“I know, hon. I’m sad too. I really liked Mia. She was a good friend of yo-” 

“Like, Mom. You really like Mia. Not liked. She’s still out there. Somewhere. In her mother’s universe. She said her mother wouldn’t take her back! Why did she?” Ryan almost cried. 

“I can’t explain that, Ryan. I’m not an all-powerful celestial being like Mia’s mother. But I am a mom. She probably missed her.” 

“If she missed her, then why would she send her to Earth in the first place?” Ryan argued. 

“That’s a good question,” countered his mom. “That I can’t answer. I’m sorry sweetie. But you’re starting high school soon. You can’t let her absence get you down.” 

“Okay,” Ryan lied. He was definitely going to let her absence get him down. In fact, he would suffer from extreme depression for the next twenty-four months. 

I will find you. I will find you. I will find you. The words seemed to be permanently embedded into Mia’s ears. Astronomia, you have returned. 

She opened her mouth to ask, “Mom?” But the only words that came out were, “I will find you.” Mia touched her neck, trying to find the source of the voice that wasn’t hers. It felt fine. She tried again. I will find you. She looked desperately at the terrain ahead. It looked nothing like it did before she had left. Her stomach dropped as the horrible splitting pain returned. She needed to find the transporter. The transporter was the machine that Mia’s mother had used to send her to Earth when she was five. It could send anything anywhere with the push of a few cold buttons. Mia used to play near it, pretending it was an Icee machine, until her mother had coldly stopped her, fearing that she would accidently leave her. But Mia had no idea where to start looking. She tried to stand up, but her legs were numb. She didn’t remember this part of molecular travel. With only one goal in mind, she set off on what would be a two year journey to find Ryan, who was in a different universe entirely. 

After days of lumbering across unidentified stretches of land, Mia finally stumbled across what appeared to be a civilization of factories and smokestacks. Fluffy, yet deadly pillows of charcoal rings puffed out of a thick cylinder. Mia was relieved. She had found the Workers. They were similar to slaves, but treated better. Her mother had thousands. They were similar to the rabbits that Mia had found on Earth, but with more human features. They looked like the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. They had human faces with whiskers, and had a pair of furry ears on their heads. They had paws instead of hands and walked on two furry feet. Mia entered one of the steel buildings. It was swarming with Workers. They all wore the same thing: clown-like outfits. Why they wore this, Mia had no idea. In her earlier years, she had simply learned to accept it. She found one Worker whom she recognized vaguely. Her name was Jordan. She had fiery orange wavy fur and big heterochromatic eyes. One was hazel, and the other was light brown. Her eyelashes were extremely long. She was sixteen, seven when Mia had left. She looked at Mia and smiled. 

The Workers weren’t really allowed to talk to Mia’s family, the rulers of the universe. Mia had many siblings, but none of them were sent to Earth as she was. Each sibling owned a part of the universe. The eldest, Titan, was twenty-four and ruled the agricultural section of the universe. Astrid was twenty, and she ruled the industrial parts. This was her territory. Andromeda (Meda) and Galaxia (Xia) were nineteen and they shared the economical parts of the universe. Next was Nucleus, who was sixteen. He ruled the technological parts. He was the smartest. After that were Planetaria (Terry), Apollo, and little Ophelia (Lea), who were twelve, nine, and four. They, like fourteen year old Mia, did not yet have sections of rule. Mia’s mother rarely interacted with her children, even the little ones. She wasn’t even busy. How could she be? She had five children to do the work for her. 

“Jordan! The girls hugged. Jordan quickly returned to her work. “Um Jordan, can you help me?” Mia asked desperately. Without looking up from her work, Jordan replied.

“Sure. What do you need?” 

“Well, my mom called me back here for a reason that I don’t know, and now I have to find the transporter so I can get back to my friend, and there was this pain in my stomach, and-” 

“Woaaahh, Mia. Slow down. I can help you find the transporter.” 

“Really?” Mia was relieved. 

“Yeah, as soon as I finish my shift, which will be in about five hours.” Jordan replied casually. 

“I don’t have five hours! I need to find Ryan now!” 

“I’m sorry, Mia. But if your mother finds out I took an illegal break I’ll be severely punished.” Mia sadly understood. “I can get you some food though,” Jordan offered. “You look sickly.” 

“Thanks.” Mia let herself smile a bit. Jordan reached into her pocket and pulled out a pill. Mia had totally forgotten the weird food in this universe. Here, people didn't eat the wonderful food as they did on Earth. In Mia’s mother’s universe, the citizens consumed large pills filled with all the nutrients a person would need. It was tasteless and hard to swallow. Mia refused, but later regretted it as her stomach cried out in hunger. Unbeknownst to Mia, she had already been in her mother’s universe for three months. Time was different there than on Earth.

Mia did end up returning to Jordan five hours later. Jordan was very happy to see her.

“Mia! You came back! Good, now I can help you. I felt bad before. I know my shifts are long.”

“No, no, Jordan. It’s okay. Really. Thank you, though.”

“Enough small talk. Follow me.” Jordan gestured for Mia to follow her, and the girls began their journey. 

“Where are we going?” Asked a forever curious Mia.

“The Carts,” Jordan replied, with no further explanation. Mia didn’t remember anything called the Carts. Jordan must have seen her confusion.

“The Carts are the security method of transportation to access the Transporter. After you almost hurt yourself playing with it, your mother decided to make it a little more difficult to access.”

“Of course she did.” Mia rolled her eyes. That sounded just like her mother. Always making things harder for everyone. Jordan walked up to a big machine. She started punching buttons and typing.

“What are you doing?” Asked Mia. 

“In order to access the Carts, you have to have a valid reason to use the Transporter. My dad is a Deliverer. I can just type in his information. Let’s see, Adam Cotrone, Deliverer. Level 6.” Jordan continued to mumble out information to feed the Cart Machine. She did this with such skill that it seemed as though she had done this many times. What Mia didn’t know was that she had. 

“Okay, we’re in.” Jordan smiled triumphantly. Six neon blue carts rolled up to the pavilion in which the girls stood. The Carts were very similar to the roller coasters that Mia had ridden on with Ryan at Six Flags Great Adventure. Mia made the mistake of looking below the Carts. A deep, black abyss lurked below her. One turn too sharp and they were done. She prayed that the Workers oiled the rails regularly. She took a deep breath, and slowly lowered herself into a Cart, Jordan in the one in front of her. 

Wind ripped through her hair as the girls zoomed across the universe at unimaginable speeds. Mia couldn’t open her eyes, but didn’t want to. This was not like Six Flags. Jordan, on the other hand, was whooping and yelling the whole time. They stopped abruptly, sending Mia careening out of the Cart and onto the hard ground where she yelped in pain. 

“Mia! Omigosh are you okay?”

“Mmm. Yea, I’m fine,” moaned Mia as she rubbed her achy head.

“Okay, good. Now we have to get through Security.” Jordan added.

“SECURITY? Jordan we’re never going to make it to the transporter!” Mia was sure that her mom would find out if they were caught by security.

Calm down, I get through all the time.” Jordan said.

“Yes but do you do it legally?” Mia looked at Jordan, who looked away. 

“Come on. This way.” Jordan led Mia down a dark hallway with no ceiling. Or floor. As Jordan strolled down the path, Mia cautiously placed each foot in front of the other, not knowing when the gravity would turn back on. At the end of the hallway were two large men. Both had ghostly pale skin and white hair. Their ears were pointed and their eyes were slim and grey. 

“Halt.” Said the man. “What are you doing here?”

Jordan was ready. “Hi, Taurus! It’s so good to see you! I’m just visiting my dad at work.”

The other man spoke. “Again? Aren’t you sixteen Jordan? You don’t need to see your daddy every day.” He laughed rudely. 

Jordan’s smile faded. She put on a new act this time. “Well with my mother gone, he’s the only family I have left.” She looked away dramatically, hoping the men would pity her and let her pass.

“And who is this?” Asked Taurus, not caring about anything Jordan said.

“Oh, this is my friend-um-Maya. This is Maya.”

“Why are you with a human? Humans are not allowed to use the Transporter.” Asked Taurus suspiciously.

Mia finally spoke. “Uh, I’m not a human! I’m an elf!” Said Mia, knowing that there were plenty of elves here.

The other man, Nash spoke. “You don’t look like any elf I’ve ever seen. Your ears are weird.”

Mia spoke again. “Uh, thanks. I was sent on an Earth mission disguised as a human. My ears were shaved down.”

Nash flinched. “Ouch.”

Taurus wasn’t convinced. “Then why do you need to use the Transporter again?”

Jordan jumped in. “She wasn’t able to complete her task, so she’s going back to Earth. I figured I’d take her since I’m going in that direction.”

Finally, Taurus let them pass. “Fine, go.” But if I find out you went anywhere but Earth, you will be in big trouble with the Queen. 

“Yessir!” Mia and Jordan said simultaneously.

As they walked, Mia grew curious.

“Jordan, what are you really doing here?” Jordan looked surprised. 

“Visiting my dad, of course!” She replied quickly.

“Jordan, your dad is a Deliverer on the West Side.”

“It’s been nine years since you’ve been here, Mia. Things have changed.”

“Mhmm.” Mia wasn’t convinced. Jordan stopped.

“Okay, you really want to know?” She asked impatiently. Mia nodded. Jordan sighed. “As a Deliverer, my dad sometimes gets to go on special Earth trips. Two years ago, he snuck me onto the Transporter so I could see Earth. While he was on his mission, I disguised myself as a human and met some people. One of which was a girl.” Mia was confused.

“Yea, and?” Mia urged. 

“Her name is Emily. She’s beautiful. She has these dark blue eyes and flowing blonde hair and-” Jordan was cut off by Mia. 

“Oh, I see.” Mia realized that Jordan had a human girlfriend. Jordan blushed.

Mia waved her hands. “Don’t be embarrassed! I think it’s sweet.” Jordan smiled at that. “Come with me, Jord! You can see Emily while I find Ryan!”

Jordan wasn’t so sure. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Mia was confused. “Why not?”

“Well, you see. The last time I used the Transporter, it was with my dad. As a Deliverer, he has a device that can turn him into a human. I don’t have that, and if I show up to Earth like this, well, that won’t be very good.”

Mia’s eyes went wide. “Wait, does Emily know what you are?”

Jordan’s shoulders slumped. “Uh, not exactly. But do you really expect me to? I mean, how could she possibly date a Rabbit Humanoid from a different universe?!”

Mia frowned. “Oh, Jordan. Please. You’re so amazing. I’m sure she won’t care. My best friend Ryan knows who I am, and if anything, it made our friendship stronger!”

Jordan looked down at her furry feet. “That’s different,” she whispered.

Mia felt bad for Jordan. She’d never been in a relationship, but a lot of her friends have and she knows it’s hard.

“Jord. I’m going to give you some advice.” Jordan looked up as Mia spoke. “If she doesn’t love you for who you are, then she doesn’t deserve you. There are plenty of amazing girls on Earth and in every other universe. And all of them have a million reasons to like you.” Jordan grinned and hugged Mia. 

“Wow,” Jordan started. “You really grew up on Earth.” Jordan smiled but it looked painful. Mia had the same smile.

“Yea.” She said. 

I’m crazy but you like that. I bite back. Daisies on your nightsta-

“Mom, turn it off.” Ryan mumbled, his head in his hands. 

“Why? This is such a cool song! Who is it sung by? Ashley? No. Ashleekuh? No, that’s not it either”

“Mom.” Ryan looked at his mom with sad eyes. “This is Mia’s favorite song. And it’s Ashnikko.” Mrs. Griffin didn’t respond. She simply turned off the car radio.

As they pulled up to Middlebury High, Mrs. Griffin waved to her son. 

“Bye, sweetie! Have a great day!” Ryan didn’t look back at her. He walked in the front door. No one greeted him. They knew better. His eyes never left the floor as he walked to his locker, opening the door to see a picture of him and Mia when they were ten. It was Ryan’s birthday party, and both kids had cotton candy in their hair, and face paint caked in their eyebrows. Ryan looked at the picture, then ripped it off his door and threw it on the ground. After slamming his locker behind him, he trudged to Geometry. He was late, as usual. As he sat down, a boy named Cooper spoke.

“Miss your girlfriend?” He asked while pouting his lips. The boys in the back of the class snickered.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Ryan mumbled.

“Oh right, she’s your alien girlfriend!” The snickers grew louder. 

“She’s not an alien, Cooper.” Ryan was getting annoyed.

Copper wasn’t done. “Oh, don’t worry, sweetie. Once she’s queen of the universe she’ll forget all about you! Then you’ll have nothing to miss!”

Ryan’s hands balled into fists. Tears filled his eyes and he couldn’t see. He stood up, walked right in front of Cooper, and punched him in the nose. He brought his fist back and it was covered in blood. The entire class was wide-eyed and stared at Ryan. Before the teacher could say anything, Ryan ran. He ran out of the classroom, out of the school, and didn’t stop running until his body physically couldn’t go any further. Then, he collapsed, and cried. 

“Here we are!” Jordan grinned as she pointed to a large spherical machine. The Transporter looks similar to a CAT scan machine on Earth, only it’s upright and has a lot more buttons and levers. 

“You know how to work this, Jord?” Mia was concerned.

Jordan scoffed. “Pshh, of course I do, Mia!”

As Jordan pushed buttons, Mia fidgeted with her fingers. It was a habit she had. She had bad anxiety, and the only person able to calm her was Ryan. He was always there for her. But not now. Now, Mia has to be there for him. 

Jordan stepped back from the Transporter. “There. All set for Earth! But before we go, you should know that the Transporter works emotionally. It transports you to wherever you are needed most. So it’ll probably take you to Ryan, and me to Emily. Which means that we might be far away from each other. So I want to say goodbye now.” The girls hugged and said goodbye. Then they stepped inside the machine, and Jordan pulled a lever. The particles of Mia’s body were broken apart, mixed up, and put back together in a matter of milliseconds. Her ears rang and her nose began to bleed. Jordan didn’t seem to be having any trouble, though. Suddenly, everything went black.

Ryan awoke to a colorful flash of light. He was blinded. After regaining his vision, he saw that a body had appeared next to him. The body was covered in blood, bruises, and dirt. The clothes were torn and muddy. Ryan turned over the body and screamed. It was Mia. Tears streamed down Ryan’s cheeks as he hugged his best friend. 

“Mia! You’re back!” He choked out the words. He started frantically checking her vitals to see if she was alive. Ryans eyes went wide. She had no pulse. 

“No. No. Nonononono. No. Come on, Mia. You have to be alive. You can’t do this to me. I haven’t seen you in two years, please.” Ryan was sobbing now. After a few minutes, a woman walked by on the street to see the strange sight of Ryan and Mia. She quickly rushed over and asked what had happened. After a long explanation, the woman offered to take Mia to the hospital. On the way there, Ryan called his mom, as well as Mia’s Earth foster parents. They were already at the hospital when Ryan and Mia arrived. Mia was put on a stretcher and rushed into the emergency room, where medical officials performed CPR and attempted to restart Mia’s heart. It didn’t work. Ryan watched through the door window, terrified. Mia’s body jolted with every electric shock, sending shivers down his spine. He couldn’t watch. Eventually, a doctor came out, a solemn look on his face.

“Don’t say it,” Ryan cut him off.

The doctor was understanding. “Of, course. You may see her if you’d like, though.”

Ryan immediately ran into the room and sat on the side of the bed. He looked into Mia’s blank eyes.

“How could your mom do this? First she steals you away, then she doesn’t even make sure you return safely? I don’t understand! How could someone so amazing come from someone so horrible?” Ryan continued to vent to Mia, even though she couldn’t hear him. After a while, Ryan’s tone softened. 

“When you left, I was so depressed. I didn’t eat or sleep. I failed all my classes. I got kicked off the lacrosse team. I just wanted to die. I couldn’t live my life without you, Mia. I know a lot of people with best friends who’ve moved away, but they’ve never experienced this. When you were gone, things changed. I felt-different towards you. Every time I thought about you, the hole in my heart would get larger and larger until it consumed me. I’d have to stop everything I was doing to get myself to stop thinking about you, but it was impossible. You lived in my mind, and my heart. My feelings about you changed, Mia. They grew so much stronger. I guess what I’m trying to say is-forget it. You can’t hear me.” Ryan leaned back against the bed and started to sob and scream. 

“God! I love you Mia! I freaking love you more than anything in this world and every other world or universe in existence! You’re everything to me! I can’t lose you! Please!” The door burst open and doctors pulled Ryan away.

“No! Let me go! I need to stay with her! I need to be with her! If she goes then I go too!” Ryan screamed. As the door was about to close, there was a soft beeping noise. The heart monitor turned back on. 

Ryan kicked his way out of the doctor’s arms and sprinted to Mia.

“Mia! Wake up! Talk to me!” A single fat tear ran down Mia’s cheek as she slowly turned her head to face Ryan. She barely opened her eyes as she groggily whispered.

“I love you too, Ryan.” She smiled weakly. Ryan cupped Mia’s face with his hands. Mia slowly pulled her hand up onto Ryan’s face. After a few seconds just staying there, Ryan vigorously pulled his head towards Mia’s and kissed her. They parted and their faces were wet with tears, but they still smiled. 

“You’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it,” Ryan reassured Mia. 

“I sure hope so.” She laughed, then clutched her stomach in pain.

“Promise me that if you ever get a strange phone call, you won’t answer.”

“I promise.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Oh, hey Cooper!” Mia strolled into Geometry, holding Ryan’s hand. “I heard about what happened between you and Ryan, and I just wanted to say thanks for making him feel so much worse than he already did. Obviously you’ve never felt that way because no girl has ever wanted to get anywhere near you. And honestly, I don’t blame them.” Mia and Ryan walked away, laughing and smiling. The two teenagers had never been this happy. And their love for each other was well, astronoMIAcal.

A lot of my short story ideas actually come from my dreams. I usually have pretty wonky dreams, and this one was no exception. When I was twelve, I had a dream about this story. Not all of the details were there, but I thought the story was so cool, so I decided to write it down. The characters are based on real people in my life. In my dream, I was Mia. Ryan is based off of one of my best friends from elementary school, who I later developed a crush on. Jordan is based off of one of my teammates from ice hockey. She was really kind and helpful to me. Cooper is the name of another boy from elementary school, except the Cooper in my life was actually really nice. I started writing this in seventh grade, and I’m in ninth grade now, so it’s taken awhile, but I believe it’s worth it.