The Grannies who Flew to the Moon - SILVER WINNER

By Katie Denyer, aged 9

A short time ago in a town far, far away (Grimsby actually) there were two Grannies.

Let me introduce you to Gertrude. Everyone called her “Dirty Gerty” because every Saturday she would do Parkruns and always made a special effort to run through muddy puddles. Gerty had a friend called Bessie who always managed to spill her chocolate milkshakes down her blouse, so everyone called her “Messy Bessie.”

Gerty and Bessie lived in a residential home in Grimsby and were bored. They yearned for adventure and exotic places. Yes, I know what you are thinking….. Blackpool….but NO. They’d already been there and it rained all day. Somewhere new and exciting was needed.

There was a BBC programme about space and that nice Professor Brian Cox was on it. Bessie quite fancied Brian Cox. Gerty much preferred George Clooney. Professor Cox talked about the International Space Station and travelling to the moon. The old ladies looked at each other with wide eyes… they knew where to go.

“Why don’t we go to the Moon?” they said.

“How will we get there?” asked Bessie.

“In a rocket, of course” replied Gerty. So they built one. They went to all the hardware stores and got everything they needed. All night they nailed, stapled, glued, hammered and painted. The rocket was magnificent - 20 feet tall, bright pink and powered by fireworks (rockets, of course, not bangers or sparklers). Bessie wanted to call it “Brian” but Gerty preferred “George”. They finally agreed on “Teacake” as they both liked teacakes.

The day of the launch arrived and the ladies packed their essential supplies. They had a detailed checklist: jaffa cakes, tea, spectacles, torches and mint imperials. They were ready. The ladies were scared during lift off. It was so loud it woke Mr Jones, who was dozing in the care home.

Finally they were in space, hurtling towards the moon. How fantastic … they were going past the International Space Station. On board the station, Major Tim Peake looked out the window while brushing his teeth. He saw a bright, pink rocket shoot past with two old ladies waving at him. Tim blinked several times in surprise and decided he probably should not mention this to the rest of the crew. The ladies flew onwards, around the dark side of the Moon until facing back to Earth, they fired their engine again, to bring them home.

Tim was dunking a biscuit in tea when the ladies shot past again, waving happily. He dropped the biscuit in his tea and decided to have a lie down

The re-entry to Earth was even scarier than the launch and the jaffa cakes melted but the woolly parachute worked perfectly. The ladies landed in Grimsby, tired but happy.

“That was quite exciting – what shall we do next?” asked Gerty.

“Let’s meet Tim Peake, when he parachutes back down to Earth – he’ll be so pleased to see us again.”