“Throwing in Space”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “It’s coming back!”

I hate going to planets that don’t have normal gravity.

This just happens to be one of those planets. There’s almost no gravity, so we just get to float around all over the place and occasionally bounce back on the ground.

“Hey,” Zach calls, “throw me that kit.”

I nod and wait until my feet are firmly on the ground again before reaching down to unclip the kit from my belt. Just the slight movement of me grabbing the kit is enough to push my feet back off the ground.

I squint across the planet at Zach. He seems so far away.

“Come on, just throw it,” he says impatiently.

“Seriously? You want me to literally throw it?”

He shrugs, bouncing slightly on the planet surface. “Yeah, why not? Oh, come on, it’ll be fun!”

I sigh and roll my eyes. “Okay, okay,” I say with a chuckle. I guess it would be nice to have a bit of fun after being stuck in that little pod with Zach for the past three months.

I take a deep breath before bracing myself against the ground. I know that I’m in for a treat when I throw the kit.

“Hurry up!” Zach shouts at me.

“Geez, calm down!” I yell back.

I adjust my feet position one final time and let myself settle back onto the ground before drawing my arm back slowly. I suck in a deep breath before launching it toward Zach with all my might.

The stupid kit barely moves through the air. Instead, it starts drifting upward.

“No! Don’t let it escape! We need that!” Zach screams, trying to half-waddle, half-swim toward me.

I squat and push off from the surface, but the kit’s already drifted too high. If I jump any higher, I probably won’t return to the planet’s surface and I’ll be stuck floating out in space forever.

Yeah, I really don’t want that.

“Sorry, Zach,” I say, wincing even before he starts yelling at me, because I know that he’s about to yell at me.

He opens his mouth to begin screaming when something above my head catches his eye. I turn to follow his gaze.

A tiny object is floating back toward us. No, wait, it’s the kit!

“Look, it’s coming back!” I say, trying to hurry to the spot it’ll land.

Relief floods over me. I managed to avoid a Zach tantrum–just barely.

The kit gets closer surprisingly fast. Too fast.

I stop in my tracks as the kit catches on fire.

That’s not good.

Final Comments: Space! It’s been a while…

Overall Rating: 🙂