Liftoff (1st Place)

“… 3 – 2 – 1 … We have lift off.”

The thrusters ignited with tremendous force. The rumble and shaking of the craft jostled Ben and Jerry with such violence that, though they were in harnesses, they looked like rag-dolls. The ship lurched off the pad sending plumes of smoke shooting in every direction, and a column of fire.

The onlookers oooohed and aahhhhed at the spectacle. When the ship cleared the tower, cheers arose, but were easily drowned out by the roar of the powerful engines. With a sparrow’s grace, the ship zipped through the clear blue sky. Ben and Jerry, affectionately known as the ice cream crew, were pinned back in their seats and both briefly lost consciousness.


When they awoke, the astronauts monitored gauges and continuously made adjustments by flipping switches, turning knobs, and reworking trajectory. Their fingers flew upon small keyboards. The heat became unbearable, even through the air-conditioned suits.

A fire alarm sounded in the bulkhead behind them. The auto fire extinguishing unit had failed to quell the flames, but the temperature readouts indicated the fire was mostly out. One of them had to crawl back there with a forty-pound hand unit.

Ben unbuckled and grabbed the unit, just as the boosters fell away. The oxygen in the chamber was draining away to put out the fire, but he had to put it out completely or the damage might become too great. Ben opened the door, and was greeted by black smoke. Crawling, he found the smoldering embers and doused it.

The ship broke the outer atmosphere and the relative calm of space was a relief to their batter bodies.

“Whew.” Ben said sitting back in the cockpit.

Jerry pushed the communications button to Houston. “I’m bored. There’s nothing to do.”

The NASA engineers roared in laughter.


300 Words
Flash Story Must contain the line: "I'm bored. There's nothing to do."