An alarm sounds around all around him as a result of the button he pushed in just now.  It sends out a special signal some refer to as a red alert.  Now, Nathaniel sits back in the hopes someone hears his distress signal soon.

      "Great, what do I do now?" He asks.

      Nathaniel closes his eyes as he braces for a possible impact. He is afraid, but not sure what else to do.

      Chole refuses to move her hands off her face.  Her friend Sabrina comes over and can tell something has happened. She is sure of it. Why else is her best friend in such a bad shape?

     "Chole, calm down!"

     "I -I c-can not do it."

      "Goodness, you are my best friend, so you either tell me, or I will stand here until you do." She has her hands on her hips.

     Chole just continues to sob.

      Sabrina hugs her. She figures that is the best she can do for her.

           "Sabrina, it is just awful. Nathaniel is up there stranded somewhere in space." 

          "Oh, no!" Sabrina gasps.

          Sabrina thinks poor Chole. She sits with her for a while and hands her a glass of tea. She sure hopes the lad gets help soon.  She shudders to think what might happen to him if not.

         The signal sent out draws the attention of someone below.  It is a man out fishing with his son. He can tell it is a distress signal thanks to all his former days in the army.  He drops his fishing pole and runs to the nearest tower. He presses the emergency intercom button.

         "Yes, this is tower 20 signing in I just dedicated a red alert!  It is from a few feet above the ground and by the looks of it is only a manner of time before the rocket crashes.  So, send help, or I am going to do something rash!" 

         The man gets no answer. He drops the button.  He runs back to the beach area.  He uses his pocket knife to make strips out of an old kite. He attaches them to a pole then dashes to the end of the pier.  His son drops the fishing pole he holds and climbs into a fishing boat.

        Now, the man's son turns the boat on and lets his father attach the flags to the boat.  As the man and his son work together they pray harder than they have in years.  They can only hope the rocket ship slows down soon and lands safely on the ship.  Otherwise, what else are they to do?

        Nathaniel opens his eyes and finds the reserve tank is still half full. He smiles and presses the button to let the spaceship know it is still in slightly good hands despite his panic attack moments ago.

          Find out more in Chapter 3

          bye, bye little owlets!

     -Summer out!

This chapter was originally published on October 13, 2020, and edits made to the chapter on May 11, 2021.