Maggie woke up with a start. It was quiet and dark in her room so she laid still, wondering what had woken her. A noise occurred, making her sit up to determine where it originated. It came again and it was coming from the hallway. Sheclimbed out of her crib, landing on her bedroom floor with a thump. She began crawling to the door and pulled herself up on her feet. to reach the door handle
Bracing against the wall, she peeked around the door to see the family pets, Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II in the hallway. They were sitting in front of something about twice as big as the two of them combined and shining dimly in the moonlight.
She grinned and pushed the door wide open, stumbling out into the hallway. They looked at her and began wagging their tails excitedly.
"Would you like to come visit space with us?" Santa's Little Helper asked. Maggie clapped her hands and giggled gleefully. Snowball licked her paw then stepped on a press pad that was lying next to the spaceship. A door on the ship slid up and a ramp rolled out to the ground.
Maggie crawled aboard the ship and into the backseat. She buckled herself behind the driver's seat as Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II leaped in as well. Santa's Little Helper pressed a button on the dashboard, closing the door and buckling himself in. He then barked into a microphone and pressed a couple more buttons. Maggie clapped as she felt the ship lift into the air. It turned in midair, facing the stairs and descending them. Snowball II pressed a button on the dashboard to shoot out a beam, which turned the knob to open the front door. The ship glided out into the front yard and the door closed behind them as if to keep the warm air in.
"What would you like to see first?" Santa's Little Helper asked Maggie.
She clapped and babbled.
"The Mini-Moon? OK!" Santa's Little Helper turned back around and barked into a microphone. The ship hummed for a moment, gathering energy to blast off. A large projection of numbers appeared on the ceiling, counting down.
5
4
3
2
1
Before shooting off into the sky!
Maggie gripped her arm rests as the ship sped through the layers of the atmosphere. Finally, the ship stilled and slowed, floating in space. Snowball II pressed some buttons to make the interior cover panel on the roof of the ship slid back to reveal a screen. She pressed another to make the ship turn slowly 360 degrees. Maggie stared in awe at the sight of the Earth, the Moon, and the vast emptiness that was space.
Snowball II turned the engines back on and began navigating to the small asteroid temporarily orbiting the earth. She carefully flew around the smaller asteroids around 2024 PT5, letting Maggie get a good look at the 33-foot-long asteroid and the earth far, far below.
After that, they went to visit the Moon. They landed by the original space landing site so Maggie could take a picture of Buzz Aldrin's footprint and a picture of the Earth. They re-boarded and after flying out so Snowball II could point out Mercury and Venus, headed back to earth and home.
"Brace yourself." Maggie sucked in acknowledgement, watching with big eyes as the Earth loomed up at them, the white clouds dispersing to reveal the blues and browns of continents and oceans. They continued to descend, finally slowing as they came to the city of Springfield. Snowball II piloted the ship through the streets then into the Simpson's yard and front door.
Santa's Little Helper used the beam to open the front door again and they slowly flew up the stairs and landed on the floor. The door reopened and Maggie unbuckled her seat belt and yawned. She crawled out of the ship, giving the family pets a huge then crawled back to her room and crib. Once she was in her crib, she tucked herself in and drifted off to sleep.