My Challenging Adventure

Author : Rahmet Sevdenur Bilir (13 years old)

Translator : Meldanur Bilir (18 years old) Illustrator: Zeynep Bera Tozlu (13 years old)

On a rainy morning, I woke up to the sound of raindrops hitting my window. I paused for a moment; something was missing. Were these my feelings? I was only thinking negatively, I couldn’t think positively at all. I immediately went downstairs to my mother.

“Mom, I don’t have any feelings,” I said.

She laughed and replied, “What do you mean, Sweetie? Your feelings are right where they should be.”

This situation frightened me even more. I went back upstairs to my room. Was it only happening to me? Maybe my mother hadn’t noticed, I thought. I turned on the computer and checked the breaking news: Environmental pollution has increased… Are electronic devices harmful? Is water going to cost 10 TL? None of it helped.

I needed to find another option. I thought maybe NASA was aware of this situation. I found NASA’s account and sent them an email:

“Hello, dear NASA officials. I would like to contact you about an issue. This morning when I woke up, I realized that my positive emotions had disappeared. Have you detected such a situation as well? Can you find the source of this problem? If you wish, I can help you too. I look forward to your reply. Thank you in advance.”

After sending the message, I went downstairs for breakfast. My mother had prepared a wonderful table: pancakes and chocolate milk. I filled my stomach and went back to the computer. There was a message:

(You have a message from NASA.)

“Hello. You are the only person who has noticed this situation. Hearing this raised many questions for us as well. You can help us. If you wish, we can communicate by phone or messages. Working with you would be an honor for us.”

This message warmed my heart and made me very happy. We immediately started communicating. They were doing research on large screens, while I was thinking about possible causes and asking questions. We examined everything one by one and reached some information:

Emotions suddenly disappearing,

An increase in accidents, hostility, and bullying,

A large bluish beam appearing around 4:00 a.m. at night… In camera recordings, the beam appeared and suddenly disappeared.

This information was useful. Many NASA officials had already started announcing the news. Our work lasted exactly 9 hours. It was evening. I went downstairs for dinner and told my mother everything. She was just as surprised as I was.

I quickly finished my meal and ran to my room. NASA had found the source of the incident! They called me immediately. We put everything on the table and thought about how to stop it. There were few options because the beams were originating from a purple system coming out of a cave located in the middle of Mount Everest, caused by an explosion. I suggested taking the poison and examining it, but NASA said it would be too dangerous.

NASA published many more reports; the number reached 37. Finally, we developed a bomb that could destroy this system. NASA began working on it. I, on the other hand, fell asleep from exhaustion.

When I woke up in the morning, my emotions still hadn’t returned. But there was a message from NASA:

“This morning at 09:27, the bomb will be dropped on the area by aircraft. Please wait for news from us.”

This made me very happy. I started counting down… Exactly at 09:27, a huge light flashed. Everyone froze for a moment, and with that pause, everyone’s old thoughts and emotions returned.

NASA: “You helped us a lot. Thank you.”

Me: “You’re welcome. Thank you as well.”

Then we made a news report together. This was the strangest event I had ever experienced in my life. But thankfully, my emotions had returned