the adventures of clay ball

 

 

 

On July 20, 1969, my school’s 3rd grade class took their annual intergalactic summer field trip to the Earth’s moon.  I was so excited!  It was my first big  trip away from home!

 

We explored the moon for many hours & had a little picnic. Suddenly, I found an amazing moon rock  & then another, & another!  I couldn’t believe it…I had never seen rocks quite like these…

 

Finally, I had a pile of moon rocks I could barely lug back to our space bus…but when I arrived back to where the bus was,

 

 

 

 

 

 

…all I saw were the tracks the bus had left behind!  Somehow the whole 3rd grade had left for home without me!!!

 

At first, I was not too worried, because I was sure my Mom would somehow come  and find me.  She always did that, no matter where I wandered! So I settled down on a little rock & watched the sky for my mother.

 

Instead, what I saw was…

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

I wasn’t sure what it was!  I knew it was NOT Mom in her trusty space kayak!

 

The space craft landed & out walked…first one and then two space aliens! I was breathless…I could see my own tiny reflection in the space alien’s shiny face…

 

But all of the sudden, after a bustle of activity…

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

One of the space aliens gave me a friendly wave & said, “Hi there, little one!”

 

“Did you get separated from your Mom?”

 

I nodded as tears began to well up from somewhere deep inside.

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 

The alien looked kindly at me & said, “ Follow in my footsteps, little one, & we’ll help you find your Mom after we finish our mission here, okay?” 

 

I nodded.  

 

It was only then that I noticed on the leg of their space craft were written the words, “We came in peace for all mankind,” and I believed it was true.

 

After their moon mission was complete, the aliens introduced themselves as the astronauts from Apollo 11, Mr. Buzz Aldrin & Mr. Neil Armstrong.   These were the  very first & very kind beings  I met from the beautiful planet Earth…

 

 

Just like me, the astronauts really did have a love of those moon rocks!  They couldn’t stop collecting them, either.  On return into their space craft, carrying a giant case filled with  moon rocks, the astronauts accidentally broke the circuit breaker of their craft.  At first, we thought we were all going to have to wait for Mom to rescue us, but then by using a special tool they called the felt-tip pen, they were able to fix it…

 

After I explained to Mr. Aldrin & Mr. Armstrong about the Intergalactic  Tunnel shortcut our bus had taken, they nodded decisively and said:  “Okay, no problem, we have just enough time to make it! ”

 

The flight took about  3-1/2 hours.

 

 When we arrived close to my beautiful, glowing, aquamarine little planet, those kind astronauts strapped me securely into a miniature red & white parachute (which they had skillfully sewn during our flight, using scraps of material from their parachute repair kit)…

 

 
 
 

 

 

 …& we waved our good-byes.

 

 Then, down I gently floated, plopping softly into the cool, familiar waters of my home.  

 

Everybody on my planet knows how to swim from birth, so they all swam out to give me  a splashy welcome back home!

 

That evening, we celebrated late into the night, with the red & white parachute dancing above us in the summer winds.  

 

My dear parents, grandparents, & all the other elders sang a beautiful & powerful ancient melody, wishing for the safety of those kind astronauts, & all the other great & small beings on their planet…

 

 

Love rocks the stars!

 

 

love,

 

Clay Ball 

 

 

These photos are courtesy of NASA–thank you NASA!