On the Moon Taxi
"Take me to the moon," I said. I clutched my backpack tightly as the driver just stared at me.He was in his mid-forties, no doubt about that. He had a shaved face with about three pockmarks on his left cheek. His eyes bore into mine. And not only was it creepy because his eyes were a topaz yellow...it was because he had three eyes.
"Say what?" he growled.
"The moon, " I gulped. He stared again like he was ready to blast me with his plasma gun (I know all aliens have one, even if others don't believe me).
I tried to gather up a little more courage. "Well...get on with it!"
The guy simply mumbled and started the engine.
"Humans," he said. "Once their planet's gone, they take all the other ones."
"The moon isn't a planet," my best friend, Matt Grovesky said indignantly. His brown hair was spikier than usual today. "It's a satellite."
The driver just growled. The Moon Taxi started to ascend higher and higher in the sky. I tried not to look down. It was bad enough that we were at the Moon Terminal to begin with.
Just in case you don't know, the Moon Terminal is higher than the Empire State Building (before it was burned down). Out of curiousity, I did look down. I didn't know how high we were, but I had a wild guess of 1,000,000 miles. I looked at the taxi meter. 54, 306 miles up. Scary enough. I cringed and flattened myself on seat and slumped. Matt looked at me.
"Alice, are you sure about this?" he asked. "We might as well have waited for the Space Monorail to come back with your Dad."
I grunted. Dad. Again. Okay, so maybe he's busy being the Satellite Senator of Quadrant XXIII for year 2102-forever. But I couldn't help feeling that I might as well have been raised by that robot in the classic movie, Wall-E. But noooooo. "I'll pick you up," he says. "Better time for us to bond," he says. And what on earth would a Satellite Senator be on the Space Monorail? He has his own private ship!
"We're big enough to travel on our own," I told him.
"We're twelve."
"Who cares!?" I was twisting around the straps of my backpack. "I know he's just going to send a Whomper of his to fetch me and an 'Accept My Apology' hologram."
"Alice, really, you're being--"
"Being what?" I glared. " It's true! It first happened when it was my birthday. A big Whomper with my present and the hologram. Then at school graduation. I'm not letting happen this time. No. Way."
"Say, how much exactly are ya paying?" the driver said in a disgruntled voice. "I don't entertain Martian ducks in here."
"20 Cosmic Dollars is enough, isn't it?" I said forgetting about Matt.
"Three more for the dog," he said.
I dropped my mouth.
"Um...what dog?"
"Hey, I'm not a stupid human," the driver glared. "I can smell your stinky mammilian pooch in your backpack."
Matt eyed my backpack.
I frowned and let out Palvov, my pug puppy.
"Okay, Pavlov, out," I said shaking my backpack open. Pavlov came out and looked happy.
"Arf!" he yipped. He leapt up onto Matt's lap.
"Hey, watch it!" Matt laughed.
I could hear the driver mumbling. I took out my wallet and got three metal plates and two bronze chips.
"Here's your measly money," I sneered and slapped it into his suction like hands.