It’s morning. The atmosphere is dark and calm. My head feels a little heavy from our crater party last night. The vodka powder Kevin snuck onto the ship affected us in a way nobody was prepared for; however, it’s nothing a little freeze-dried coffee can’t fix.
Today is a pretty big day for us. We got word yesterday from NASA that the moon in which we landed on appears to have enough gravity on the other side for us to experiment with flame. I’ve decided to skip air yoga today on the off-chance I projectile vomit. (That’s a literal statement considering there’s nowhere for the vomit to go.) So instead, I shake Kevin awake and we both go into the eating area to make a little breakfast and discuss the plan for today.
Once we are fed and dressed, Kevin and I head out to the dark side of the moon. The journey takes about two hours and by that time, I am more than ready for a nap. Unfortunately, we have things to do and there is never any time for napping. We unload our backpacks and begin to set up a camp. Kevin makes a pile of shining moon dust and places the fire starter on top. This fire starter, as tested many times in the labs back home, should create an oxygen-like force field around itself and bury into the dust. Like a valley between two mountains, it will form its own atmosphere. Kevin and I look at each other, take a breath, and then I pull the tab. A cloud of greyish white smoke forms and then slowly sparks form until we are staring at a full-blown, flaming fire. Mission: accomplished.
Now, we celebrate. Kevin takes some of the shining mood dust, purifies it, and then liquefies it. Liquid moon dust, once drunken, has a very similar effect to the body as that of marijuana. We press the oxygen expanding button on our suits which allows us to take our helmets off and still be able to breathe for up to three hours. Kevin and I each drink a cup of moon dust and in no time at all we sink into our chairs and let our bodies enter a state of complete relaxation. About twenty minutes later, I take out the skewers and graham crackers and Kevin pulls out the marshmallows and chocolate bars. We begin to roast the marshmallows. Kevin likes his slightly golden brown around the edges while I stick my marshmallow deep into the flame until it is burnt to a crisp. While we sit there stuffing our mouths with the all chocolatey goodness of our s’mores, we wonder what’s going on back on Earth. We pity those that will never get the chance to make s’mores on the moon.
After a few hours, we finish the rest of the liquid moon dust, put our helmets back on, and start to pack up camp. Once we arrive back at the ship, both Kevin and I still feel the effects of our highs. So, we do what any sensible rocket scientist would do: moon bounce. I deflate the weights on my suit and before I know it I’m floating up into outer space. When I feel like I’ve gone far enough, I quickly fill the weight back up and drop down. My stomach lifts into my throat and I start laughing like a child. I watch Kevin do the same thing and the two of us inflate and deflate our weights, jumping up and down on the moon, all the while allowing ourselves to laugh uncontrollably.
After we head in and eat a lovely dinner of crispy spaghetti with powdered sauce and dried meatballs, we go straight to bed. Neither of us can keep our eyes open. Plus, NASA gave us the okay to head out closer the sun tomorrow for more tests. I hope Kevin brought his bathing suit.
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