Nicole Avella
11/3/07
Green
Discovering Stacy
Prologue
Jonathon Miller had big dreams ever since he was a little boy. His brain was always filling with new ideas. He was always skilled with money and just like almost every other kid in the world, he wished that in the future he would make millions of dollars and come to settle in a spacious mansion with everything his heart desired.
Everyone said Jonathon had a green thumb when it came to plants. He cared for flowers and greenery just as much as the other children cared for their cats and dogs.
One night, when a teenage Jonathon was out in the garden, he made an amazing discovery. When mixed together, onion juice, salt water and apple juice made a yellow liquid that made plants grow five times faster. Jonathon knew that he could share this with no one, so he kept it to himself until he could put his discovery to good use. Then, at the age of thirty, Jonathon did it. He had created Mr. Miller’s Insta-grow Potting Soil and bags of it were sold by the millions, making him a very rich and famous man.
During one particular interview, Jonathon met a reporter named Sarah McKinelly and it was love at first sight. Her hair fell back in gentle golden curls and her amber colored eyes twinkled in the light. Her teeth were perfectly white and her smile was the warmest Jonathon had ever seen. Jonathon didn’t consider himself handsome with his
wire-rimmed glasses over his hazel eyes and his scruff of messy brown hair on top of his head, as well as the small start of a mustache under his rather large nose. However, to his surprise, she had the same feelings for him as he had for her.
Two years later, the wedding was on and it was the happiest day of the couple’s lives. All of Jonathon’s dreams had come true. Here he was with a beautiful wife, millions of dollars, and soon he would own that spacious mansion overlooking the sea and he couldn’t have asked for anything more. He couldn’t stop smiling and neither could the crowd watching the wedding.
However, there was one unhappy face among the crowd, his eyes filled with hate and his mouth in a grimace, teeth clenched. This was Rufus Tinderlin and he craved exactly what Jonathon had. Rufus himself was interested in plants and all his life he had been in Jonathon’s shadow.
“It’s because of him that Tinderlin Potting Soil didn’t sell. I deserve to be up there, not him!” Rufus mumbled under his breath as he stared up at the blessed couple. He could not stand seeing the man who had stolen his dreams look so happy so he stomped off without a single glance behind him.
Five years later, Jonathon’s daughter Stacy was born and her eyes twinkled just like her mother’s.
In the year after Stacy’s birth, Jonathon thought of a great new idea. What could be better than a hotel on the moon?
“After all Sarah, it’s 2129. It’s about time someone has built a hotel on the moon,” Jonathon told his wife one morning while she was feeding the baby.
“But what about Stacy?” Sarah asked in doubt.
“Don’t worry,” He replied, smiling.
And so, research began for the only hotel on the moon. A gravity device was manufactured as well as a NASA approved rocketship. As if that wasn’t enough, Jonathon had come up with the ideal name for such a breath taking resort, the Le Luna. As work continued, Jonathon spent less and less time at home with his family and more time at the office.
“Daddy, do you want to play Candy Land?” Stacy asked one day when she was five.
“Not right now,” Jonathon had responded before walking out the door, briefcase in hand.
While Stacy was growing up she felt unappreciated by her father. She was only a bump in the road of her father’s life.
Chapter 1
“Are you sure you know what you’re supposed to do?” Jonathon questioned over the noise of the tourists wandering around the station. His hair was dotted with gray and his mustache was grown out.
“Yeah, I know. Check out the Le Luna as a customer, spend my whole summer up there, then come back for the start of school,” Stacy said half-heartedly. She was sixteen now and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She wore a light blue shirt and tan pants as well as a silver heart-shaped locket around her neck.
“Okay, great. You’ll board the rocket at 2:15.”
This station wasn’t quite a normal station. Outside stood a tall silver rocket ready for any tourists brave enough to give it a try. This was the only Rocket station in the world, its grand opening only a few hours ago.
Stacy stared out the window at the warm sandy beach that truly made Miami what it was. She wished desperately to be out there. She was afraid that the rocket wouldn’t make it to its destination. That instead it would crash and burn, killing all the passengers within, but of course she didn’t tell her father that.
“Stacy, hurry up. You need to board the rocket in five minutes,” Jonathon said, glancing at his watch.
Stacy checked through her bag one last time, then hurried over to the platform, waving her ticket out in front of her. She turned back to wave to her father from the platform before boarding, but he was already talking on his cell phone, back turned to her.
As Stacy took her seat in row 13A, she looked around at the place that would soon take her away from the Earth. From the inside, the rocket looked just like a first class airplane with soft red velvet seats and plasma screens hanging in front of every couple of rows.
Stacy placed her carry on luggage under her seat and strapped herself in. Butterflies were flying in her stomach and she tried to calm herself down. Stacy despised roller coasters and she knew lift off would be five times worse. Her mother had assured her many times that it wouldn’t be that bad as long as she took her nausea pills, but Stacy still kept her barf bag close just the same.
Finally the rocket was filled with people and it was raised, its silver nose pointing to the sky. All the blood rushed to her head as the words Stacy had been dreading boomed over the intercom.
“10, 9, 8, 7…” it said as the whole rocket started to vibrate, “6, 5, 4, 3…” Stacy squeezed her eyes shut and her heart started to beat faster, “2, 1, Blastoff!” Stacy clutched the arms of her seat and wanted to scream, but no sound escaped her mouth.
Stacy couldn’t stop shaking and as soon as lift off was over, she ran to the bathroom and threw up. She tried to get her mind off of things by reading a mystery novel, but it was hard to concentrate.
“Are you alright?” A smooth, velvety voice asked from across the aisle.
Stacy looked up from her book to see a pair of sparkling blue eyes peering at her. The boy had curly brown hair and gorgeous white teeth fixed in a perfect smile.
Stacy’s heart skipped a beat but she quickly shook it off and said, “Oh, hello. Yeah, I’m fine, just a little startled, that’s all. I didn’t like lift off much.”
“ Okay, great! Hi, my name’s Thomas Campbell. You can call me Tommy if you’d like.” He held out a hand across the aisle.
Stacy ignored his outstretched hand and instead questioned, “Campbell?” with one eyebrow raised in doubt.
“Yeah, the soup guy. He was my great grandfather. My dad is in charge right now, but soon enough, I’ll take over the family business. So, what does your dad do?’
“What do you mean?” Stacy asked with a quizzical look.
“Well, if you’re going to the Le Luna you have to be rich. I mean, not just anyone can pay for the trip.”
Stacy paused, just for a second. She had always felt uncomfortable with being rich and back home she had no friends. She kept to herself because she was certain that if anyone knew who she really was, they would think of her as a weirdo. She didn’t expect Thomas would be any different even if he was rich, so thinking on her feet she said, “Oh, I’m not rich. The owner of the hotel gave me a free ride because of my interest in astronomy. I guess you could call it a scholarship.”
Before Thomas could respond the intercom said, “We will soon be experiencing anti-gravity. Please grab the handlebar in front of you if you would like to feel the sensation. Otherwise I would suggest you strap yourself in. Thank you.”
Stacy grabbed the handle bar as she felt her feet leave the ground. She felt like a bird in a cage and she wished that there was no gravity on earth so it would be like that all the time. She had left her book on the seat and it started to float. With her free hand she snatched it before it could float away. She couldn’t help but laugh with happiness.
Stacy thought it was over too soon. After only two minutes, they turned on the artificial gravity and she landed back in her seat. Her nausea had disappeared and she decided to take a short nap.
When Stacy woke up, she could see the moon out her window. Everyone on the rocket ship was whispering to each other as they approached their destination.
Soon enough they were there at the station and Stacy let out a sigh of relief. She was back on the ground, even if it was the moon.
A tour guide led all the new arrivals through a clear glass tunnel, pointing out things until they reached the hotel.
“Excuse me, sir, but what is that?” a short, chubby man with greasy black hair asked pointing at a thick, black chain connected to the hotel.
“That is what connects the hotel to the moon and keeps it from flying off. There are four of them and all are off limits to guests. Any more questions?” the guide replied.
The same man raised a pudgy hand and asked, “Where is the gravity device located? I couldn’t help but wonder.”
The tour guide frowned then said, “It’s in the basement, but only staff can access it. We should be moving on,” and with a final angry glance at the man, the tour guide opened the door to the lobby.
Stacy had quickly checked in then had gone up to her room. She had to admit, her father had done a nice job. The lobby had a huge lighted fountain right in the center as well as a grand staircase up to the rooms. There were plenty of places to lounge and it was fancy and comfortable at the same time.
Stacy loved her room even more. There was a soft king sized bed with silk sheets in the center of the room and a huge plasma flat-screen TV with 400 channels hanging on the wall on the opposite side. She had her own bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and a kitchen area with a basket of fresh fruit on the table. Stacy could hardly believe that all of this was on the moon.
One morning after breakfast, Stacy decided to go for a nice relaxing swim in the huge indoor pool. On her way there she bumped into Thomas.
“Hey, you never told me your name,” he said reaching for Stacy’s shoulder to slow her down.
“Stacy. My name’s Stacy. Now can you get your hand off me?” Stacy said hastily, trying to avoid his eyes. She felt uncomfortable with his hand on her shoulder.
Thomas immediately let go of her, but continued to follow her down the hall. Stacy knew she couldn’t stop Thomas from going to the pool, so she let him tag along, hoping that he would stay out of her hair.
Once there, Thomas found an open lounge chair and took a seat. Stacy rented a raft and decided to just float around for a while. She had been busy the last few days settling in and she could use some time to relax.
About two hours later, the lunch crowd left, leaving only Stacy, Thomas, a janitor, and the stout man from the tour in the pool room. Thomas was pretending to be sleeping, but he didn’t trick Stacy. She knew he was watching her so she decided to pull the same trick on him and she let her sunglasses hide her eyes.
Stacy glanced over at the chubby man and let out a quiet gasp. He was whispering to the janitor and in one quick exchange, the janitor passed him a silver I.D. card. Then both men left the room. They never noticed that Stacy was awake.
“Did you see that?” Stacy asked Thomas softly.
“Yeah. What do you think the whole thing was about?” Thomas replied, sitting up in his chair.
“I’m not quite sure, but I don’t think it can be any good. Something is fishy about that man.”
“We should investigate,” Thomas said offering his hand to Stacy.
This time Stacy shook it, saying, “I agree.”
Stacy and Thomas soon discovered that they both enjoyed reading mystery novels and agreed that a real life mystery would definitely spice up their summer.
“Where should we start?” Stacy asked the next morning while pacing around Thomas’s room, a notepad in her hand.
“Well, we should probably find out who that guy is anyway,” Thomas said, deep in thought.
Stacy nodded. “I’ll go ask one of the secretaries.”
Stacy hurried into the lobby and approached one of the secretaries sitting behind her desk. She smiled, flipped her hair out of her eyes, and put on her cutest, most innocent expression.
The secretary had fallen for it instantly and soon enough Stacy was walking back to Thomas’s room with a piece of paper.
“Listen to this. The secretary knew whom I was talking about immediately and I don’t think she likes him much. She knew that he’s checked into room 123 and his name is Rufus Tinderlin. I think that’s good for a start,” Stacy said excitedly.
“ I think it’s time we’ve paid Rufus a visit,” Thomas said smiling.
They knocked on the door of room 123 and waited as they heard shuffling footsteps from inside. Soon a familiar plump face popped out from behind the door.
“Hello! Excuse me, but we are taking a census of the whole hotel and we were wondering if we could ask you a few questions,” Stacy asked eagerly, imitating the reporters she had seen on TV.
“Sorry, but no,” Rufus snapped before slamming the door.
Stacy sighed. “I guess we need another plan.”
Weeks went by with no luck, until one day, Stacy heard a knock at the door.
“Excuse me miss, but I was hoping you could spare some of your time to help house keeping. No one else in this hotel will,” a girl about the same age as Stacy asked politely once she had opened the door, “We need someone to fill in for my sick sister and clean the rooms that she was supposed to clean. Only for today, miss. Room 123 is a mess, I’m afraid.”
Stacy was about to shake her head when a brilliant idea made her stop. The girl had said room 123 and that was Rufus’s room! Opportunity had just literally knocked on her door.
“I’d be pleased to,” Stacy quickly replied with a smile.
The girl from house keeping gave Stacy a dress identical to her own and led her to a staff room so Stacy could grab a cart of supplies.
“Here’s your list. Return the cart to this room when you’re done,” murmured the girl, no longer polite.
Stacy grimaced, then went to work.
Stacy’s day was spent doing chores for other people. She made beds, vacuumed, mopped messy floors, replaced towels, as well as every other unpleasant task imaginable.
She couldn’t believe how untidy the people staying in the Le Luna were, but she was certain it would pay off in the end.
Finally, after three hours of hard work, Stacy approached room 123, the last one on her list. She knocked on the door and hollered in a high pitched voice, “House keeping!”
There was no response so she cautiously turned the knob and peered inside.
This room really was a mess! There were dirty clothes everywhere, juice spilled on the bathroom floor, beds unmade, and a moldy sandwich sitting on a table.
Stacy got right to work, rushing to finish before Rufus arrived back. After about 15 minutes, the room was in a much better state and Stacy started to snoop.
She opened drawer after drawer without a single clue until she noticed a leather-bound notebook pushed to the back of the nightstand drawer. Stacy snatched it like a hungry tiger attacking its prey, but before she could look at a single page, there was a sharp knock at the door.
“Who’s in there?” Rufus roared in his gruff voice, scaring Stacy out of her wits and making her almost drop the notebook.
She quickly stuffed the notebook, hidden, into her cart and said as politely as the other girl had been to her, “Only house keeping, sir. I’ll be out in a moment.”
She unlocked the door and hurried out, avoiding any eye contact with Rufus, but she noticed that he was staring at the exact spot where the journal now was hidden.
Stacy put her cart back in the staff room, changed back into her regular clothes and sprinted down the hall, clutching the notebook to her chest. She burst into Thomas’s room and said, “ You’ll never guess what just happened to me!”
Stacy explained the events of her morning as best as she could with Thomas listening keenly. When she reached the end she said, “ He looked at the notebook as if he knew it was there, but he didn’t even attempt to steal it back. Anyway, I haven’t looked at it yet…” and she handed it to Thomas.
He delicately opened it to the first page then said, puzzled, “There’s no writing in this thing.”
“What?” Stacy’s voice faltered. She grabbed the notebook from Thomas and flipped through its contents, but there wasn’t a single word written in it. She felt like she wanted to cry. After all that she had done, she only had a blank book to show for it.
“Don’t worry. Give it a couple of days. This notebook has to be good for something,” Thomas reassured her.
“I suppose you’re right,” Stacy sighed before walking out of the room with the book in her hand, no longer thinking it was of any value.
Once in her room she situated the book on her counter and didn’t give it any more thought until the next morning.
Stacy woke up the next day already grumpy and her mood didn’t seem to improve. For breakfast she had tried to make pancakes, but ended up burning them. She attempted to make them taste more appetizing with some maple syrup, but only spilled it all over herself. Feeling very sticky, she took a shower, but the hot water ran out after only a matter of minutes, forcing her to wash with cold water. She got dressed and poured herself some lemonade, which she placed on the counter. Stacy plugged in her hair dryer and started to dry her hair, but while she was doing so, she knocked over her glass of lemonade, spilling it all over the open notebook. She grunted and quickly picked up the cup so its contents would stop spilling, accidentally pointing her hair dryer at the damp page.
Stacy gasped. She could faintly see the letter t printed in rather sloppy hand writing in the corner of the page.
Stacy finished drying her hair, then hurried back to Thomas’s room waking him from a very peaceful sleep.
“Tommy, I’ve figured it out. The notebook is written in invisible ink,” Stacy said, barely able to contain her excitement.
“How’d you discover that?” Thomas asked groggily.
“Long story. Get up. We need to find some lemon juice.”
Once Thomas had gotten dressed, he met Stacy in her room for a change. She explained her horrible morning and her miraculous discovery, showing him the lemonade, hair dryer, and the letter written in the corner of the page.
“Do you have any more lemonade?” Thomas pondered out loud.
Stacy shook her head. “I used the very last drop.”
“Then I guess we have to order some more. Another pitcher should do the trick,” Thomas said inquisitively.
With that they ordered more lemonade and started to carefully dip the first five pages in the juice, being sure not to smudge the writing. Stacy plugged her hair dryer in once again and dried each page on low power, so as not to burn the paper.
As she dried, Stacy read the words coming into vision, “Turn off gravity equals no running… slow them down… get card from Todd. Hey, there’s a check next to that,” Stacy mumbled, her forehead wrinkled in thought. She turned the page, “Cut chain… hotel flies away… guests die… lawsuit… Jonathon becomes bankrupt… complete plan on July 24. That’s today!” Stacy said panicking, looking down in thought with her mouth slightly open.
“It all makes sense now. Those questions he asked on the tour. He needs the I.D card to get to the chain and the gravity device so that explains the strange behavior in the pool,” Stacy continued, her voice growing louder with every sentence, “He didn’t take the notebook because he didn’t need it anymore. He thought we wouldn’t figure it out! We have to stop him before it’s too late!”
Stacy burst out of the room, tears starting to cascade down her face. She was dizzy and it seemed harder to breath. She rushed down the hall to the lobby, leaving a surprised Thomas still sitting on her bed. She didn’t know what to do and felt weak and defenseless. She was giving up, admitting defeat, now knowing the certain doom that lay ahead, seeming so inevitable. She wasn’t a hero, just a coward.
That was when Stacy noticed a sign saying Spacesuit Rentals! $100 per suit. Stacy wiped away her tears and pulled a crumpled 100-dollar bill from her pocket. Her mother had managed to sneak her a few hundreds before she left the house for anything that she might need. She thought now would be a good time to use her richness to her advantage.
After she had rented her suit and put it on, the hotel shook and the lights flashed off. Many of the people in the lobby shrieked in terror. Stacy’s heart began to beat faster as she hurried out to the exploration deck that would let her out onto the moon, but before she could get there, she heard a creak and felt her body become lighter as she felt the familiar sensation of anti-gravity. Now everyone in the lobby was screaming and Stacy felt her heart collapse as she looked at the anxious faces around her, now thinking that maybe she really was too late.
All the same she leapt to the deck as quick as she could, finding it rather hard to walk in anti-gravity, even with such a heavy outfit. Once outside she barged through an off limits fence by simply jumping over it. A man in a silver space suit appeared out of the corner of her eye. He was flailing his arms and Stacy was certain he was screaming at her. She knew that she had to be a leader. No one else could stop Rufus and she had always known that she would be forced to break a few rules along the way. Pushing past him she searched frantically for the midnight black chain, but no matter where she went, she couldn’t spot it at all. Tears were starting to blur her eyes, but she continued to push until finally she saw another man that she was sure had to be Rufus.
She snuck up behind him, attempting to pull him away from the chain that he was trying to cut. He turned at her touch and pushed her down and she let out a piercing scream.
That was when Stacy realized that no one could hear her scream no matter how loud she was. Rufus could kill her and no one would know. She was on her own, just like she had been so many times in her life.
Stacy heard a crackling from inside her helmet followed by a distinct voice saying, “What’s your problem girl? Don’t you know that you’ll never stop me?”
It was Rufus, sending her a radio transmission. At this he laughed menacingly, showing no sign of stopping.
“But why? Why are you killing a bunch of innocent people?” Stacy queried in a shaky voice, buying for time.
“Why? Why! I’ll tell you why! Revenge, revenge on your own father,” Stacy gasped, but it didn’t phase Rufus at all, “Yes, I know who you are. Jonathon’s precious little daughter that always gets in the way. Your father took everything that I deserved. Everyone was always saying how brilliant he was, but did they ever pay attention to little Rufus? No! And now your father is finally getting what he deserves. A lawsuit as big as this one is sure to make him bankrupt. Then maybe they’ll come to their senses and put Tinderlin potting soil on the shelves. Well Stacy, you’ve given me a nice game, but play time is over,” Rufus finished before knocking Stacy off her feet and sending her spiraling backwards.
As Stacy regained her balance, feeling like her heart and soul had just been crushed, she saw the hotel move. Rufus had cut the first chain!
“But wait…” Stacy thought, “why isn’t the hotel flying away?” Then it came to her that there were four chains. She still had time to stop Rufus!
This time she caught Rufus by surprise and she sent him sprawled out in a small crater.
Stacy realized, not for the first time, that she couldn’t do this alone. Sure, she could protect the chain from the sinister man in front of her, but Rufus would never stop. It was only a matter of time before she ran out of oxygen.
That was when a new plan sprang into her head and she ran over to the crater where Rufus was trying to prop himself up again. She grabbed hold of his helmet and told him over the radio, “Come with me now, unless you want to die out here.”
This got Rufus’s attention, but he tried not to seem afraid, “Pull my helmet off? You wouldn’t dare. You’re too afraid.”
“I wouldn’t call it afraid if I simply don’t want to right out murder you. But I did notice that your oxygen is running quite low and I wouldn’t mind holding you here until it runs out.”
“No, you wouldn’t dare, you wouldn’t dare,” Rufus grumbled, his voice quivering. It was already starting to get hard for him to breath.
“Your plan wasn’t as well thought out as you believed it was, huh?”
Yet Rufus did not reply. She pulled him up from the collar and led him inside.
Once there she quickly removed both helmets and took a deep breath. It was finally starting to sink in that she had done it.
By this time, the lights were back on and everyone was thankfully on their feet. Stacy handed Rufus off to a security guard who took him away. Rufus seemed unable to move or speak, his eyes darting from place to place in shock.
Stacy rejoined Thomas and they spent the next few days talking and relaxing, feeling refreshed after all their hard work.
It wasn’t long before the news spread and everyone in the hotel was calling Stacy a hero. Stacy was rather humble and only smiled meekly whenever anyone said this to her.
She continued to spend more time with Thomas, one day saying, “Tommy, I have a confession to make. I know I told you that I wasn’t rich, but the truth is I am. My father owns the hotel, actually. Please tell me you aren’t mad. I just thought you wouldn’t like me if you knew the truth.”
“Of course I’m not mad. A little upset that you lied, but not mad. I like you for who you are, not for how much money you have.”
Stacy smiled, finally feeling comfortable with herself.
Once the summer was over, everyone took the rocket back to earth. The return trip was a lot easier for Stacy.
It felt good to be back on the earth, even if it meant saying goodbye to Thomas.
“Okay, so you have my e-mail and my number, right?” Stacy nodded, “Good. Keep in touch. Maybe we can do something together again next summer. Well, bye!”
“Bye!” Stacy replied before waving.
Stacy spotted her father in the corner of her eyes and groaned. She could hardly think about what his response would be. Probably a simple “hello,” or maybe a “good you’re back,” but Stacy was actually quite surprised.
“Oh Stacy, I heard all about it. You and Rufus. I’m so sorry. You could have died and I wouldn’t have known until a month later. You must forgive me. I haven’t been a very good father, but I assure you all that will change. I’m going to make up for my mistake and get to know my daughter, just like I should have done a very long time ago,” her father said, a tear silently sliding down his face.
Stacy didn’t know what to say, so instead she gave her father an immense hug and he squeezed her back as both of them cried tears of joy in that small station. They were a family again. Jonathon had discovered Stacy and more importantly, Stacy had discovered herself.
As for Rufus, he had gone insane after the incident with Stacy. He was brought to a prison for the criminally insane where he would spend the rest of his life. He still hadn’t changed much, though. All of his life he would hate Jonathon and now Stacy too. Jealousy had ruined his life and even he knew that.
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