The Planet of Surprises

By Crystal Guo

Hi! I’m Charlotte! I work at PURFST (PUPS OF THE UNIVERSE READY FOR SPACE TRAVEL) a government agency that sends the best dogs to outer space to discover new planets and asteroids and find new creatures. But I’m not here to blab about PURFST, (though it might be interesting!) I had an AMAZING space travel experience that I want to tell you about. It all began here…

“Charlotte! Charlotte! I need to speak with Charlotte!” screamed Felicia, my friend. “The orders are out! The race to space has officially begun! The rumors were true! We will need to send someone to space! And John F. Kennels has told us that YOU are going to space! How cool is that? We must have a farewell party! After all, who knows if you will come back?!

“M-m-me? Are you s-s-sure? P-perhaps he said C-c-Charles?” I stuttered. “Don’t worry! You’ll be great! The suits and all the necessities for the trip are prepared! Let's get going!” said Felicia excitedly. I stumbled out of my office and began walking towards the rocket. I was terrified! It was the first time for an astrodog to be sent to space! After I put on my suit, I went into the rocket, named the “Barky Spark III”! The first two, nobody went. Only robots. It was a huge red rocket with the united puppy nations flag on it. It had lots of fur and floppy ears that acted like wings, except with lots of fur.

3... 2... 1... TAKEOFF! Bamm Boom Whirrr Buzzzzz Click Baboom! I was off soaring to the moon! I felt for a flash, that I was the luckiest dog on earth. Suddenly, it happened, the moment I have been dreading. I heard the control panel saying “error 2199, error 2199, error 2199, error 2199, error 2199, error 2199, error 2199, engine failure It is going to break in 3... 2... 1...-” BAM! The rocket exploded! I suddenly found myself floating in space already. I only have enough oxygen for 5 hours! What will I do??? When I looked up, I saw an asteroid flying right at me! Kabam! I felt pain sear through my back to my brain and… Nothing.

“Wake up! Wake Up!” I heard a soft voice say. When I opened my eyes, I nearly fainted again! A unicorn was in front of me! “My name is Silky and these are Silver and Silvia, my sisters.” said a unicorn with a beautiful white body and silver hooves. She had a star on her forehead and a glittering locket around her neck. “You are on the Planet of Surprises, and I am the queen of the unicorns! You had a nasty fall but don’t worry, I have fixed your ribs. You will be fine in no time!”

I gained a little confidence and said “N-n-nice to meet you S-s-silky, I am Charlotte, and I come from Planet Earth.” But before I could say any more, there was a scream behind the curtains. “Silky!” someone shrieked. “There is an undercover spy from Greyback!” Silky quickly reacted and said, “Sorry Charlotte, but I will soon explain. I know I can trust you!” And she galloped behind the curtains.

I tried to sit up but I found out that my ribs still hurt. So I gazed at the ceiling until I heard Silky galloping back. “Now, let me explain…” Long story short, it turned out that the aliens and the unicorns were fighting over Grape Juice river, the river was the unicorns’ and this had been recognized for years. The unicorns and the aliens never got along living together and this argument made it worse.

When Silky finished, I asked her “Can I help?” Silky agreed immediately. Silky let me ride on her soft back to Grape Juice river. The river near us was purple with sparkles underneath. But across, the water looked cold and forbidding. On our side, it was sunny and warm with lots of rose bushes. But on the aliens’ side, there were lots of thorny bushes and craters. I took a closer look at the bushes and saw that they were made of stone! Beyond the bushes, I made out dark and gloomy caves. Suddenly, a shape moved towards us. The alien was a dirty shade of grey and he also had huge bulging eyes and a necklace made of bones and rusty old gears. On the necklace, there was an emerald serpent pendant. It was Greyback!

“Sssso Sssilky” Greyback half-growled and half-hissed. “You have found my ssspy! But it is not the end Sssilky! It is only the beginning! My revenge has just begun!” Silky merely shook her head as she walked back. “Oh no,” said Silky. “It looks like Greyback wants that river. He will even fight for it!” Silky exclaimed.

“But Silky, Why do you all want that river so badly? I mean it’s just filled with grape juice… right?” I asked.

“No,” whispered Silky. “Legend says that the river hides a splendid treasure that only one person can discover.”

Oh, so that’s why! Who wouldn’t want a splendid treasure? I thought. “I am sure the aliens will work quickly, I want to ask you, can you, and will you help me?” asked Silky. “I can! You saved me after all!” I replied. She quickly told me the plan. We met with some other unicorn generals and advisors and decided to take action after a refreshing night of sleep.

The next day, we decided to take half of the unicorn army to go to Grape Juice river. Halfway there though, we saw something odd. A funny-looking coconut was standing there! She was wearing a leaf-made crown and wore a cape made with fruits! “Hello!” she said in a very high-pitched, squeaky voice. “May I ask where you are going? I am Cocoa, Queen of the Coconuts!” she said. “Well...” replied Silky. “We are going to the Grape Juice river.” “Grape Juice river?” she said turning pale. “But there are aliens everywhere! It’s too creepy… and dangerous!” she said. Then she suddenly regained her composure. “This is your lucky day!” she squeaked. “I happen to have a huge supply of invisibility cloaks! You could buy them, each for 5 magical gold coins!”

“Deal!” said Silky. She grabbed a huge bag from a general unicorn and handed it to Cocoa. I gave the cloaks to every unicorn in the army and we put them on. “Now, we go to the aliens’ headquarters!” declared Silky. So we all rowed across the river and onto the shore. We then continued walking to the Aliens’ gloomy caves. We saw lots of caves and stone trees and brambles. We made it to the heart of the camp without being seen or heard. Suddenly an alien appeared! “Well, well, well! Silky’s here fellas!” The alien shouted. A whole bunch of aliens came swarming around us and tied us up before we could react. Good god! Cocoa was a spy! She sold us FAKE invisibility cloaks! Silky and I were tied up and brought to Greyback along with the rest of the army. “Well, Ssssssilky, I thought that you were so smart! Greyback growled. “Now you will be my prisoner! The river is now truly mine! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!”

But while Greyback was talking to Silky, the alien who was holding me softened his grip on my ears. I quickly bit him in the stomach and made a run for it! “Catch her!” Greyback hissed. But I had already crossed the river and darted off to the palace to warn the other unicorns. But when I got there, I saw something odd. All the unicorns were wearing black cloaks and looked very, very, miserable.

“What happened?” I asked, scared. The closest unicorn whispered “While you were away, the queen’s sisters, Silver and Silvia went out to collect seashells. But an hour later, they still didn’t return. 10 of us went looking for them, and when they got there, they found both of them, dead.” I was horrified.

Silky was right! Greyback would do anything for the river, even murder innocent unicorns! Quickly, I told them that Silky was captured. “That’s it! We aren’t going to resist this anymore! the unicorns burst out angrily. “This is war!” a unicorn screamed. “Yeah!” the other unicorns agreed. So, in the dead of night, we set off.

We sneaked to Grape Juice river without being seen. Suddenly, we heard movement among the bushes. An alien popped out! We immediately flattened ourselves against the floor. The alien looked at us for one moment, then walked away. We went across Grape Juice river soundlessly. Finally, we reached the alien’s camp. All was quiet. We were unsurprised. Though they wanted Grape Juice river, the aliens were VERY lazy. We sneaked inside every camp looking for Silky. We didn’t find her anywhere! Could she have been killed?

“This is terrible!” a unicorn next to me whispered. “We have looked everywhere, except for Greyback’s cave!” Holey! This is pretty bad! So, the bravest generals sneaked in. Soon, they returned empty-handed. I gasped when I saw them. This is it, I thought. The last hope is demolished, war and blood would rule the planet before peace. Just as we were about to leave, I heard a hiss that made my blood run cold. The voice belonged to no other, but Greyback! “Well, well, well! I think you are looking for Sssssilky, aren’t you? Well! No one sneaks in Greyback’s cave! You will pay! Aliens! Attack!” screamed Greyback.

Immediately, thousands of aliens attacked all at once waving the most bizarre tools. One looked like a staff with two snakeheads. Another looked like a silver wand with green slime squirting out of it. “Quick!” whispered a unicorn. “Get the other unicorns and weapons! We will hold them off as long as we can! If you can, check the caves you pass for Silky!” I was offended. Why did I have to run away from battle? The unicorn seemed to notice and said “It’s okay! Dart under the aliens and bite them! You're small, you will succeed!” I felt a lot better and darted off biting as many aliens as I can. I kept an eye on the caves I passed but I didn’t see Silky anywhere! Soon, I returned with the other unicorns.

When I saw the battlefield, I gasped. Thousands of unicorns and aliens lay dead. The aliens seemed to be winning. “We’re here!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Soon, Only fifty unicorns and forty-five aliens were left. Greyback turned to the only unicorn general that survived. The other generals who had gone inside the cave with him lay dead. Suddenly, I saw a twinkle in a rock! I went closer to get a better look at it. It was Silky! She had been transformed into a rock! “Stop!” I screeched. Silky is here!” all the unicorns turned to me with a glint of hope in their eyes. The aliens, on the other hand, looked terrified. “Where?” shouted a unicorn. “She was transformed int...'' But before I finished, I heard Greyback scream. “Enough! This war would end in my favor! Attack, attack!” But the unicorns were one step ahead of him. They all gathered their horns on the rock. Suddenly, it burst with a shower of blue sparks! “Silky’s back!” all the unicorns cheered. Silky turned to Greyback. “The moment has come! The prophecy has come true! The war to end all wars will start! May the best win!” Silky cried.

“Stand back you fools! This is how it’s done!” Greyback hissed “I will win!” Grayback pulled out a silver wand and called out in a weird language. Immediately, a huge cobra came and shot forward trying to bite Silky! Silky’s horn glowed bright gold and sang in a melodious voice. Immediately, a phoenix came and rested on her horn, trying to protect her. Greyback shrieked a spell and Silky made a magical shield. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge Griffin smashed into Greyback! The evil alien was destroyed once and for all. “Yay!” we cheered “We won! Silky Won!” The aliens, knowing their defeat, ran away.

Just as we were going to cross Grape Juice river, a rumble came from beneath the ripples and a magnificent pomegranate popped out! It split into four equal quarters and I saw a gleaming golden chest in the pomegranate along with many rubies. The pomegranate was made of rubies, the stem was emeralds and the tree was diamonds. I looked at the unicorns. All of them, even Silky gazed at the pomegranate in awe. I took the chest and felt it in my paws. It was hard, at the same time soft. It was shiny and smooth. I opened it and inside, nested a fairy silver, diamond, and turquoise ring! It had a rose etched on it.

Then, finally, Silky spoke. “Congratulations, Charlotte, the winged ring chose you. Now, you can travel anywhere and get anything you want. Just rub it and say your wish, and it will come true.” I picked up the ring and held it carefully in my paws. “Thank you so much!” I said, feeling lots of emotions at the same time. “Don’t thank me. The ring itself chose you” replied Silky. Now I can go home! I said goodbye to everybody, then I turned to Silky. “Thank you for saving me! If you didn’t save me, I wouldn’t have gone through such an experience! I rubbed the ring and a shower of blue sparks surrounded me, and I found myself suddenly at the front door of my house on Earth!

I suddenly thought that if I wanted a chance to win the Nobel Prize for Intergalactic Peace, I needed proof. I remembered the ring and wished that I could have photos of all the events that took place, and suddenly, these appeared. I showed them to all of my friends, and they were so happy for me, especially Felicia. Now that you know my story, go on! Explore yourself. Then maybe, just maybe, you will be just like me!