h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Chapter 1

When Viola was a little girl, people had often asked her what it was like to be the daughter of a famous inventor. “Are you kidding? Someday he’s going to get himself killed by one of those contraptions he works on!” was what she wished she could have said. Instead, she had said something polite and noncommittal.

Well, her words had certainly become prophetic, she thought now as she rode the bus toward Blemnox, her family’s ancestral estate. Just days ago, her father was putting the final touches on the rocket ship he was working on. He accidentally brushed against the launch button, and now he was heaven knows where. Maybe dead, maybe alive, just not where she could call him when she needed advice or just wanted to talk.

This was not the first time Viola had lost a relative to a freak incident. Six years earlier, her mother had wandered into a massive labyrinth made of hedges on an English estate. Mother had managed to get herself so lost that she vanished. This happened on April Fool’s Day, and the authorities assumed it was a prank. Or maybe Mom had gotten fed up with Dad’s wacky inventions and used the maze as an excuse to escape and start a new life. Viola wouldn’t have minded getting a new life too, but Mom never asked her. Oh, well.

Then there was Viola’s husband, a secret agent who suddenly needed to go into hiding for his own safety. Well, at least Viola still had the house she shared with him -- until a piece of space junk fell on it.

No family, no place to live, that about summed up her life, Viola thought as she watched the scenery passing by. Her grandfather would be waiting for her -- she hadn’t seen him in years. Blemnox had seemed like an odd place when she was little. Ah, there it was, looming in the distance! Viola could see the grand dome now. And the massive Greek columns that were in front of it, holding up nothing much but looking grand and neoclassical. And now she was close enough to see the tiny figure of Grandpa waving at her in the distance.

But why did he have a suitcase in his hand?

Welcome back to Blemnox. Now I know I am going to enjoy November.

Yes this sounds like the beginning of an exciting November

Great story I love reading it. I am very eager to find out where Grandad is going.

[Amy P]

Blemnox is like a black hole. Once you get into its orbit, you can never escape it! And it wears you down....

Deb