An unexpected trip

I was about to press the button on the remote control to turn off the TV when an advertisement caught my attention. It was a new ad, I hadn't seen it before. They were talking about a project about manned space travel. There was no mention of a destination or launch date. They only limited themselves to create the expectation of an experience that they said would be unique.

The idea was left hanging around in my head until sleep overcame me.

The next morning after showering I realized I had no coffee in my pantry, a bad way to start the day. Without that first coffee before leaving the house I felt like I lacked energy. But no way, there was nothing to do, I had to continue with my work routine.

Mid-morning I took a break from work to look for a nearby coffee shop. I felt like walking to relax my mind and I went further than usual. I entered a small store, with a single table in the center occupied by an elderly couple. I ordered my coffee in a cardboard cup and started my way back.

The coffee was delicious, I sipped it slowly. I was about to throw it in the trash can when I saw a small plastic capsule at the bottom. I carefully opened it and was surprised by its message: "You have been the lucky winner" and added a phone number.

At lunchtime I called the number. They informed me that they could not give me any further information and gave me an appointment for the morning of the next day?

In the middle of the afternoon I told my boss that I had an appointment for the next morning, which would probably take all day, and that I would not be coming to work.

Before I got home I remembered that I had no coffee and stopped by the supermarket to buy two bags of ground beans.

Early I went to my appointment, it was in a luxurious building of a technology company. After fifteen minutes I went to an office where a well-dressed young man was waiting for me. He asked me for the paper I had taken out of the capsule and checked it under the light of an ultraviolet lamp. Everything is fine...I'll explain...he told me...

The well-dressed young man explained to me that I had been chosen to participate in a flight to the Moon, it was a pilot test to see the reaction of normal people to space travel.

It was the last stage before starting commercial flights for recreational purposes to a lunar station that would offer one-week packages, including lodging, food, medical care and trips to the outside...

There was still some time to go before the start of these commercial trips, so if I accepted, I would commit myself to remain incommunicado in a facility located in the Caribbean until the regular flights to the lunar station became a reality, after which I would be allowed to resume my normal life.

This was an indispensable requirement. They needed me to keep quiet about the experience. To compensate me, they offered me a one-time payment upon my return to Earth, equivalent to five years of my last salary...

I didn't think much about it and accepted... That same afternoon I communicated my resignation to the company where I was working.

Three days later I was flying in a private plane to a small island in the Caribbean. There I received basic training to get used to zero gravity situations.

On the seventh day another plane took me to a launch center in a desert area. There were only six of us in the craft...

After twenty-two hours of flight we landed on the lunar surface, during the trip I was able to enjoy the most spectacular images that my eyes had ever seen...

The lunar station occupied a huge surface, it looked like a gigantic glass capsule, it had all the amenities for the visitor, sports areas, theater, cinema, several restaurants. With all that it was easy to stay there for a week...

Twice I went outside in different ships, in the first one a space suit was not necessary, in the next one it was indispensable and it was used to have the experience of walking jumping on the surface of our natural satellite.

One of the things I liked the most was to see the sky through the glass dome...

My week went by very fast. I came back to Earth and was taken to that island in the middle of the sea...

I'm a little worried because time has passed and they don't come to pick me up, periodically dropping a supply of food and water from a helicopter. Nobody talks to me. I don't know why it has taken so long for the regular trips to start.... I keep my eyes open...

Epilogue...

After several tests, the feasibility of regular trips to the lunar station owned by a giant of the technological industry was proven. Everything was ready to start operations. But on the day of the maiden voyage, a tragic accident caused the spacecraft to explode, killing all the visitors and the crew. As a result of the accident, the authorities decided to close down this type of project until further notice...

Thank you for your time.