#13 Madeline Freeman
In July of 2019, I was on a mission trip with the youth group of my church, and one of the other leaders was trying to get the students to open up by playing “Would You Rather.” When it was my turn to be questioned, he asked if I would rather be able to travel the world for a year—all expenses paid—or go to space for a week. Without reservation, I chose space. He asked the same question again, modifying the time in space to a day. Still, I chose space. When he asked a third time, whittling the in-space time to a single hour, I still chose space.
So when Susan offered a chance for even part of me to find a permanent home on our only natural satellite, the answer was obvious. Of course I wanted in!
The story I chose to send is Speechless, a futuristic retelling of The Little Mermaid. As far as Disney movies from the 90s go, The Little Mermaid was always one of my favorites, so when I decided to write a fairytale adaptation, it seemed an obvious choice.
Like Ariel in the movie, my main character, Aria, is fascinated with a world entirely foreign to her. But whereas the fish-tailed girl wants to be “where the people are,” my character longs to travel to Mars to join the colonists who live on the formerly red planet.
Because of the story’s connection to the solar system, it seemed an obvious choice to send to our nearest celestial neighbor.
Speechless is set in the far-off future, and it is my hope that in a future tied to this reality, someone will eventually unearth our little lunar treasure trove. It’s the closest thing to time travel I’ll ever experience.
(Mental note: Write a story involving time travel… someday.)
