Nix and the Faraway Lighthouse

10-12 min read
23 pages
7+

Nix is a curious little hamster who loves fixing things and poking into everything. One day he curls up for a nap inside a brand-new rocket and wakes up in outer space, headed for a faraway planet of fluffy flumps whose lighthouse has gone dark. Can one small fixer help it shine again?

Far, far away, there was a planet where only hamsters lived. Their doors were round. Their hallways were long, twisty tubes. And in the middle stood a giant space lab with see-through domes and shiny antennas. Furry hamster scientists scurried through its tunnels all day long.

This was Nix. He worked in the lab’s fix-it room, where broken things got fixed.

Nix could never sit still. He squeezed between the wires. He peeked into a box that said not to open it. And he had a funny habit. He nibbled the corners of big papers with drawings of machines on them. “Chewing helps me think,” Nix said.

Greta found him in the battery room again. Very gently, she pulled him out of a tangle of colorful cables. “Nix,” she sighed. “You’re in here again?” Nix clutched a nut. “Just making sure everything’s safe,” he mumbled.

One day, Nix went looking for a screwdriver. Instead, he found a brand-new little rocket in the middle of the hangar. He peeked inside. There was a soft seat and a warm, glowing light. And it smelled like cookies!

“Maybe just a tiny nap,” Nix thought. He curled up into a ball. Then—RUMBLE! SHAKE! WHOOSH! Nix opened his eyes. His home planet was far, far behind him. “Uh-oh,” he whispered.

Every day, a strange signal came from a faraway corner of the sky. Beep… beep… beep… Nobody knew what it meant. So the hamsters had built the little rocket to fly out there and find out. And now Nix was on his way—all by himself.

Back home at the lab, screens flashed. A siren wailed: WOO-WOO-WOO!

“What’s happening?” “The little rocket took off!” “But it isn’t ready yet!” Someone pointed at a screen. “Look! Is that… Nix?” “He’s inside!” “He doesn’t know how to fly it!” Everyone was very worried.

Far away, the little rocket landed with a soft bump on a strange new planet. Nix poked out his nose. He looked left. He looked right. Everything was quiet. So he climbed out. The ground was squishy, like a warm pillow. All around stood fluffy trees, like colorful clouds on sticks.

The air was warm and smelled like caramel. Nix took a big, happy sniff. “Wow,” he whispered. “What a place!”

Suddenly, over the hill came bouncing… flumps! They were round and fuzzy, with bright little noses and big, friendly eyes.

“Trivi-bo!” the flumps shouted all together. “Um… hello?” said Nix. “Yes! That’s it! That’s our hello!” they cheered. “Did someone send you to help us?” “Well, I’m Nix,” said Nix. “I’m a hamster from the lab.”

“You came! Somebody heard our signal!” cried the flumps. “We sent it to call for help. Our lighthouse is broken!” “Your… lighthouse?” said Nix, blinking.

The flumps showed him a big space lighthouse. It stood tall and dark. “It used to shine for spaceships,” they said, “like a flashlight in the dark. Then it broke. Now the ships can’t find their way. They keep getting lost!”

“Yesterday Captain Zurbus landed in our vegetable garden,” said one flump. “He thought he was on some other planet! It took us an hour to make him believe us.” “And last week a ship landed in the stadium—right in the middle of our fluffball game!” said another. Then Tori, the oldest flump, looked at Nix hopefully. “We tried to fix the lighthouse ourselves,” he said, “but we couldn’t. You know how to fix things, don’t you?” Nix grinned. Fixing things was his very favorite job!

Nix climbed inside the lighthouse. He tightened a wire. He gave a dusty spot a big puff. He found a little part that had fallen out and popped it back in. Blink! Hummm… Then bright beams shot out in every direction! Nix beamed, too.

“It works! It works again!” the flumps cheered. They danced around the shining lighthouse and hugged Nix tight. Then they gave him their very favorite cookies, with mint cream inside, to say thank you. Nix took one bite. Mmm! He forgot about wires. He forgot about nuts. He even forgot he was far from home. Then he remembered, and he smiled. “All done!” he said. “Time to go home. Without me, the toaster probably won’t even turn on!”

The flumps walked Nix back to the little rocket. They gave him a box of mint cream cookies. “In case you get hungry on the way!” they giggled. They also gave him a tiny gold star. It said that Nix was a Space Fix-It Master.

The little rocket landed with a soft bump in the lab yard, right next to a box of spare gears. Nix popped his head out of the hatch. “We landed!” he laughed. “And nothing went boom!” Hamsters came running from every direction.

They had waited and worried the whole time. Now here they came with a flag, a nutty pie, and a big bunch of balloons!

Nix showed them his gold star. Then he told them all about the flumps and their broken lighthouse. “You fixed it all by yourself?” the hamsters cried. “And you came back even fluffier!” someone joked. Nix just smiled. “It was nothing,” he said. “A little twist here, a little puff there.” Everyone laughed and clapped.

Nix looked at his little gold star and smiled. Far, far away, the flumps’ lighthouse was shining bright. And Nix had fixed it—just by doing what he did best.

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