mOOn sHower

They had been waiting for this day for a long, long time. Filipa, as the older of the two, sat at the controls. She would be the pilot, just as they had practiced for many weeks.

“Flying a rocket is very important business,” she would say whenever Maya tried to take hold of the controls.

Now, Maya was late as usual. But soon enough she climbed aboard. Filipa was already going through the motions required of a rocket ship captain. Maya entered the cockpit and without a word she began to check and recheck every button and gage on the rocket ship.

“All systems check! “ said Filipa in a grave voice.

“All systems ready! “ replied Maya.

“10, 9, 8, 7, … “ Ze stood outside with his hands up in the air, letting each finger down as he proceeded with the count down for take-off.

At 3, he stopped.

“What now,” said Filipa. “The door is ajar,” Maya said as she read the message coming on the computer screen.

“Elsa, Elsa, Elsa,” said Maya.

The counting would have to start again. Elsa came out from the hangar and sheepishly walked over to the back of the rocket ship and closed the door, which she had left ajar when she placed the luggage in the luggage compartment.

“10, 9, 8, 7 … “ Ze began to recount.

And at 3, the rocket ship began to shake as Filipa applied full throttle. The ship began moving up and up when Ze reached zero, and in a jiffy, they were airborne.

The trip went very fast.

“The flight went smoothly,” Maya said to Filipa.

Stepping off the rocket ship, they were surprised at how familiar things looked.

There was the family vehicle, a white Nissan, parked just across the street.

Maya: “Look, it’s our car.”

Filipa: “Don’t be silly. How could our car get to the moon?”

Maya: “Yes! You are right. But look, it has the same license plate.”

Filipa dismissed this with the assured air that rocket ship captains are supposed to have.

When they left the hangar, the car did look like their family car. But being in the moon, they thought, the thin air must have been playing tricks on them.

“I read in a journal,” said Filipa, “that in high altitudes, the amount of oxygen is not enough to allow our brains to function well, so people hallucinate.”

“Oh!” said Maya. She just could not let Filipa know that she had no idea what hallucination was, lest Filipa think of her as “just a little kid.”

They made their way onto the street. Suddenly they heard a voice.

“It’s time,” the voice said.

For a moment they were not sure what to think of it. But it was a familiar voice.

“It’s time.” The voice said again.

Filipa looked at Maya, and Maya looked at Filipa.

“Ze?” They both said.

No! It could not be. He stayed behind on earth. How could he get to the moon? Had he invented some sort of time machine?

No, it could not be Ze.

Must be the hallucinations, Maya said to Filipa, not yet sure about its meaning. But she figured that if it had worked as an explanation for the car, it ought to work for their daddy’s voice.

“It’s time. Get up,” Ze said, this time more insistently.

Up? They were both walking. What did he mean by up? Could this be another moon thing?

“Up, up, up.”

Suddenly Filipa felt the moon shaking.

“Up, up, up,” she heard Ze’s voice again.

“It’s time for school.”

“Time for school? What on moon did he mean? People do not go to school in the middle of the aftermoon.”

But the shaking did not stop.

“Get up and take a shower.”

“Shower? Oh, no,” Filipa moaned.

Suddenly it all became clear. It had all been a dream. Maya was sleeping next to her, her feet pressing against Filipa’s face.

What’s more, Maya was still just a baby. She could not possibly fly to the moon.

With another shake, Filipa got up and went to the bathroom, guided by Ze.

She put her step forward and all of a sudden it began to rain.

Rain on the moon? How could this be? There wasn’t supposed to be any water in the moon. There wasn’t supposed to be any cars, people, or even oxygen. But it rained and rained.

“Filipa! Time to get off the shower.”


Shower? Shower?

“Ooh well,” thought Filipa, “there is always tonight."