know he kind of flattened you after you punched him, but I still thought it was pretty brave.”

  Micah turned red. “At least I got the first shot in, I guess.”

  Hannelore nodded. “Your only shot.”

  “Yeah, thanks for reminding me,” Micah shrugged.

  “I’m just kidding with you.” Hannelore laughed. “I heard you came from Cape Canaveral.”

  Micah shuffled to his side. “Yeah, my family is originally from here so my mom and I moved back.”

  Hannelore leaned in a little. “Oh, what about your dad?”

  Micah stiffened up. “Oh…he died.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked,” Hannelore said.

  “It’s ok.” Micah looked to the ground again. “Well, I better get going. Mom will wonder why I’m late coming home.”

  “It was nice to meet you Micah. Maybe we should hang out sometime,” Hannelore glanced away.

  “Yeah, that would be great!” Micah’s eyes widened again. “I mean, that’s cool.”

  And hang out they did. Over the next couple of months, Micah and Hannelore became great friends. They told each other their stories, their secrets, and what they wanted to be when they grew up one day.

  One evening, the two pre-teens sat in the park just down the street from their neighborhood.

  A few kids were playing soccer in the distance and there was a nice Summer breeze in the air.

  It was a little quiet though as both Hannelore and Micah had run out of things to say.

  “You never told me what happened to your dad,” Hannelore said. “You don’t have to tell me, but I was just curious.”

  Micah rubbed his knees. “You ever heard of the Star Cruiser?”

  “Yeah, I think everyone has,” replied Hannelore.

  Micah looked away. “My dad helped build it. He spent most of his life in space flying shuttles. After the shuttle missions ended, he went into engineering. He was brilliant, one of the country’s best scientists. He wanted to help mankind fly farther and faster than ever before. Humans would visit another solar system and see what there was to see. I was so proud of him. My dream was to follow in his footsteps, to be an astronaut and travel the stars. When I was ten years old, he got me enrolled in the Junior Star Force program. I was a good student too. I learned how to fly antique spacecraft, advanced astronomy, and physics…nothing was all that hard for me. Everything was going great there for a couple of years.”

  Hannelore crinkled her nose. “I don’t understand. What happened?”

  “The day of the launch came. My mother and I went down to the Cape to watch. It was a clear March day. The stadium near the launch site was full to the brim. Over 100,000 people had bought tickets to see it. And because my dad was on the flight team, we had the best seats in the house.” Micah had a tear in his eye.

  Hannelore frowned. “Your dad was on board?”

  “When the rockets fired, it was beautiful. I had seen launches before, but I was really young then and I didn’t appreciate them. Now, I could see the whole sky fill up with smoke and fire. And sitting on top of it all was my dad, but something went wrong. As the ship neared orbit, they fired up the star drive and something exploded. The crowd gasped and then the entire ship blew up. I don’t remember much else about that day.” Micah sniffled.

  Hannelore’s shoulders sunk. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Within a few weeks, they found some wreckage. They found the bodies of the other pilots. They never found my dad though,”
Micah said.

  Micah didn’t say much more about it, but as the sun was setting on another day with his newfound friend Hannelore, he heard a faint bark.

  Just a few feet behind them stood a mutt of a dog if there ever was such a thing. Long-haired with big eyes, he was gray with a little brown mixed in.

  “Where did you come from you little goob?” Hannelore gleamed.

  The dog barked again and if one could speak ‘canine’ as some believe they can then one would have understood this mutt as saying something like “hello, I’d like to be your friend.”

  Hannelore jumped up to stroke the mutt on his head. “I’ve always liked dogs. They’re goofy and goofy things make life worth living. That’s my philosophy.”

  “Mom never wanted us to have any pets. She’s not allergic so I don’t know why,” Micah said.

  The little mutt crawled up under Micah’s arm and sat for a moment. Then he popped up and licked Micah on the chin only to sit back down and look satisfied with himself.

  “Oh, that’s nasty! You slobbered!” Micah tried to dry the slobber with the tail of his shirt.

  “Ok, I know my dad won’t allow a dog in the house so you take him home and beg your mom to keep him. Sound like a plan?” Hannelore smiled.

  “My mom will never go for that,” Micah rolled his eyes.

  “Trust me. Things might be different now that…” Hannelore shut her mouth.

  “Different now that…what?” Micah scratched the mutt’s back.

  “Just trust me,” Hannelore implored. “Give him a name and take him home. He doesn’t have a collar so we know he doesn’t belong to anyone. This way we’ll get to keep him.”

  “I could call him Jimmy. That was my dad’s name,” Micah stood up to head back home.

  “Yeah, I think that’s nice. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Hannelore bounced to her feet.

  “Will do,” Micah replied.

  “And call me if your mom doesn’t go for it. I’ll beg my dad and maybe he’ll cave.” Hannelore waved.

  Micah ran for home hoping to get the dog to play along.

  It worked just fine as Jimmy, the mutt, followed.

  “Dogs can’t resist chasing a kid running, I swear.” Micah laughed.

  Micah’s mother Elizabeth swung open the door once she saw Micah running for home. “What in the world’s the matter?”

  “Found a dog!” Micah pumped his fist.

  “Oh mercy, you scared me. I thought something bad might have happened,” Elizabeth pursed her lips.

  “No, mom…I just wanted him to…um…follow me home.” Micah’s eyes zeroed in on the ground.

  Elizabeth put her hands on her hips. “Son, you know how I feel about dogs. They’re so dirty and so much trouble and they poop on the carpet for heaven’s sakes. What sort of creature does that and hops off on their merry way?”

  Micah gulped and enacted the plan. “I named him Jimmy…after dad.”

  Elizabeth teared up. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  “I’m sorry mom. I didn’t mean to upset you,” Micah said.

  Elizabeth wiped her eyes. “No, it’s ok. Keep the dog for now. I think it would be nice to hear that name around the house again.”

  “Thanks mom,” Micah said as he slipped her a quick hug and walked inside the house.

  The mutt followed them inside and jumped on the couch the first chance he could get.

  The evening waned and Micah once again laid in a bed that still didn’t quite feel like his own although this time Jimmy, the mutt, slept at the foot.

  “Goodnight Jimmy. We’ll get you a collar in the morning.” Micah dozed off.

  He dreamed the same thing he dreamed almost every night. He remembered all the toughest things that happened after the accident. In his dreams, it was as if he hovered above the events and relived them over and over again.

  Micah saw the graveyard. The time had come for the funeral. There was no corpse to bury, but there was a ceremony just the same. The boy who had just lost his father, stood silently. He gazed on with his brown eyes as an empty casket lowered into the ground.

  He was an only child and, on this day, was the only comfort for his mother.

  She buried her face into his dark brown hair as they both cried profusely. With all the rain though, it was impossible to see the tears.

  They were wearing black as was the custom. They stood overlooking a family plot at the old Garden City Church. Most of the graves were from a hundred years ago or more. The headstones stuck out of the ground like monuments to a bygone era.

  A priest presided over the service and did his best to give the family comfort, but they had none.

  “May the Lord bless you and keep you,” said the priest.

  “Thank you,” said Elizabeth.

  With that, the funeral ended and Micah desperately wanted his life to be normal again, but there was no going back. He had the opportunity to continue with the Junior Star Force program, but didn’t want to be a part of it anymore.

  Micah’s own words echoed through the dream. “Space killed my father. I want nothing to do with it.”

  Every morning, Micah woke up with a fresh remembrance of all the tragedy.

  He and his mother had moved back to Garden City so they could be free of any reminders of the space program at Cape Canaveral. They tried to move on with life, but it was an impossible task.

  Before his father was lost aboard the maiden voyage of the Star Cruiser, Micah was a normal boy with quite an outgoing personality. After that day, however, he was reserved, timid, and cynical.

  But now that Hannelore had come along, things looked brighter.

  Hannelore was nerdy, cute without a doubt, but awkward as any 12-year-old is. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and wore pink braces. One might describe her as a girly girl, but one would be wrong. One might also describe her as a tomboy, but that would be wrong too. She didn’t fit into any molds. She was exuberant about the little pleasures of life, but not consumed with looks and other fleeting things like so many of her peers.

  When Hannelore was born, her mother left not long after. Nobody ever knew where she went. The only thing left was a note saying this sort of life wasn’t for her.

  And maybe that’s why Hannelore was so unusual, because she knew as Micah did that life wasn’t fair and maybe it was better not to be too worried about things that didn’t matter.

  Micah was sullen by contrast and, in a way, the two needed each other. They both had trouble making friends as all the normal people didn’t understand how being so different from everyone else was so natural. The pair roamed around their neighborhood every day with Jimmy, the mutt, always following along.

  And goofy little Jimmy made things that much more bearable.

  In Micah’s mind, he and the dog had something in common. They were both treated harshly by the world, abandoned in their own unique way. That and Micah felt a little safer in a strange bed with a good mutt by his side.

  Garden City was a nice home for them. It was large, but had lots of friendly people. The city was ancient, but modern in other ways. There were a few skyscrapers, but most of the homes and buildings were only two of three stories tall. The streets were busy, but many people rode bicycles wherever they went. A large river, called the Socrates, flowed through the city and fed thousands of trees and flowering bushes. Thus, the city was well named after the seemingly never-ending garden that surrounded it.

  At night, the lights over the city weren’t too bright and so one could see a handful of stars. This was unusual for a large city as so many places are so well lit up that the heavens have a tough time shining through.

  Micah didn’t notice all that as much as others, however. Looking at the stars wasn’t something he did any longer.

  Hannelore was a different story. “Do you think we’re alone in the universe?” she said to Micah one night as the sun set and the ‘evening star’ which is actually the planet Venus peaked high above the park where they finished m
ost days together.

  “I don’t think I care anymore,” Micah said. “I used to think about things like that, but I just don’t see that it matters anymore.”

  “Well, why would you say that?” Hannelore offered a side-eye.

  “We’re stuck on Earth and can’t travel to the stars. We can’t see what or who might be there. So does it really matter?” Micah dipped his head, disappointed in his own outlook.

  “Do you want to believe that?” Hannelore frowned.

  Micah looked over at her. “Doesn’t matter what I want.”

  Hannelore stiffened her shoulders and stood up. “Well, it’s getting late and dad is going to worry.”

  “Yeah, I guess we better go,” replied Micah.

  Just then a small rock came flying in and hit Micah in between the shoulders. “What’s the hurry losers?”

  “Oh no, it’s Travis. Haven’t seen him in forever.” Hannelore clammed up.

  Micah stood up and now with a sore spot on his back. “What do you want?”

  “I’m here to get even you little jerk. You cost me an entire Summer in alternative school! I should have been hanging out with my friends, but no and it’s your fault.” Travis walked over to Micah and shoved him down.

  Micah hit the grown with a thud.

  “Leave him alone!” Hannelore teared up.

  Travis was a good eleven inches taller than Micah anyway as he was unusually large for his age and had already been held back a year due to poor performance at that. Now, he towered over Micah as he lay on the ground.