I dedicate this book to my amazing teacher, Ms. Simpson, for being the greatest source of help.

حاول أن يكون لديك أكبر عدد ممكن من الأصدقاء الحقيقيين ، لأنهم هم الإمدادات في الفرح والملاجئ في المحن

"Try to have as many as possible true friends, for they are the supplies in joy and the shelters in misfortunes."

"Bruno? I'm gonna go check something out, I'll be back in a sec." Julian made his way into the control room, and shut the door behind him. I glanced out the window, and saw a breathtaking sight. Outside, it was a nebula of green, blue and white, with glowing galaxies clustered here and there. I could see Saturn a little ways off, it's silver rings twinkling in the starlight. There was another planet (Jupiter maybe) that reflected beams of gold out into space. But what really took my breath away was the sight of the stars. Radiant and dazzling, they looked like scattered moondust in the sky, beacons of hope for all the souls in the world. I never knew stars could be so colorful. Some were polar white, while others were birthstone blue. I knew that I was one of the luckiest people in the universe, just because I got to witness this spectacular sight. Me and Julian were on our may to Mars, our soon to be home. Earth's conditions hadn't been suitable for human life because of all the global warming, pollution, things like that.

So all of mankind was being moved to Mars, where water had been discovered a month ago, May 8th 2045, by a man named Madeus Stryker. Me and Julian were the 17th group, meaning we got to live in the second class homes. We had insisted to go in a shuttle by ourselves, so our parents had taken the shuttle flight right before ours, and were waiting for us there. I couldn't wait.

After a while of gazing into space, I got up to check on Julian, because he'd been gone a while. But as soon as I took a step forward, the Cosmo 890 lurched forwards like a cat that had just pounced on a mouse. "What could Julian be doing in there?" I murmured to myself. I crawled towards the control room, and opened the door. It was empty. "Julian!" I yelled. "Where are you?" Suddenly, the spaceship was filled with a loud roaring sound. A sound that only meant one thing. Julian was taking the capsule in the back and leaving. I ran to the back of the Cosmo 890, but it was already too late. Julian had left me by myself.

I closed the shiny metal door, which Julian had left open, and looked at my reflection. A lanky 13-year old boy stared back at me, his inky black hair in the messy quiff style, and his hazel eyes so vivid against his pale, freckled skin. This boy's life, it was about to change drastically.

I didn't have enough patience to just sit there and twiddle my thumbs waiting for something to happen, so I decided to take action. I looked out the window, expecting to see the beautiful space, and Mars, big and red, approaching, but instead, it was a bizarre golden planet that was full of craters, similar to the moon. I was stuck standing there, not knowing what to do. "First, Julian decides to ditch me, and now I'm lost in space?" I think. "This is horrible". I retreated to the lounge area and plop down onto the navy blue rocking chair, intending to calm myself down. I lean back and close my eyes, wishing desperately for all this to be a dream. Wishing desperately that when I open my eyes, I'll be back on Earth, rocking in the chair in my room, staring at the posters across from me. But it's way too good to be true. I open my eyes, but instead of seeing the bookshelf across from me, I see a paper fluttering down from the ceiling. It's from Julian.

Dear Bruno,

I'm really sorry. I was forced to leave, or else I would of put you in danger. The shuttle's weight limit had been reached, and would of failed us in an hour or two. And it's all my fault. If I had never insisted on bringing so many items on board with me, everything would of been perfectly fine. I took the capsule and went to Mars on my own. If I had told you, I would never of been able to leave. Please forgive me.

-Julian

Pursing my lips, I ripped up the note into pieces, and chucked them into the garbage can. Who cared about me being in danger? Julian apparently. But did he have to just ditch me like this? Without a goodbye or anything? And what was that golden planet that I saw earlier all about? My head was about to explode from all these questions. But one things was clear: I had to go through this adventure all by myself.

I looked out the window, and there was the golden planet. It was an inky gold color, some spots lighter than others. There were two transparent rings circling Dyson, and the overall appearance was magnificent. I resolved to be the first man on this planet, and let the shuttle take me to my destination.

The shuttle was still. As silent as the grave. I'd landed, and the engines had stopped whirring. I opened the shuttle door and stepped out.

Let the adventures begin.

The first word that came to mind when I stepped onto the planet was forgotten. It was a beautiful place and all, but there was just something that screamed at me, danger, danger! Maybe it was the smell in the air. It smelled sweet, like freshly cut lemons, but at the same time deadly. Or it could of been the fact that there wasn't a single living being anywhere. Or possibly, it was the shiny golden color that seemed to follow me around everywhere. Golden clouds, gold rooftops, even gold flowers. I could of only been imagining it, but I could swear that my own skin was turning gold! Suddenly, I felt a breath on my neck. Just as I was about to turn around, two slimy hands grabbed my neck, and began to squeeze. I grabbed at the hands, desperately trying to free myself, but to no avail. Then, everything turned black. I had been knocked out.

When I came to, I found that I was in a vast storage room with gold walls - of course - and shelves everywhere. A maze of shelves, tall and short, empty and full, you get the idea. Atop the shelves, there were many things that I could identify

from Earth, and some very peculiar and unexpected items that I assumed to be from this foreign planet. On a raised shelf, there was what I thought was simply a large bronze statue of a penguin, and upon further inspection, I realized it had a small jeweled crown placed upon its head, and an expression on its little penguin face that would make even the bravest man cower in fear. I quickly shied away, because as you can guess, I wasn't very comfortable staring at it.

As I was roaming the storage room, examining the fascinating knick-knacks, I heard a raspy voice behind me clear its throat. I spun around and found standing before me the most repulsive creature I had ever seen. It was about two of three feet in height, with bulbous lumps covering its sickly green colored body. It one horn on its head, smack-dab in the middle. But most disturbing of all were its round eyes. They were milky gray colored and oozing a green pus that was so neon it seemed to glow.

The creature regarded me with a look of obvious disdain, and said in its raspy voice, "You are that Earthling that Rolgus told me about, the one who trespassed in the aircraft titled the Cosmo 890, am I correct?' I couldn't find my voice to confirm my identity, so I just nodded. "Very good, very good." The alien croaked. "I am Zarthux, ruler of Dyson, but you can refer to me as 'your highness'. I will keep you hostage here until you can tell me why you decided to intrude into my territory. I will not tolerate a nuisance like you roaming round my planet. Tell me your purpose, and I will let you go. Fail to do so, and I will slaughter you myself!" I could feel myself turning pale. My heart thundered against my chest, threatening to break through.

Finally, I found my voice. "I-I promise I came here c-c-completely on accident. If you really want me to leave, I'll just go, and hopefully we'll never see each other ever again! Good enough?"

Zarthux narrowed his milky eyes. "Liar." he croaked, and before I could say another word, he had snapped his fingers and disappeared into thin air. I was stuck with two choices. Surrender myself to this alien who would kill me, or somehow find a way to escape. I threw myself onto the hard floor, and lay down. I began to plan what I should do when Zarthuz returns. Should I attack him? No, that wasn't a good idea. What if he had concealed powers or weapons that he attacked back with? Then for sure I would be done for. Suddenly I sat straight up. I had a plan.

I walked around the storage warehouse, examining everything on the shelves. Finally, I found what I was looking for.

A shelf in the far right corner of the room was stocked with many gadgets that I assumed to be weapons, but there was only one way to be sure: test them out.

I grabbed the most vigorous one to test out first. A gold and silver mixed sword with beautiful engravings, such as colossal dragons, symmetrical fires, and detailed leaves. The pommel was shaped into a point, painted navy blue and gold, while the grip was made out of black foam.

As I was turning the sword in my hand, examining the images engraved into it, I spotted a couple of buttons on the hilt, labeled with things such as "fire", or, "fly".

I was very keen to test the sword out, and I drew back to the menacing penguin. I aimed my new sword towards it, hit the explosive laser button, and waited with bated breath.

It was as if everything were happening at a snail's pace. The radiant amber beam sliced through the air as easily as a hot knife slices through butter.