Lonely life
By Miles Allen
Grade 7, Rutland Town Elementary School
It’s a lonely life for me, all by myself,
far away from the popular group of planets.
Ever since I was demoted, not even my older
brother Neptune has talked to me. I have my
five moon friends, but it’s nothing like talking
to the real planets. I hate being excluded and
now I’m in eternal solitary.
But one day, I see a ship flying above my
head. It confuses me. No one ever comes to
visit. It glides through space, and I wonder if
there are humans coming. The ship drops onto
my head. It hurts a bit. No one ever considers my feelings. Like when Earth, the bully
of the bunch, kicked me out just for being
small. I mean, what gives? I might be small,
but I’m tough. I bet Uranus would be crying
if a spaceship dropped on her head. I’ve never
really liked her. I don’t know what Neptune
sees in her. They’ve been dating for 2 millennia now, and she’s never said a word to me.
Or maybe she just doesn’t enunciate. You
might be wondering, but planets communicate
by gravitational pulls. It’s kind of like sign
language for humans. I hate humans. Anyway,
after the ship lands, the doors lift and a human
man struts out.
“So this is Pluto,” he says. “I can’t believe
I’m here.”
I’ve never had a human visitor before, but
Neptune told me that humans are supposed to
wear spacesuits. He’s just wearing a mailman
suit. I guess human technology has advanced.
“Well, I don’t know how to go about this,
because you can’t talk. But I’m from Earth,
and…”
Ugh, Earth.
“... NASA has decided to use me, the
intergalactic mailman, to send a deep and
sentimental apology.”
I’m listening.
“So, umm, here you go,” he says. And with
that, he leaves it on my head. Like he expects
me to pick it up. I don’t have arms, Einstein. I
might have mentioned this before, but humans
bother me. And as if it isn’t enough that he
drops a letter on my head, he sticks a metal
pole into my head that’s attached to an American flag. And it hurts.
Who does he think he is? I have feelings,
you know. He just waltzes in on my very delicate head in his snazzy mailman suit and gives
me a letter that I physically can’t pick up and
sticks a metal pole in my head. Which gives
me a big owie. Sometimes I wish Earth didn’t
exist. But before I can get more mad at him,
he goes back into the spaceship and flies away.
So I’m just sitting there, going back to my
lonely life as a dwarf planet being neglected
by everyone because there’s a letter on my
head and I have no idea what it says. Earthlings are dumb. And I hate them. So I guess
it’s back to the lonely life of Pluto.
This Week: Pluto
Each week, Young Writers Project receives several
hundred submissions from students across Vermont
and New Hampshire. A team of staff, mentors and
students selects the best writing and images for publication. This week, we present responses to the prompt,
Pluto. NASA writes a letter to Pluto, apologizing for
demoting it from planet status. What’s the reaction?
About the Project
Thanks from YWP
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and connects them with authentic
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org, and cowbird.com. YWP also
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Special thanks this week to
Jane’s Trust
Photo of the week
Brady Blow, Mount Mansfield Union High School
Next Prompt
Time. You are transported back in time and are inhabiting the mind of someone
else. What is the internal conversation? Alternates: Queasy. Put your character
in a situation that makes her/him queasy. What is the situation and how does the
character resolve it?; or Button. Pressing buttons (in elevators, on gadgets, etc.)
is usually harmless, but this time, you press a button and something very strange
happens. Due Jan. 23.
Poor Pluto
By Sydney Bennett
Grade 8, Benson Village School
Hello! My name is Charon. I am the largest
moon that Pluto has.
Lately, the newly demoted planet has just
been plain sad. I don’t want to break it to him
– that NASA has sent a letter apologizing for
making him a dwarf planet.
I personally assigned myself the role of
Pluto’s protector. Not only physically, but
emotionally too.
Pluto has been very sensitive lately and I
haven’t even read the letter yet or even told
him about it. I am afraid that when I do, his
icy crust will crack. But I think it is the right
thing to do.
I open the letter and this is what it says:
Dear Pluto,
We apologize for demoting you from planet
status. We now know that you didn’t meet the
requirements to be an official planet and that
we previously made the mistake of incorrectly
classifying you.
We now have a sufficient amount of information to support our claim. We believe that
we do not need to perform any more investigations to determine your status. Therefore, you
will forever be classified as a dwarf planet.
Thank you for your understanding and we
sincerely apologize.
– National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Woah! That was rough. They barely
apologized! How am I supposed to break this
to Pluto? I could play him a movie on my
giant television or sing him a song. But it still
wouldn’t change anything. He would get the
message. I might as well just tell him, moon to
dwarf planet, I decide.
So I do. I read him the letter and tell him
how I had been trying to help him. But he just
laughs at me. I can’t understand why, until he
tells me.
“Charon. Thank you, but I am fine. I am not
upset with being a dwarf planet. It is actually
kind of nice.
“No paparazzi or telescopes focused on me.
I don’t have to sign any more copies of my
book, A Walk in the Shoes of Pluto the Planet.
“The reporters have stopped coming to my
door asking for interviews about reports and
books and a lot of other things people have
wanted to ask me.
“I enjoy this normal life without all the
publicity, especially now that NASA has been
leaving me alone...”
Read the complete story at youngwritersproject.org.
node/104340.
More great student writing at
youngwritersproject.org