The Ship Of Dreams

The ship hung in the air above the trees, hovering like a hummingbird slurping nectar from his mother's flowers. Devon sighed, "Why do they have to be so darn picky, Mom?"

"I'm sure they have their reasons. Can you move the car over to the garage and give it a good washin'? I don't have time to take it down to the car wash and it's getting bad enough that someone's gonna write 'WASH ME!' on it."

She handed him the keys and off he went, to do the one thing he loved more than anything, drive. He still had a year before he was old enough to take driver's ed. And he jumped at every chance to get behind the wheel.

He watched the ship leave with a sigh. It would be back again in a few days. The colony ship, they called it, made one trip every week to the Mars colony, with a load of geniuses and people with special skills and abilities. Alas, Devon had no skills, no abilities, and was far from being a genius.

Devon rinsed the soap off of the car and inspected it for spots he'd missed. Satisfied, he moved the car back to his mother's parking spot. He sat in the car, letting it idle for a few minutes. He turned on the radio and pretended he was driving.

"DEVON! I AIN'T MADE OF MONEY. TURN THAT CAR OFF NOW AND QUIT WASTING GAS."

Devon reluctantly, turned off the engine and sat there.

"Hey Devon, whatcha doin'?"

Jordan had just pulled up and was sitting on his bike in front of the car.

"Just sittin' here. I had to wash it. What's up?"

"I was gonna ride down to the river, wanta go with?"

"Sure, let me get my bike, be right there." He pulled the keys from the ignition and ran in the house, yelled out where he was going and tossed the keys on the table as he ran back out to the garage. Grabbing his bike from the building, he hopped on and headed down the driveway passing by Jordan.

Jordan took off after Devon. They raced each other down the street, heading towards the river. It was summertime so the riverside was a popular place to hang out. There was no swimming allowed, but the cool breeze off of the water felt nice on hot days.

"Hey Jordan, have you ever thought about going to Mars?"

"Nah, that's for sissies. Why? You wanna go there?"

"Nah, like you said, it's for sissies." Devon said, wishing Jordan hadn't said it was for sissies.

"Hey, I found a place where we can wade around in the river. No one ever goes there. Let's go." Jordan said as he turned his bike around and headed away from the river.

"Hey, wait up!" Devon yelled as he fell in behind Jordan.

They turned off onto a trail nearly invisible from the street.

"How'd you find this place?" Devon asked as they came upon a flat clearing on the river's edge.

"My brother came down here with his girlfriend last week and I followed them. They were making ' out and never even saw me."

Devon got off his bike and walked to to edge and peered at the water.

"It’s barely moving here, I'm goin' in." Jordan hollered and dove in. In a second he was gone.

"JORDAN, JORDAN, OH MY GOD, WHERE ARE YOU?" Devon screamed at the top of his lungs.

Jordan's head broke the surface a few yards away. He was spitting and sputtering as he disappeared from sight.

Devon ran along the bank yelling for his friend. The seconds flew by as he stopped and yelled for help. Not seeing his friend and utterly devastated, he sat down he started wailing. Jordan was gone.

He felt something snap inside his head, and suddenly Jordan broke free of the river and was floating above the water, gasping for air and flailing his arms.

Jordan was white as a sheet when his body finally drifted down onto the ground beside Devon. Devon hugged his friend and passed out.

A week later, Devon was packing his suitcase. "Mom, we have to hurry the ship is here."

Jordan was standing on the porch waiting for Devon.

"I will see you soon, I'm gonna start learning everything so I can go too."

Devon looked at Jordan, "I thought you said it was for sissies?"

"That was just 'cause I didn't think we’d ever get to go."

Devon grinned as his mother put their bags in the car, he waved to Jordan and climbed in beside her.

"I'm glad you can go too, mom."

"You know that aren't allowed to separate families. Just keep that mind control stuff to yourself around me. It freaks me out. It just ain't natural.

He grinned and rolled the window down, putting his hand out and letting it ride on the wind as they headed in the direction of the spaceport.

The week had been a whirlwind of reporters, testing, and questioning. The colony officials deemed it necessary to put Devon on the first ship out. His psychic scores were greater than a hundred. He was asked to do tasks with his mind, telling them what they were looking at behind screens, moving objects without touching them, and various other tests that were used to determine his Psychic abilities. The closest anyone had come before was twenty.

Devon was poked, prodded, and probed in every way imaginable, while his mother held his hand and grimaced. Devon was relieved the tests were done. He looked at his mother, "We're goin' to Mars. Ain't you excited? I sure am. I wonder what kind of cars they'll have. It don't matter what kind. I don't care if I can drive, I can do things nobody else can."

His mother stopped the car and looked at her son. She touched him on the arm, "Devon, I love you, I want you to know that, I am tellin' you this because if I ever hear you braggin' about them brain powers again, I will beat your bottom so hard you won't be able to sit for a week."

She let her foot off the brake and continued on. Devon stared straight ahead and remained silent.

They pulled into the parking area and attendants swarmed around them a hustled them to the loading area. Devon looked around in wonder.

"Mom, it will be okay. We'll be okay."

They walked up the ramp and into the ship.