important to tell her, something private.”
“How much you liked her?”
“Well that would have been the simple truth, wouldn’t it? But what if she’d said thanks, but she liked Brad now? I’d have died.”
“So what did you say?”
Dad chuckled then. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this ...”
I couldn’t either, but I hoped it was going to be a very long story.
“Don’t ask me where this came from, Parker, but I told Julie that my trip to Chicago wasn’t really about the science fair at all. That was a cover so I could have a top-secret interview with NASA. They were planning to send three young boys on an expedition to Mars. I was accepted, so I would be going into training at the NASA academy that summer, and the launch would be about nine months later. We’d be twelve years old at liftoff. I told her she had to swear to secrecy—nobody was supposed to know about it until it happened, because we had to surprise the Russians.”
“But Dad, why would they send boys?”
“Of course Julie asked me the same thing. I had all her attention by then, and those pretty eyes of hers got bigger and bigger, so my story did too.
“Mars is a lot farther from Earth than the moon, I explained, and even with the new superfast rocket they were working on that very moment, getting there and back would take a lot more time than people had ever spent out in space. Most experienced astronauts were too old to endure the exposure, but scientists thought young boys could take it. The astronauts would communicate with us from Earth, telling us what to do, but we’d be the ones up there doing it. ‘But Brian, they don’t actually know you can take it, do they?’ Julie said. ‘It could be dangerous!’ I tell you, Parker, Julie was mine!”
“You mean she actually believed all that stuff?”
“She sure did. Heck, I got so wound up inventing it that I half-believed it myself. But the other half of me realized I was going to need a way out when all of this didn’t happen, especially if I wanted to spend the summer going to movies with Julie. So I said of course it really all depended on NASA staying on schedule to develop that high-speed rocket and the special Mars suits for us. If they got too far behind, they’d have to choose three other boys. We’d be too old.”
“Geez, Dad. But you said everybody thought you were going. Did Julie tell them?”
“Not right away. She asked me why I had told her about all this if it was supposed to be top secret. I said, because when I go off to the Space Academy this summer, no one will know where I am, and I want you to know. She got tears in her eyes then and said it would be our secret. I was in heaven. Of course, it wasn’t so heavenly having to pretend to be getting in perfect shape for the training, because I had to pass up french fries and sloppy joes in the cafeteria and settle for carrot sticks and skim milk. Julie was there to remind me.
“Meanwhile, of course, Brad was ready to explode watching Julie hang around me all the time. One day I guess he’d seen about enough of her Brian worship, and he found an excuse to tackle me on the playground.
“He couldn’t get in a punch though, because Julie came over and pulled his hair and said, ‘Don’t you dare hurt Brian, Brad. He’s special. He’s not even going to seventh grade with us next year, he’s going to Mars!’
“Suddenly twelve kids were all ears, and I had to swear them to silence. You can probably guess how well that worked. Brad went straight to my sister and asked her if it was true, and she said no, all I had done was go to the fair and the museum and she had been with me the whole time. And Brad told Julie. This time Julie said she wanted to talk to
me
alone.”
I drew my finger across my throat. “So you had to admit to her that you lied, right?” I said.
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But no! I didn’t!”
Dad burst out laughing then, and it was catching. When he could
“How much you liked her?”
“Well that would have been the simple truth, wouldn’t it? But what if she’d said thanks, but she liked Brad now? I’d have died.”
“So what did you say?”
Dad chuckled then. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this ...”
I couldn’t either, but I hoped it was going to be a very long story.
“Don’t ask me where this came from, Parker, but I told Julie that my trip to Chicago wasn’t really about the science fair at all. That was a cover so I could have a top-secret interview with NASA. They were planning to send three young boys on an expedition to Mars. I was accepted, so I would be going into training at the NASA academy that summer, and the launch would be about nine months later. We’d be twelve years old at liftoff. I told her she had to swear to secrecy—nobody was supposed to know about it until it happened, because we had to surprise the Russians.”
“But Dad, why would they send boys?”
“Of course Julie asked me the same thing. I had all her attention by then, and those pretty eyes of hers got bigger and bigger, so my story did too.
“Mars is a lot farther from Earth than the moon, I explained, and even with the new superfast rocket they were working on that very moment, getting there and back would take a lot more time than people had ever spent out in space. Most experienced astronauts were too old to endure the exposure, but scientists thought young boys could take it. The astronauts would communicate with us from Earth, telling us what to do, but we’d be the ones up there doing it. ‘But Brian, they don’t actually know you can take it, do they?’ Julie said. ‘It could be dangerous!’ I tell you, Parker, Julie was mine!”
“You mean she actually believed all that stuff?”
“She sure did. Heck, I got so wound up inventing it that I half-believed it myself. But the other half of me realized I was going to need a way out when all of this didn’t happen, especially if I wanted to spend the summer going to movies with Julie. So I said of course it really all depended on NASA staying on schedule to develop that high-speed rocket and the special Mars suits for us. If they got too far behind, they’d have to choose three other boys. We’d be too old.”
“Geez, Dad. But you said everybody thought you were going. Did Julie tell them?”
“Not right away. She asked me why I had told her about all this if it was supposed to be top secret. I said, because when I go off to the Space Academy this summer, no one will know where I am, and I want you to know. She got tears in her eyes then and said it would be our secret. I was in heaven. Of course, it wasn’t so heavenly having to pretend to be getting in perfect shape for the training, because I had to pass up french fries and sloppy joes in the cafeteria and settle for carrot sticks and skim milk. Julie was there to remind me.
“Meanwhile, of course, Brad was ready to explode watching Julie hang around me all the time. One day I guess he’d seen about enough of her Brian worship, and he found an excuse to tackle me on the playground.
“He couldn’t get in a punch though, because Julie came over and pulled his hair and said, ‘Don’t you dare hurt Brian, Brad. He’s special. He’s not even going to seventh grade with us next year, he’s going to Mars!’
“Suddenly twelve kids were all ears, and I had to swear them to silence. You can probably guess how well that worked. Brad went straight to my sister and asked her if it was true, and she said no, all I had done was go to the fair and the museum and she had been with me the whole time. And Brad told Julie. This time Julie said she wanted to talk to
me
alone.”
I drew my finger across my throat. “So you had to admit to her that you lied, right?” I said.
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But no! I didn’t!”
Dad burst out laughing then, and it was catching. When he could
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