A Galactic Easter! Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1 Eggs and Bags

  Chapter 2 Candy Planet

  Chapter 3 The Big Day

  Chapter 4 Welcome to Gluco!

  Chapter 5 Off to the Races

  Chapter 6 Let the Games Begin!

  Chapter 7 Find the Eggs

  Chapter 8 The Race Is On!

  Chapter 9 Zack’s Decision

  Chapter 10 A Very Happy Easter!

  ‘Galaxy Zack’ Excerpt

  About Ray O’Ryan and Colin Jack

  Chapter 1

  Eggs and Bags

  Zack Nelson stared into his hyperphone. On the screen he saw Bert, his best friend from Earth. Zack and his family used to live on Earth. Now they lived on the planet Nebulon.

  “What are you doing today, Bert?” asked Zack.

  “We’re painting Easter eggs,” Bert replied.

  In the background Zack could see Roberta and Darlene, Bert’s two younger sisters. The girls ran into the room carrying a painting set and a basket full of eggs. “Remember when we used to decorate eggs together?” Zack asked.

  “That was pretty cool,” said Bert. “Remember doing the egg toss?”

  “Totally!” replied Zack. “Especially the year I missed the catch and the egg landed on my new shoes!”

  “And what about the sack races?”

  “Oh, they were funny. Hop, hop, hop . . . fall! Hop, hop, hop . . . fall!”

  Zack and Bert both started laughing hysterically.

  “So how do they celebrate Easter there on Nebulon?” asked Bert.

  Zack thought for a moment.

  “You know, Bert, I’m not really sure,” he replied. “This is our first Easter here.”

  “Are there eggs on Nebulon?” Bert asked.

  “I know there aren’t any chickens here,” Zack explained. “When we eat eggs, they’re the eggs of the rondo bird. And those eggs are big and round like softballs.”

  “Excuse me, Master Just Zack,” said a voice from a speaker just above Zack.

  “What’s up, Ira?” Zack asked.

  Ira was the Nelson family’s Indoor Robotic Assistant. Although he was a machine, Ira had quickly become a part of the Nelson family.

  “Dinner will be ready in five minutes,” Ira explained.

  “Thanks, Ira. I’ll be right down,” said Zack. “Gotta go, Bert. Happy Easter! Let’s vid-chat again soon.”

  “See ya, Zack.”

  How will we celebrate Easter? Zack wondered as he left his room and headed downstairs for dinner.

  Chapter 2

  Candy Planet

  Zack arrived at the kitchen table. The booth hovered above the floor. Beside him sat his older twin sisters, Cathy and Charlotte. On the other side sat his mom and dad, Shelly and Otto.

  “Dinner is served,” said Ira.

  A panel in the wall slid open. A mechanical arm served steaming plates of food.

  “Thank you, Ira,” said Mom. “All of this looks delicious!”

  “So, Dad . . . ,” Cathy began.

  “. . . what are we doing . . . ,” Charlotte added.

  “. . . for Easter this year?” Cathy concluded.

  The twins often finished each other’s sentences or spoke as if they were one person.

  Dad had a mouthful of food. Before he could reply, the girls continued.

  “Will we get to . . .”

  “. . . decorate eggs or go on an Easter egg hunt?”

  “What about chocolate bunnies . . .”

  “. . . with tiny treats and surprises hidden inside?”

  Dad swallowed his food.

  “Great news, everyone,” he said. “We are going to the planet Gluco for Easter!”

  “No way!” Zack shouted excitedly. “The Candy Planet! That is so grape!”

  “The Candy Planet?” the twins asked together.

  “Why do you . . .”

  “. . . call it that, Zack?”

  “Are you kidding?” said Zack. “Just about everything on Gluco is made out of candy! I can’t imagine a cooler place to spend Easter!”

  “Not only that, guys,” said Dad, “but they also have an Easter race course with sack races and other contests.”

  “Yay!” cried Zack.

  “And they have an egg decorating workshop with colors you didn’t even know existed!” Dad explained.

  “Okay . . .”

  “. . . let’s go . . .”

  “. . . to the Candy Planet!”

  “Mom, can Drake come with us?” Zack asked.

  Drake was Zack’s best friend on Nebulon.

  “If it’s all right with Drake’s parents, I don’t see why not,” replied Mom.

  Zack smiled. “This is going to be the best Easter ever!”

  After dinner, Zack immediately got on his hyperphone with Drake.

  “I love going to Gluco!” Drake exclaimed when Zack told him the plan. “My parents have taken me there lots of times. Let me check with them.”

  Zack’s hyperphone went dark. A few minutes later, Drake’s face popped up again.

  “My folks said yes!” said Drake excitedly. “What time do we leave?”

  “Grape!” cried Zack. “We head to the spaceport at nine on Sunday morning. See you then!”

  Imagine. A planet made of candy, Zack thought, just before he drifted off to sleep. Back when I lived on Earth, I might have made up something like that for a story. But here, it’s real!

  Chapter 3

  The Big Day

  “Time to get up, Master Just Zack,” said Ira early Sunday morning.

  Zack bolted upright in his bed.

  “What day is it, Ira?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

  “It is Sunday,” Ira replied. “Time to go to Gluco.”

  Zack jumped from bed and headed downstairs.

  “Happy Easter, Zack!” said Mom.

  “Happy Easter, everyone!” said Zack.

  “Look what . . .”

  “. . . we got . . .”

  “. . . for Easter!” said Charlotte and Cathy.

  Each girl held up a big chocolate bunny.

  “Wow!” exclaimed Zack. “Just like we had on Earth!”

  “I ordered them just for the three of you,” said Mom. She handed Zack his chocolate bunny.

  “Thanks, Mom!” said Zack.

  “Excited about today?” asked Mom.

  “About going to a planet made of candy?” replied Zack. “Why would I be excited about that?”

  Zack, his parents, and his sisters all chuckled.

  “Cosmic cakes with zoomberry syrup please, Ira,” Zack said.

  A few seconds later a panel in the kitchen wall slid open and a steaming plate of food came out. Zack poured dark blue syrup all over the flat fluffy cakes shaped like stars and planets.

  “Hurry up, Zack . . .”

  “. . . we have eggs . . .”

  “. . . to decorate on Gluco!” said Charlotte and Cathy.

  “Mrph . . . mpfruf,” replied Zack through a mouthful of cosmic cakes.

  “Master Drake has arrived,” Ira announced.

  Drake strolled into the room.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Drake said. “Thank you for inviting me on this trip.”

  “We’re glad you could make it,” replied Mom.

  “Okay—I’m ready!” Zack said, tossing his napkin onto his empty plate and jumping from his seat. “Let’s go!”

  “What about . . .”

  “. . . Luna?”

  “Can she come?” asked the twins.

  “It wouldn’t be a family trip without Luna!” said Dad. “Come on, girl!”

  Everyone piled into the family’s flying car and headed to the Creston City Spaceport. A short while
later they climbed into a shuttle and took off.

  Zack smiled as stars and planets whizzed past him. Space travel always made him happy. Zack and Drake played games on their hyperphones until . . .

  “Look . . .”

  “. . . there it is . . .”

  “. . . Gluco!” cried the girls, pointing out the window.

  Zack peered out the shuttle’s window. Below he saw a bright blue planet that was shaped like a giant jelly bean in space.

  As the shuttle dropped down for its landing, it passed through what looked like a layer of clouds.

  “These clouds are made of cotton candy!” said Drake.

  “This is going to be great!” cried Zack.

  Chapter 4

  Welcome to Gluco!

  Charlotte and Cathy stared out the window of a space bus.

  “Look at . . .”

  “. . . all the . . .”

  “. . . colors!” they squealed.

  The bus carried them from the Gluco spaceport into the center of the largest city on the planet, Caramel City. Rivers of golden caramel snaked through the streets.

  “Look at that bridge!” cried Zack, pointing out the window. “I think it’s made out of peppermint sticks!”

  “And there is a garden filled with lollipop sunflower plants,” said Drake.

  “Look at that tree!” Zack shouted. “The bark looks like it’s made from licorice.”

  “It is,” explained Drake. “And those white fluffy flowers? They are marshmallows.”

  “Amazing!” said Mom.

  “Delicious!” added Dad.

  “Those houses look like they are made of gingerbread,” said Zack.

  “They are,” said Drake.

  The bus pulled up to a huge building shaped like a giant Easter egg.

  “First stop, the egg decorating workshop,” announced the driver.

  The Nelsons and Drake got off the bus and walked into the silver building. Luna sniffed everything in sight.

  Inside, they saw rows of long tables filled with kids.

  “But where are the paints . . .”

  “. . . and the paintbrushes . . .”

  “. . . and the eggs?” Charlotte and Cathy wondered.

  A tall woman came over to the girls. The stripes on her uniform flickered like a glittering rainbow.

  “You must be new to Gluco,” said the woman. “I am Cigney. Let me show you how we decorate eggs.”

  Cigney led Charlotte and Cathy to one of the long tables. In front of each girl sat a small, egg-shaped machine.

  “Start by touching the egg in front of you,” explained Cigney.

  When Cathy touched the machine, it began to glow.

  “Now use your fingers as if they were paint brushes,” said Cigney. “As you paint with your fingers, call out colors.”

  Cathy began to trace a swirling pattern on the egg-shaped machine. “Red!” she called out. Wherever she moved her finger, a swirl of red appeared on the machine.

  “Green!” called out Charlotte. She drew crisscrossing patterns of green onto her machine.

  “Blue!” said Cathy, adding blue streaks to her design.

  When Charlotte’s entire machine was covered in colors, Cigney said, “Now press the button on the top of the machine.”

  Charlotte pressed the button. A panel on the machine opened and out came a colorful Easter egg. The egg was decorated exactly in the pattern Charlotte had traced.

  “Wow . . .”

  “. . . this is . . .”

  “. . . amazing!”

  “Would you like to paint another egg?” Cigney asked.

  “Sure!” both girls shouted at once.

  “I’ll stay here with the girls,” said Dad. “Shelly, why don’t you take Zack and Drake to the race course for the games?”

  “Okay,” said Mom. “Let’s go.”

  “Now you’re talking!” said Zack.

  Chapter 5

  Off to the Races

  Zack, Mom, and Drake hurried from the egg decorating workshop. Luna followed them. On the way to the race course, they passed some amazing-looking trees.

  “That’s one of those licorice trees!” exclaimed Zack. “Is it really licorice?”

  “Go ahead and try some,” replied Drake.

  Zack peeled off a tiny piece of the tree’s bark. He slowly took a bite.

  “Mmmmm,” he moaned. “It really is!”

  Then Zack plucked off one of the fluffy white flowers growing in the grass. “Marshmallow! It really is a marshmallow!” he said as the gooey, sticky treat melted in his mouth.”

  Luna rolled around in the marshmallow flowers. When she got up she was covered with marshmallows. She spun around in circles trying to lick the white puffs off of her fur.

  “Silly girl,” said Zack, plucking off a few marshmallows.

  “Hey, Zack—look at this!” cried Drake. He knelt down next to a colorful bush. Dangling from the plant’s many green stems were jelly beans of every color. He popped one into his mouth. “Yum! Watermelon flavored.”

  “Let’s try this,” Zack suggested. He pulled two pink petals from a flower on a nearby vine and handed one to Drake.

  Zack shoved it into his mouth and started chewing.

  “Gum!” Zack cried. “It’s bubble gum!”

  Zack picked a few more gum petals and slipped them into his pocket. The boys chewed on the gum and blew bubbles as they continued to the race course. A few minutes later they arrived at a big field.

  “You boys sign up,” said Mom. “I’m going to go see how the twins are doing. I’ll be back soon. Come on, Luna!”

  As Luna walked away, she jumped up onto a tree and bit off a long piece of licorice. She happily chewed on the candy as she followed Mom.

  “Hello, boys,” said a man at the sign-up table. “My name is Larso. Which activities would you like to compete in?”

  “All of them!” replied Zack. He recalled how much he loved every Easter event back on Earth.

  “Okay, just put your names here,” said Larso. “We have two people on each team. I assume you guys want to be a team?”

  “You bet!” exclaimed Zack.

  “Thank you,” added Drake.

  “Each two-person team is matched up against another two-person team for the events,” explained Larso.

  “Sounds great!” said Zack. “Who are we competing against?”

  “Here they come now,” said Larso, pointing to two boys who were walking toward Zack and Drake.

  “It’s Seth Stevens from Sprockets Academy,” said Zack. Zack and Seth hadn’t gotten along at first, but over time they had become friendlier.

  “And he is with his best friend, Howie!” Drake said.

  “Drake,” Zack said very seriously. “I like Seth and Howie, but I really want to win this contest!”

  Chapter 6

  Let the Games Begin!

  “All contestants for the egg tossing contest please line up!” Larso announced into a bullhorn.

  “That’s the first event,” Zack said. He and Drake headed to the starting line.

  Zack and Drake faced each other. They stood about a foot apart. Nearby, Seth and Howie lined up in the same position.

  “I am really good at this event, Zack,” said Seth.

  “Me too,” replied Zack.

  “May the best team win,” said Drake.

  “Do not worry,” said Howie. “We will!”

  “Here are the rules,” said Larso. “One player tosses an egg to his partner who must catch the egg without breaking it. After each successful catch, the teammates will take a step away from each other. The first team to drop or break the egg loses.”

  Larso handed Zack a colorfully decorated egg. Then he handed one to Seth.

  “Ready?” Larso announced in a booming voice. “Begin!”

  Zack tossed his egg into the air with a gentle underhand motion. The egg rose, then dropped into Drake’s cupped hands. It remained unbroken.

  Seth went next. He lobb
ed his egg softly. It arced through the air and landed in Howie’s outstretched hand.

  “Step!” called out Larso.

  Zack and Drake each took one step backward. So did Seth and Howie.

  Now it was Drake’s turn. He reached his arm out and released the egg, all in one smooth motion. The egg floated through the air. Zack cupped his hands and caught the egg, pulling his arms toward his body. The egg remained unbroken.

  Howie sent an underhand toss sailing toward Seth. Seth’s eyes opened wide as he realized that Howie had thrown the egg a bit too hard. Seth stepped backward, reached up, and plucked the egg out of the air with one hand. The egg was intact.

  “Step!” Larso shouted again.

  Both sets of teammates took another step apart.

  Zack concentrated hard. Drake looked very far away. Zack tossed the egg high into the air—higher than any of his previous throws.

  Drake took a step to his left and reached his hands out. As the egg came down, he brought his hands together—but not fast enough. The egg slipped through Drake’s hands and hit the ground. The shell cracked, and purple sugary powder from inside puffed up into the air.

  Larso blew a whistle. “The egg toss goes to Seth and Howie,” he announced.

  “Sorry about that throw,” said Zack as he and Drake headed over to the next event.

  “No problem,” replied Drake.

  “Let’s win the next event,” Zack said to Drake.

  “That is the plan,” Drake replied.