23 October 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3265: just one more kilometre

“OK Grandma Jubilee, so, what you're saying is, there's a chance, but, we gotta be really careful, because the difference between crash landing and not is just one more kilometer per hour.”

Nine-year-old Milton Trent and nine-year-old George Ludlow were picking Milton's grandmother's brain about what it took to get a space rocket into orbit, and Mrs. Gladys Jubilee Trent, aka Grandma Jubilee, had opened up the Encyclopedia Americana to see what space travel had already required.

“Yes, I would say there is a chance,” Grandma Jubilee said, “but yes, you have to make 28,000 kilometers an hour, not 27,999 kilometers per hour, because if you do that you will get all the way around the world to crash-land just short of where you started.”

“OK, but the reference books and even Google don't even have the real info we need to fix this,” George said. “Does anyone know how many beans you have to eat to get enough gas to move at one kilometer per hour? Because, I gotta plan my diet.”

“That probably depends on the type of bean, how they are cooked, and the person eating them,” Grandma Jubilee said, with a smile.

“There's so much you can only find out by experimenting,” Milton said with a sigh. “The life of trailblazers is hard.”

“And there's another thing, too,” George said. “What is the conversion rate of beans to gas vs. beans to No. 2, because, there's ways to move fast with beans, but, we're trying to get into orbit, not be running to the bathroom.”

“There's a lot of work needed to get into space,” Grandma Jubilee said, “but at least you have figured out how to go more than one kilometer per hour on beans.”

“Right,” Milton said, “that is progress, kinda.”

“We just gotta get the other 27,995 kilometers per hour in gear now – thanks, Grandma Jubilee, because yeah: we are further along than we thought!”