Two weeks later, Nathaniel notices something is off. The rocket is shifting more than it should be at the moment. It sways far to the left, then to the right. He checks the lights and realizes one of the bulbs is burnt out. He changes the bulb. There he thought, that takes care of the lighting in here. He notices the temperature inside the hatch changes. Strange, that should not be happening.

       Before he can determine what is wrong, the warning alarm goes off and a blue light above his head blinks.  "Great, what else is new?" He asked. He knew it was silly to talk to himself. 

    He tries the intercom system but only hears static this time.  He feels his arm burn. What? He looks and sees a wire has come loose.  Oh, no, he thought. Things just got worse.

        Chole hears the intercom and listens. Static, that is odd. Something is not right.  Sabrina was on a date with Miles.  I better figure out what it is, she thought. I must find a way to help him. 

         She pulls the plug out on her end. Then, she puts on a pair of gloves and gets some tools. "Now, to see if I can repair this thing on my end".  She worked hard holding a flashlight in one hand and a pair of pliers in the other hand. She fixed it on her end. Smiling as she plugged it back in relieved there were no sparks. So, far, so good, she thought.

           Nathaniel hears the static clear and breathes a sigh of relief. Maybe I can make contact before the rocket pummels to the earth.

  "Nathaniel, are you there?" Chole says.

    "Coming in loud and clear. Chole, are you alright?"  Nathaniel responds.

    "Yes, but what about you?" She asks.

   "The alarm keeps going off, the temperature has dropped, and there is a loose wire. Other than that everything is just peachy," He retorts. Chole gasps. "Nathaniel check the manual to see if it says anything about a lever."  She responds. Nathaniel pulls out the manual inside the spacecraft and skims it over. He sees instructions that mention a lever. How did she know?

   "Chole you are genius!" He shouts. Chole smiles. "I do not know about that now just get home safe." She says. "I will try, " Nathaniel tells her. He knows there are no guarantees in life let alone in landing the rocket. It appears to be malfunctioning for some reason.

       Nathaniel pulls the lever. The rocket stops swaying. At least that is over, he thought. He removes the seatbelt and glances out the window.  Oh, #$%^** he thought, the rocket is about to fall.  He returns to the seat, puts the seatbelt back on, slams his hand on the blue button, and braces for impact. He closes his eyes as he does with thoughts of a certain blonde beauty in his mind.

        Chole hears the rocket make a strange sound. Whatever it is she thought can't be right. She runs into the tunnel that leads to the entrance of the safeguard. It is an underground volt her father built a few years ago before he retired as Mayor and passed away. She pulled the door shut, then rotated the wheel twice to the left, three times to the right, and it stopped. She sat on a chair and read a few books.  Most of them were outdated, but it gave her something to do while she waited- to hear Nathaniel survived the crash.

      Nathaniel lost consciousness as the rocket fell harder and faster toward the ground at a high speed. A boy and his girlfriend out fishing jumped out of the boat as it was headed right at them. The two were drenched from the water, but alive.  Another boat saw what happened and helped the girl and boy. 

       The spaceship kept going until it hit the surface of the water.  Then it stopped. The hatch popped up and Nathaniel's unconscious body floated out into the ocean.

        An old man was walking his dog and saw the crash. He saw the boy in the water. "Rover fetch," The man calls to his dog. The dog ran to the young man and pulled him away from the crash site. He helped Nathaniel back to the shore. His owner checked for a pulse.  "He still has life in him yet, Rover."  The man says. He smiles. He thought the young man is blessed to be alive.

     Find out more in Chapter 7.

Until then, 

bye-bye,

little owlets!

Summer out!