Once on a planet, far, far away in a whole different dimension, lived an alien called Grolde. He wasn’t a particular colour because his colour reflected on how he felt. He lived on Planet Hestus with his parents and friends and the rest of his kind. He knew that he was extremely lucky to live with all the advanced technology and to have the brilliant education available on Planet Hestus but he had one ambition in life: to visit Planet Earth. His parents had visited Planet Earth 1,000 years ago for their honeymoon (not long for aliens) and he had heard that Earth was this sweet little planet where technology was hardly invented and everything was about being outdoors in the country or the beach. No noisy cars or the smell of pollution, just peace. Grolde had read books about Planet Earth and if he looked really carefully through his window, he would get a glimpse of it. There was only one problem, he wasn’t allowed. His parents thought that travelling all the way to Earth for just one small trip was a waste of money and they would have to go too which would be far too expensive. He could go to one of the nearby planets which were only a few months away. “Just wait till you get married, then we can think about you going there for a honeymoon as honeymoons are cheaper,” they would say but Earth was the only planet that Grolde knew where technology wasn’t a part of people’s lives and he couldn’t wait that long.

One day Grolde was walking to school with his head bent and his whole body the colour of red. However many times he tried to convince his parents to let him visit Earth, it never worked. His best friend, Bruch, hated to see him upset. Grolde just wasn’t the same anymore.

“Whatever is the matter Grolde?” asked Bruch.

Grolde explained that his parents would never be persuaded to let him go to Earth.

“Why don’t you come to my place tonight and we can put our antennas together and think of a plan,” offered Bruch who was always willing to help Grolde.

And so as soon as school had finished, Grolde and Bruch were sitting in Bruch’s bedroom. They were scribbling several plans on bits of paper, though most of them went in the bin. The more plans that went in the bin, the more determined the pair was. They wouldn’t give up on hope, though the more time that passed by, the more restless they became.

“I say Bruch, doesn’t your father have a rocket for all those expeditions he goes on?” asked Grolde.

Bruch’s father’s job was to explore different planets in secret. You could say that he was a spy for planet Hestus.

“Yeah, my Dad does have a rocket but he would never let us use it. He doesn’t even allow Mum to use it, let alone us.”

Grolde’s shoulders slumped in frustration. But Bruch hadn’t finished.

“I have an idea. We can use the parts of my Dad’s old rocket to make our own and power it up from the nuclear power source room. It’ll only take a year to make the rocket and power it with enough nuclear power to get there.”

Grolde beamed with joy.” Bruch, you’re a genius! Thank you so much! You’re the bestest friend I’ve had and that’s not even a word! Let’s get cracking with this rocket. This truly is the best day of my life.”

“Watch it, you have to save the best day of your life for when we get there,” teased Bruch.

So Grolde and Bruch started on their rocket that very day and worked in complete secrecy.

One year later…

Grolde and Bruch stood proudly next to their rocket. It was a magnificent sight! This long sleek machine gleamed in the morning light showing off its bright red windows and stunning blue and white striped body that was painted to complete accuracy.

“Right, so here’s the plan. Next week our parents are going out for dinner and leaving us home alone because we’re of age. You can sneak to my place and before you know it we’ll be zooming off to Earth”, said Bruch excitedly. They were both very eager for the adventure that lay ahead of them.

As quickly as it had come, a week was over and rolling into the next.

“Ok Grolde, we’re leaving now. I’ve left some pasta in the fridge for you to eat. Make sure you don’t watch too much telly and brush your teeth before bed. Love you, bye!”

And with that Grolde’s parents were off and on there way to the restaurant. Grolde waited a good few minutes just so that his parents were completely out of town and then headed for Bruch’s place. Bruch was ready and had fired up the rocket. As soon as Grolde arrived they started to get ready for take-off. With a blast of wind and a whirl of sound, they took to the sky. Grolde couldn’t believe this achievement. They were actually going to see Planet Earth!

 5 years later…

Only a few more minutes and they would arrive. Grolde started to take out his camera. Their first stop was London. Bruch had fallen asleep on the journey several times but now lay wide awake and ready for this big new challenge.

The steps of the rocket began to unfold and rested on the ground. Grolde inhaled the air. Odd, he thought, it smelled just like home. Polluted. He walked down the steps onto the ground with Bruch close behind. Once he reached the ground, he took a good look around. There were busy roads, packed with cars, buses, lorries and all sorts of other vehicles. This wasn’t a nice peaceful place where everything was about the outdoors. Most people were on their phones or some other sort of gadget. This place had advanced with technology! He had never expected Earth to be like this. That was it. He hadn’t achieved anything!

“Bruch, are you seeing this? This is nothing like what Mum and Dad described this place to be. It’s been less than a minute and I feel like going home. How could a place change so much?” asked Grolde miserably.

Bruch looked worried.

“Grolde, there’s one tiny teeny little problem. We forgot to power up the rocket back at home with extra energy to get us back home. We only put in energy for a one-way journey!”

Grolde started to panic. What were they going to do? How would they get back home? And his parents, what would they think?

“This is bad, this is bad, this is really really bad!” muttered Grolde to himself.

All they could do was wander around and look for something useful which was very unlikely to find.

As they walked by a few people said things like “Nice costume” or “Dude, it’s not Halloween yet.” It was a nightmare come true. They were stuck on another planet with a completely different race. The human race. And the worst thing was they had no one to help them get back home and were living on scraps of leftover food from the rocket.

When all hope was lost, a police car pulled up next to them on the road. A rather skinny policeman stepped out of the car.

“You are aliens under the name of Grolde and Bruch?” asked the policeman with a look of dislike on his face.

They both nodded unsure what to say.

“Get in the car then but mind the upholstery.”

After about ten minutes or so Grolde asked the policeman where he was taking them and why.

The policeman sighed.” If you really must know your parents figured you’d escaped to Earth and contacted your Queen who is good friends with ours. And our Queen would do anything to help Planet Hestus and so asked me to escort you to the palace where your Queen and parents are waiting for you two.”

Grolde and Bruch felt relieved. They were saved!

After what felt like a million years, they finally arrived. There on the palace steps stood both their parents and both queens.

“Mum, Dad!” shouted Grolde while Bruch rushed to his parents.

But instead of looking overjoyed, the parents were very serious with a hint of anger.

“I can’t believe you disobeyed us! How many times have we said you can’t visit Earth? Do you have any idea how much money we have to put in because you decided to visit Earth without a passport and didn’t fly from the airport and was unsupervised? But that’s not the main thing we’re angry about. You took Bruch along with you to pursue your dream so that you could borrow his dad’s old rocket as well as sneaking away. What do you have to say for yourself?” asked Grolde’s Mum who was fuming!

Before Grolde could apologise, Bruch interrupted.

“I am sorry Mum and Dad and Grolde’s parents. If we had known how dangerous it would be we never would have done it. We now realise we have broken several rules and will never repeat our mistakes again. But please don’t just blame Grolde as we have both behaved badly and we will be willing to face the consequences without complaint.”

The Queen of England smiled.” We all learn from our mistakes but I think it’ll be best if you start heading for home. I can tell you are both genuinely sorry.”

The two queens embraced and then the aliens made their way home. Grolde had never been happier to be back home and inside knew that there was nowhere better than home.