It was the year 2050, and quite a big day for India: ISRO was getting ready for Mangalyaan 5! Two astronauts, Ashok and Bharat were selected for the mission. They met during their training sessions.

“Hi, I am Ashok,” he said, offering his hand to shake.

“Hi. My name is Bharat,” he replied and they shook hands. From then, the two men became good friends.

Soon, their training was completed, and on May  21st, their spaceship took off from Earth. Ashok and Bharat traveled safely for six months. They were now about to land on the red planet.

Suddenly, the spaceship started beeping. Ashok started searching for the beeping’s source and exclaimed. “Oh no! Something is wrong with the control panel!”

“We have lost communication with Earth!” Bharat cried out.

Meanwhile, everyone at the Mission Control Center was panicking. “Reestablish communication!” the mission leader at ISRO ordered, but no one was able to do it.

Ashok and Bharat managed to land the spaceship on Mars safely. They put on their spacesuits and got down from the ship. They walked on the planet. They were overjoyed; today, they had made history by being the first humans to walk on Mars!

“Hey, Ashok! High five!” Bharat declared. Ashok laughed and they high-fived. The two men began exploring Mars. Bharat began collecting rocks and sand, while Ashok took pictures. All of a sudden, both of them lost balance. The ground started shaking. “A Marsquake!” Ashok cried.

The shaking stopped, but Bharat was injured. Ashok looked at their spaceship, but it was damaged too. He started feeling helpless.

Then, he heard a loud sound and saw a disc-shaped spaceship approach them. It landed and two weird-looking creatures came out of it. They were short, red in colour, and had bulging eyes and large ears. “Aliens!” Bharat said.

The aliens approached their damaged spaceship, and with one wave, repaired it! Then one of them went to Bharat, and healed his injuries!

The astronauts wanted to thank the aliens, but they vanished; it was like magic. Bharat and Ashok boarded their spaceship and started their journey back to Earth. “Reestablishing communication!” the spaceship said.

“Ashok, Bharat. Mission update. Are you both fine?” Their boss asked.

“Yes sir. Mission Successful. We have begun the return journey,” Bharat replied. The Mission Control Center was elated and started rejoicing.

In the spaceship, on the other hand, the two astronauts were scratching their heads. They were thinking of the aliens; who were they? Where did they come from?

This story was written as part of the Tinkle Story Creation Workshop. You can also learn to write stories with the help of the Tinkle team, among other fun workshops we conduct. Click here to sign up for one of our workshops today!