3. Unfortunate Happenings

 “Enter.”

   Catherine walked into Joseph’s office. It was

massive. There were portraits of famous astronauts such as Neil Armstrong hung

on the walls. The floor had a glacial texture. There were millions of mini

rocket ornaments laid out in every possible space.

   “You wanted to see me Catherine?” Joseph asked.

“Yes sir, as a matter of fact I do.” “Sit,” Joseph said, beckoning Catherine to

a seat, very much similar to his. This chair was large, comfortable and had

many pictures of space shuttles printed on it, whereas Joseph’s chair had only

one space shuttle printed on it. Catherine sat. “Tea?” “No sir,” Catherine

said, “Thanks.”

   “What was it you wanted to ask me dear?”

   “Well sir… Flister had made note that you had

not told us the dates of our training sessions sir.”

   “Yes, well I am sorry,” Joseph said, “Every

Saturday at twelve noon.”

   “Thank you very much sir I shall tell the others,

but sir would you mind telling me the reason to why we, the chosen astronauts

were chosen.”

    “Yes, yes Catherine I shall tell you and

only you. Do you promise to keep it a secret?”

   “Yes, sir I will.”

   “Great. I chose you and David because the two of

you are seemingly good at everything,” Joseph said. Catherine found herself

blushing. Joseph continued, “Florence was chosen for her hidden talent at

driving.” “How do you know that sir?” Catherine asked. “Your friend has been

learning to drive space ships for years but unfortunately she needed to stop

her course because of some family issue. It’s not like I blame her or

anything.”

   Catherine smiled along with Joseph. And then he

proceeded, “William was chosen for his exclusive poem writing skills.” “How

would writing poems help us on our trip?” Catherine asked. “Well, everything

has its own advantages,” Joseph replied. “Flister and James were chosen for

their great strength and swimming skills.”

   “Swimming?”

   “Yes... Well holding their breath. You know, for

a long time.”

   “Oh. I suppose that is necessary.”

   “It very well is. Olivia was added for her great

sense of humour. Journeys would not be fun without jokes would it?”

   “Oh no. Not at all,” Catherine laughed. “But

what about Violet and Egnus?”

   “Egnus was obviously chosen for his driving

skills and Violet was chosen for her knowledge in how-to do-good researching,”

Joseph finished.

   “Gosh sir you sure know how to choose well.

Anyways I had better be going. Thanks for your time sir.”

   “No problem Catherine. Good luck.”

   Catherine left the office and started to look

for her friends in order to convey the dates of the training sessions.

Very soon Catherine found Olivia, William, Florence and David sitting on the

grass in the centre courtyard. “Hi Cathy!” Olivia said, “What’ s the news?” “Hi

Olivia. Do you mind letting the other chosen astronauts know that the training

sessions are held every Saturday at noon?” Catherine asked looking rather

exhausted. “Yes, I will go tell them right now,” said Olivia getting up.

“Great. Thanks.” Catherine sat with her friends. “Gosh Cathy you look

exhausted. Why did you take so long? Did anything happen? What’s wrong?” David

asked hurriedly. “Let the girl relax,” Florence remarked, taking Catherine’s

arm. “You’re just saying that because you are a girl,” William said. Catherine

smiled. “Actually, Florence is right. Do you mind if I tell you tomorrow?”

   The next day Catherine kept her friends in track

of all the news at breakfast.

   “So, you are keeping a big secret from us?”

William asked. “Yeah. I am sorry but I just have to.” David hugged Catherine.

“It is okay. I am sure that everyone keeps a secret anyway,” Florence said

reassuringly. “You lot are the best friends I have ever had,” Catherine

whispered. “Oh, we know that!” David laughed. “And to think. Our first training

session is in three days’ time,” William said, “I wonder how the others are

doing.” “I suppose they are doing fine… If that was a question,” Florence said.

“No, it wasn’t, but thank you,” William replied. Everyone laughed. Catherine

could feel David hugging her even tighter. They had a big adventure coming up

ahead.

   Saturday came soon. Everyone was exited. “I hope

all goes well,” David said. But unfortunately, David’s wish did not last long.

At three o’clock in the afternoon William, Catherine and David found themselves

on bed in the hospital wing. There had been an explosion with the ARED

(Advanced Resistive Exercise Device) and many were injured. David was injured

the most. The only ones who had managed to skip past this explosion were James

and Florence. David, Catherine and William’s beds were next to each other. The

news of the explosion had spread across the whole department and there were

many visitors in the hospital wing much to Madam Hilda’s dislike. Madam Hilda

was the department’s nurse. “Out of here you lot now!” she yelled, “Only one

visitor per person. Not TEN!” Soon the wing cleared out.

   “You three alright?” Florence asked her three

friends. She was extremely worried. Many would say that she was ill too

considering the way she looked. “Yes, we are fine Florence. Go rest. You have

been shocked to the bones in fact-” Catherine started. “In fact, you look worse

than us,” William finished. “Cathy is right. “You were lucky so be happy about

it. Go rest,” David said.

   It took a week and four days for the patients to

heal. And soon everyone was back to normal. But not everything.

   “When you were in the hospital wing, Joseph had

a total fit. He demanded a complete checking done on the machines and it was

discovered that someone had been meddling with the cords. It is all fixed now,”

Florence said. “Great,” William replied. The quadruple was in the common room

chatting away. “I hope the rest of the training sessions go on fine,” Catherine

said, “That is all I am hoping for.” Everyone agreed to that. Without proper

training they would not be able to proceed on the journey.

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