Hello, and welcome to Drabbletober. This is episode 12, for Saturday the twelfth of October 2024.
We're Adults Now
by Elizabeth Guilt
We were around ten, I guess. The summer was hot, bakingly hot, and no-one noticed us building a spaceship behind the greenhouse. We used old plywood, the gears from Emily's bike, and a car battery, and blasted off for the Moon.
We were back in time for tea, of course.
Years later, worn by a messy divorce, I bumped into Emily. We went for a drink, then another. She remembered!
"Want to build another spaceship?" I asked. "Revisit the Moon?"
She shook her head. "We're adults, now."
I nodded, stupid with disappointment.
She smiled. "This time, let's aim for Mars."
Did you build a spaceship when you were little? We did. And we dug a treasure mine in the front garden, and figured out a machine for talking to aliens.
I think we could all do with a little more of that energy in our adult lives.