{"id":2774,"date":"2016-03-25T09:00:21","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T16:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/?p=2774"},"modified":"2016-04-04T15:10:03","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T22:10:03","slug":"astronaut-story-by-brianna-granados","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2016\/astronaut-story-by-brianna-granados\/","title":{"rendered":"“Astronaut” — story by Brianna Granados"},"content":{"rendered":"

One City One Story 2016 Writing Contest: \u201cA Vivid Memory\u201d<\/p>\n

Honorable mention<\/p>\n

Category 2: Grades 6-8<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAstronaut\u201d<\/p>\n

by Brianna Granados<\/p>\n

Grade 8<\/p>\n

Southmore Intermediate School<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alfred wanted to be an astronaut. When he was a kid, his parents would smile warmly and encouraged his dream. They bought him dozens of constellation posters, let him cover his bedroom walls in glow-in-the-dark stars, and for his tenth birthday, bought him a telescope.<\/p>\n

To them, it was all just a silly dream he would grow out of. They would make sure he didn\u2019t get too hurt when he realized that he would never be an astronaut.<\/p>\n

On Alfred\u2019s twelfth birthday, he was asked what he wanted to be. \u201cAn astronaut!\u201d He had replied cheerfully. The other kids snickered, and a nervous expression spread across his teacher\u2019s face. He didn\u2019t know why she had made that face until she put a hand on his shoulder and smiled a smile filled with pity and explained why he could not be an astronaut.<\/p>\n

When he arrived home, his parents held out his cake; huge smiles spread across their faces. He knew it was a silly thing to get worked up about. After all he was twelve now. His cake didn\u2019t have to be filled with designs or cool toppings.<\/p>\n

Still, his stomach churned as if he had eaten something bad, and he felt it was hard to breathe. His cake was plain white, a strawberry on each corner, but that was it. It wasn\u2019t space themed like the others had been. He couldn\u2019t help but think his parents had stopped believing in him too. After he explained he had a rough day at school, his parents let him retreat to his room.<\/p>\n

He looked through his telescope, sighing wistfully at the stars and planets he saw through the glass. The gadget made his dreams seem so close\u2014as if all he had to do was reach his hands up as far as he could manage and he\u2019d touch the moon, see and study stars, and discover planets.<\/p>\n

It seemed like such a plausible thing if he just stayed determined and tried hard enough, but everyone told him it just wouldn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

He looked down at his wheelchair feeling the tears from his built up frustration blur his vision. He clenched his fists and hit the sides of his chair.<\/p>\n

That was the first time he remembered feeling such pure hatred towards the world. He sobbed into his hand, angry at himself for crying when he was supposed to be older now, angry at the world for kindly asking what his dreams were, only to tell him he couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t his fault he couldn\u2019t walk. He had been doing everything just fine before, hadn\u2019t he? His disability had never slowed him down, he never felt any different. He was simply Alfred, a boy with dreams too big for this world, and no one had bothered him about it before. So why now? Why could he suddenly not be what he wants to be? He was only twelve, is that what had changed?<\/p>\n

After a while, Alfred managed to calm himself down. He felt so exhausted. Just as he was about to call his parents to help him get ready, he glanced up at the dark sky and the stars spread across it. A lump was caught in his throat as he saw the fleeting light of a shooting star.<\/p>\n

He adjusted the telescope as fast as he could, and felt his worries be swept away at the sight of the falling piece of rock. Alfred decided then, that just because everyone else was willing to give up his dreams for him, he\u2019d just try twice as hard.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

View: \u00a0One City One Story Contest 2016 Winners<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One City One Story 2016 Writing Contest: \u201cA Vivid Memory\u201d Honorable mention Category 2: Grades 6-8   \u201cAstronaut\u201d by Brianna Granados Grade 8 Southmore Intermediate School   Alfred wanted to be an astronaut. When he was a kid, his parents would smile warmly and encouraged his dream. They bought him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[92],"class_list":["post-2774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing","tag-contest"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ZwbD-IK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2705,"url":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2016\/one-city-one-story-contest-winners\/","url_meta":{"origin":2774,"position":0},"title":"One City One Story Contest Winners","author":"Jane Gov","date":"March 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Pasadena Public Library is pleased to announce\u00a0the\u00a0One City One Story 2016\u00a0Art and Writing Contest winners! Photos by Catherine Hany \u00a0 The winning entries were honored during an award ceremony followed by a reception on March 19, 2016.\u00a0The winning entries are\u00a0currently displayed\u00a0at Central Library in the Great Hall, and will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Agendas & News"","block_context":{"text":"Agendas & News","link":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/agendas-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2016\/03\/contest_title.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2016\/03\/contest_title.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2016\/03\/contest_title.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2016\/03\/contest_title.png?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3458,"url":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2016\/the-martian-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":2774,"position":1},"title":"The Martian — teen review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"November 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Review by Kristina Yin, grade 11 The Martian by Andy Weir Summary: \"Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/teen-reviews\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2016\/11\/the-martian.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2741,"url":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2016\/a-vivid-memory-by-raizel-osorio\/","url_meta":{"origin":2774,"position":2},"title":"“A Vivid Memory” –story by Raizel Osorio","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"March 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"One City One Story 2016 Writing Contest: \u201cA Vivid Memory\u201d 3rd place Category 3: Grades 9-12 \u201cA Vivid Memory\u201d by Raizel Osorio Grade 9 Blair High School \u00a0 Paris. My dream was to go to Paris. For my 8th grade promotion, my parents bought me a trip to Europe with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5986,"url":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2020\/bookmark-design-contest\/","url_meta":{"origin":2774,"position":3},"title":"Bookmark Design Contest","author":"Jane Gov","date":"September 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We're pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Bookmark Design Contest! The contest was a great success. We had numerous entries with very creative designs. Two designs from each category, eight designs in total, were selected by our library staff judges. 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I glance up at my dreamcatcher, which hasn\u2019t been doing a very good\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/category\/opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2775,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions\/2775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}