War on Whimsy (23 page)

“You idiot,” said Greta.

“That's what you said the first time,” said Sean.

“So Tyler is the only one who hasn't made a mistake,” said Nicola.

“I guess I'm just perfect,” said Tyler.

“I wish we had an endless supply of those gold buttons,” sighed Katie.

“Don't worry,” said Tyler. “If you make another mistake, you can use mine.”

“What are you all talking about so seriously?” Princess Petronella had paddled her inflatable throne over to join them.

“Mistakes,” said Shimlara.

“I don't know anything about mistakes,” said the princess. “What's it like to make one?”

“Didn't you make a mistake ordering Earth to be destroyed?” said Nicola.

“Nope,” said the princess. “Because otherwise I would never have collected so many dear friends!”

“Oh, that's sweet,” said Katie.

“Except we're not
stamps
,” said Greta.

A message came over the spaceship loudspeaker.“Attention, all passengers. Our estimated time of arrival on Earth is approximately twenty minutes.”

“I wonder how much time will have passed on Earth,” said Nicola as they all climbed out of the pool and dried themselves. “Hopefully only a few minutes, so no one will have missed us.”

It was very strange to think of returning to ordinary life after they'd parachuted over volcanoes, scuba dived through the Underground Sea, white water rafted, and then helped a planet win a war.

“I assume you flew on Time-Squeeze speed, so you had time up your sleeve,” said Georgio.

“We always do,” said Nicola.

“That's good,” said Georgio. “Because if you hadn't, I calculate that at least ten years would have passed in Earth time. Imagine that! Your parents would have spent the last ten years worrying about you. All your friends would be ten years older. You would—oh my goodness, are you
choking
, Tyler?”

Everyone turned to look at Tyler. His face had gone white.

“I
forgot
,” he wheezed.

“Forgot what?” said Nicola.

“I made a terrible mistake! I forgot to put the spaceship on Time-Squeeze speed! Ten years will have passed! I—what? Why are you all pointing at me?”

Suddenly he understood. He grinned at them, and holding the gold button between his fingertips, he began to murmur, “Let that moment retake . . .”

 

 

Nicola blinked. She had a slightly odd feeling. She wasn't sure why. Georgio was in the middle of saying to Tyler, “I assume you flew on Time-Squeeze speed, so you had time up your sleeve.”

For some reason Tyler's face was bright pink and his glasses were fogged up. He spoke slowly, as if he was dazed. “I fixed my mistake.”

“What mistake?” asked Nicola. She had no idea what Tyler was talking about.

Tyler took his glasses off and polished them with his sleeve. “That was the most amazing thing! I went right back to when we first left Earth in the spaceship and this time I made sure we went on Time-Squeeze speed! It was incredible!

Ah. So Tyler had made a mistake and now he'd fixed it. It was so strange that Nicola had no memory of it happening. Now everyone had used their limited edition gold buttons, so there would be no more second chances.

We'll just have to live with our mistakes from now on,
thought Nicola.

Everyone was concentrating on Tyler, so she was the only one to catch the first glimpse of Earth's familiar curve through the spaceship window. Seeing Earth from outer space was like seeing her own life from very far away. She thought about all the tiny things that could upset her on an ordinary day: missing the bus, homework, an argument with Sean. She vowed that at least once a day she would stop and remember that somewhere in the galaxy, planets were at war, fighting for the freedom she took for granted: the freedom to be annoyed by little things, because you didn't have to be terrified by much bigger things. Of course, it wouldn't stop her from being annoyed by Sean or wishing she didn't have homework, but it might help her put things in perspective.

As the Royal Spaceship plummeted back into Earth's outer atmosphere, Nicola's heart lifted. She thought about all the ordinary places and things and sights and sounds that lay waiting for her: her mom's frown as she sorted mismatched socks from the wash and yelled out answers to the quiz show on TV, her dad dancing around the kitchen as he burned the lamb chops, the taste of cheese on toast, the feel of her own pillow at the end of a long day, the shrill cries of cicadas as Earth's only sun slipped down toward the horizon outside her bedroom window.

Earth wasn't a perfect planet, but it was hers.

Home,
she thought.
It's so good to be home.