I was a normal girl who lived on Mars until these people came. They landed right in front of my shelter that was at the very top of Mars. They said they were from Earth. I have seen these type of people before, but I have never talked to them. Now I felt I was old enough. Like, come on, I am 22. I should be able to talk to new people.

So I started to talk back to them. “What’s Earth?” I asked them.

I felt so proud of myself. I had never talked to someone that I’d never met.

“What do you mean? You don’t know what Earth is?” the astronaut asked. The astronaut made me feel like I was stupid.  

“Have you always lived here?” asked Steve the astronaut.

Where else would I live? I thought.

“Yeah, I have.”

“What have you been doing here all your life?” asked Steve.

“Well, I play catch with moon rocks. A few people get hit but, you know, it’s okay! For exercise, we run laps around the rings of Saturn,” I answered.

“What about your space suits? Do you ever wash them?”

“Well, I don’t really need to wash them, since I have so many. They never even get dirty. But, for fancy occasions, I have a leopard-print suit and a tiger-print suit. I also have basically any color you could imagine. So I’m pretty set on suits.”

Probably better than you, I thought.

“Maybe you should come back to Earth with us,” said one of the other astronauts, Sophie.

“Why would I want to go to Earth? What do you guys even do there?” I asked them.

All the astronauts’ jaws dropped.

“You think we have nothing to do?”

They took me back to Earth with them just to prove that there were more things to do on Earth than on Mars. I wasn’t too happy when the astronauts tried to prove that Earth was better than Mars. I liked Mars better. They liked Earth better. Why couldn’t they just accept that?

Once the rocket landed back on Earth, we went to an amusement park, the supermarket, Steve’s house, Sophie’s house, and the mall. I thought it was pretty cool, but I liked Mars better. The more time I spent with the astronauts, the more I got closer to them. I moved into an extra room in Steve’s house and bought myself a bunch of Earth suits. Some of the Earth suits were really flowy. They were not as stiff as my Mars suits. I didn’t have to wear a helmet or cover my skin. I could actually breathe! The air was everywhere, not just inside my helmet!

After about a year or two of living on Earth, I decided I wanted to visit Mars again to see my friends and family. Then it hit me. They didn’t even know I left! The astronauts just took me and brought me to Earth! My parents must’ve been worried sick! I had to get back to Mars as soon as possible!

I got in Steve’s rocket and headed straight up to Mars. Hopefully, Steve didn’t mind. I didn’t even bother to say goodbye. They wouldn’t let me say goodbye to my friends and family, so I wouldn’t say goodbye to them.

I blasted off, then I realized I didn’t know how to fly a rocket. I pressed every button and pulled every lever. I flew left and right, up and down. The next thing I knew, I was in space. I saw all of my family and friends. I was so glad that they were okay. They were so glad I was okay.

“I promise I’ll never leave you again!”

Although I never went back to Earth, I sent many letters and presents to all my friends that were back there.