The Loopy Life of Lucy: Flying with Hubble.

Chapter Eleven: The Eagle

Lucy wakes to her room still filled with darkness. It is eerily quiet. She listens for the banging noise that she hopes woke her from her deep sleep. She gets out of bed, puts on her blue oversized cardigan, and leans her ear up against her bedroom door. She stands there for a few moments, longing for a sign that something is happening in the laundry. She lets out a big exhale of disappointment and turns to get back into bed.

Suddenly, she is momentarily blinded by a light whizzing past her window. Lucy rubs her eyes and stumbles over to look out. There is nothing much of interest outside, a few parked cars and a single street lamp lighting up the shadows. Lucy looks at the time shining from her alarm clock, shrugs, and gets back into bed.

Over an hour of staring at the ceiling gives way to heavy eyes. Finally. Her last blink is interrupted by a sharp burst of light bursting through her window yet again. Lucy scrambles up and runs to look out. She catches the light fading away, high up into the night sky. What on earth was that!? Her brain ticks. “It couldn’t be…?”

She grabs her drawing of Hubble off her desk and turns it over. She finds a pen in one of the draws, and takes both items over to her alarm clock. She writes down 1.29am - this was when she saw the first flash of light. It’s now 3.06am…. that’s um…. Lucy does her best to work out how many minutes between each flash of light. “97 minutes! 97 minutes!” Excitement starts to gently boil up inside of her.

Lucy feels around under her bed, searching for one of the Hubble books that fell off her bedside table. She finds one, and flips the pages over to the index. Frantically moving her finger down the list, she finds ‘Earth Orbit’. Page 54. “Hubble orbits our planet in around 97 minutes.... OMG…. If you are looking at the right spot, at the right time, you may even see it with the naked eye,” Lucy reads to herself. She continues, “But this can be difficult at times. Your best bet is to use a telescope and aim it just past the expectant Hubble.” Lucy is confused. How can it shine light into my bedroom? Wait, I’ve got it. It’s calling me back! Her 11-year-old imagination slowly eclipses the science that challenges her beliefs; the impossibility of Hubble shining a light through her window does not matter.

Lucy drops the book and races downstairs to the laundry. Without a hint of doubt, she opens the back door and leaps into the force that takes her willingly back to space, and back to her Hubble.

Lucy finds herself flying in Orbit, but this time she is not alone. Gleaming magnificently in front of her is Hubble, perched upon a large white space shuttle with the name ENDEAVOUR written on the side. The one mum told me about! Lucy tries to push herself closer to the orbiting spaceship. She can see an astronaut, in a bright white bulky suit and backpack, attached to a long white arm that appears to be dancing around Hubble. She tries to yell out, and then remembers nothing can hear her.

Lucy sees a second astronaut; they look all tangled up with tethers keeping a tight hold on them. She remembers reading about how complicated the tethering system is, for it has to be to stop the astronauts from floating away into oblivion! Lucy waves out, but they don’t see her. She glides closer and closer to Hubble, until she can see its side double doors wide open. The astronauts are putting things in there. First is something for them to put their feet into to secure them while they work. It’s not yellow like the handrails, it’s silver and white and is shaped like a turtle with a long neck! Next, they appear to be packing Hubble some lunch! Two silver lunchbox sized instruments go into Hubble’s belly. I wonder when they are going to give it the new glasses like mum said.

It’s here, witnessing this, that Lucy finally understands how she has come to be in space with Hubble. The stories, Mum’s stories. Her words power the portal! I know what they are doing because Mum told me in her story last night! It seems so obvious to Lucy now; three nights, three stories, three trips to space. She has super powers! Lucy wonders if she got them from the Lab at the university. So many cool super heroes got their powers via science experiments. I can’t believe my Mum is one of them! Maybe she got bitten by a toxic spider or got stuck in a magnetic space force super experiment machine….

Lucy’s imaginative conclusions are interrupted when she notices something amiss with Hubble. It only has one wing. What have they done to it? Time appears to speed up around Lucy, she sees the astronauts retreat back to the safety of their space shuttle. No sooner are they inside, does Lucy see the two new astronauts emerge from the airlock. They too are wearing big white suits with square backpacks. They seem just as concerned as Lucy is about the fact that Hubble is missing a limb!

Soon, her attention is drawn to the astronaut now attached to the long arm. They are being moved high above Hubble, holding on to the missing solar array wing. To Lucy’s amazement, they let it go like an eagle being freed into the wild. It hovers gently in space, over the earth, right above the Red Sea. Lucy gasps in fright as the ENDEAVOUR pushes away slightly using its jets, once and then twice. The exhaust from the spaceship hits the array and gently pushes it in Lucy’s direction. The majestic eagle brushes over the top of her head, and she closes her eyes. She knows that when she opens them, she will be back home. So, she doesn’t. Just for a short time longer, she stays in the darkness of space, with Hubble and the ENDEAVOUR.

Details

The Loopy Life of Lucy: Flying with Hubble.

Middle Grade Fiction 8-12 Years

Sample Chapter 1,034 words (Full Manuscript 18,863 words).

Author C.V Aramakutu

Synopsis.

In small town Abeltown, 11-year-old LUCY has her picture-perfect life thrust into chaos, discovering her MUM – an astronomer, has the power to open a hidden portal by telling stories! The first nightmare begins with a tale about space junk, ending with a donk on the head from an orbiting space hammer!

From confident to confused, Lucy’s spirit wilts when she learns of a problem with her eyesight. Believing she is going blind, she seeks comfort in her mother’s stories. A history lesson about the creation of the Hubble Telescope opens the portal once more. Again, she finds herself in the darkness; this time not alone, but with Hubble.

Without adding crazy to her list of problems, Lucy must find a way to tell her Mum about the Superpowers. Attempt after attempt fail miserably, and Lucy is forced to stop believing, leaving her childish imagination locked behind the deserted portal. She declares, no more stories.

Lucy’s feelings begin to change when a broken wrist puts her on bed rest, and boredom forces her to read the space books that surround her. Before long, her passion is reignited. A trip to her mother’s work - Reddington University, becomes a mission to discover how her mum obtained Superpowers.

When her Mum is devastated about a failed scientific theory, Lucy knows she must help her believe again! Fearless, she requests one more story to open the portal, and execute a brilliant plan to bring back proof - a yellow handrail straight from Hubble’s belly! But, the proof is condemned; Lucy is accused of stealing the rail from Reddington. That is until, her mother spots an unmistakable marking on the handrail, and her curiosity outplays her logical adult mind.

Together they travel through the portal, beyond the Milky Way. They make a remarkable discovery: A three-sunned extra-terrestrial planet – her mum’s theory was right! Tumbling through galactic worm holes, they crash back down to earth. For Lucy, an experience to cherish; she had finally exposed the Superpowers. For her mum, it was simply a magnificent dream.

A bit extra....

It’s mad really. To resign from a perfectly reliable job and spend your days trying to write your way to success. But, it’s also mad staring at the office computer screen, with your colleagues knowing very well, that you are off on another adventure with the literacy character that relentlessly stalks your thoughts!

11-year old Lucy from Abeltown, is the main star of the manuscript you have before you. The Loopy Life of Lucy: Flying with Hubble (18,850 words), is a magical tale that focuses on the relationship Lucy has with her mother- a great astronomer and holder of undiscovered superpowers. When things turn bad for Lucy, it’s her mother’s stories that create the magic to turn things around.

This book is targeted at Middle Grade children, confident readers 8-12 years. I have carefully blended scientific fact with fantasy to ensure, that while the children are engaged through magic, they are also learning some history about space advancement and exploration. My goal is to continue this theme through the Loopy Lucy Series in space, and beyond into contrasting earth biomes – new series with new main characters.

A little about me…The year 2016 was when my passion for writing could not stay restrained. This was the year I completed my Graduate Diploma in Media studies at Massey University New Zealand; the perfect study to teach me the ins and outs of such an exciting, yet challenging field. I received 5 excellence awards and was encouraged to find my way into print. I am a monthly contributor for The Natural Parent magazine - this has improved my confidence enormously. I have worked as support staff in schools while writing, listening to children and letting them teach me about how they learn. My own three children have also been a great inspiration. I know these factors have influenced my writing immensely, and I would love to share my published books in the schools I know and love, and beyond.

I thank you.