A Trip of a Lifetime Level four exemplar short story ! Once upon a time there was a girl named Melanie.

She was a smart and determined young lady. She had dreamed and dreamed for her whole life about going to space and nally she was going to get to do it! Her dream had started when she was just 7 years old and her father had shown her what the stars looked like through a telescope. ! That one there is Sirius, the star shaped like a dog, and that one over there is the north star, the brightest star in the sky, her father told her. ! Wow, Melanie replied. I can"t believe it! ! One day when she was much older she nally had her opportunity. She had been studying her whole life about every aspect of space including asteroids, meteors, the sun, the planets and, most importantly, the moon. Today was the day that she was going to be able to nally go into space. She was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She felt like she had forgotten something very important when packing because of her excitement. She went through her list; plenty of clothes, her hairbrush, shower supplies, pictures of home, and a book were all packed. She realized right as she was walking out the door that the thing she had forgotten was her toothbrush and she ran back to get it at the last minute. ! After a short drive over to the place where her shuttle would be taking off, she met up with the other people who would be going with her. There were 6 of them heading up today, all planning on stepping foot on the moon. This was, after all, a very expensive trip for all of them. They were the rst group of people who could pay to be taken into space. ! The leader of this trip was Mark Garneau, an experienced man who had been into space many times. The other ve people were all rst timers. There was the couple Susie and Andrew, with their daughter Sarah, as well as Ryan, and Melanie. Melanie had met Ryan only 6 months ago when she had rst been put in space training. Ever since then, she was hopelessly in love with him. He didn"t know that of course. She had never been one to tell people when she really truly cared about them. She only hoped that one day he may feel the same. ! As a group they all walked over towards their shuttle to prepare for their departure. Every news group in the country was there to see them take off. It was a monumental moment. Questions were ying their way as they walked towards their shuttle, but they ignored them and climbed into the shuttle, waiting for lift off. ! Finally, the moment came for departure and it was overwhelming for all of them. Even after all their space training, nothing could prepare them for this moment. They knew they had a long journey ahead of them. It would take about three days for them to make it to the moon. ! During their time onboard, they would spend their days reading and chatting amongst themselves. Melanie was excited to have a chance to talk to Ryan. She found out many new things about him. The only downside to her traveling experience, was that she kept forgetting that there was no gravity. It was such a strange feeling. Mark Garneau constantly had to remind her to attach her tray to herself while she was eating and to make sure she was strapped onto something when she was sleeping.

! After what felt like years to Melanie, they could nally see the mood up close. It had giant craters on it which Mark said were from meteors hitting it over the years. Melanie was so excited to nally be living her dream, she could hardly wait. She started to prepare herself for the moment she had been waiting for as soon as she saw the moon. She put on her space suit as quick as she could, so she know she would be ready when they landed. Everyone else followed her lead as they knew it was almost time. ! After waiting for landing and for the go ahead from Mark, it was nally the moment. Mark climbed down the steps rst and assisted the rest of the passengers in doing the same. The feeling was surreal, and Melanie knew she did not have a long time to enjoy it. All the passengers quickly began hopping around the moon, and enjoying the moment while it lasted. ! That was the moment when it happened. Something had gone wrong with Ryan"s helmet and the air from space was getting inside. Everyone looked at each other, in utter shock as they had been told that accidents were extremely rare. Mark was quick to act, and hurried over to Ryan, rushing him back to the space shuttle. He knew that he only had about 30 seconds before the real damage would start. ! The rest of the passengers quickly followed Mark back to the shuttle, hoping that they could help in some way. Once back inside, they noticed that Ryan had gone unconscious. Melanie started to panic. She was so worried that he wouldn"t make it and she would never be able to tell him how she felt. After many nervous hours, Mark told them that Ryan was stable. Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief. ! Mark then got on the radio and contacted their support team back home, informing them of the situation and telling them that they would be coming back early. Everyone was so shocked by what had happened that they did not know what to do with themselves. As Mark prepared them to head back to Earth, Melanie went to visit Ryan. ! He wasn"t looking too good, but he was awake. She decided then and there that she was going to tell him how she felt. ! I.... I uh... I"ve been wanting to tell you something, Melanie said. ! What is it? Ryan asked. ! I"ve... I... I think I"m in love with you, she said cautiously. All he did was smile, and just from that smile she knew that he had known all along. ! I"m so glad you nally said so. I feel the same way, he replied. Melanie could not contain her excitement. She ran over and gave him a big bear hug. ! I"m so glad you didn"t die today, she mumbled. ! Me too, he chuckled. After that, they spent the rest of their journey home together. Ryan slowly began to feel better and by the time they were close to Earth, he was doing just as well as the rest of the crew. Soon thereafter they splashed into the ocean, and awaited their diving team who were going to come and get them. ! Melanie had never been so happy to be on Earth. This trip had made her so scared and she never wanted to go back. Once the diving team got them all out, they travelled back to their ship and sailed home. This was the rst and last time Melanie would ever travel to space. Once the news about what had happened in space was common knowledge, nobody but highly trained astronauts ever travelled into space again.