Valentina scratched her head as she gazed at her sketch and calculations one more time. “This should have worked….unless…” she scanned through her calculations and realized that she had missed a step.
“WOW, what a rookie mistake!” She shouted, in astonishment.
Vaughn smirked from the other side of the room.
“You figured it out, kiddo!” He motioned a thumbs up in her direction.
“Of course I did! I always figure it out eventually.” She grinned as she closed the back of her new creation and switched it on. It was a flying sleigh.
It was a more challenging project than any she’d done in awhile and she felt the joy as she gazed at this new beauty. It reminded her of her first creation...
“I’M BOREDDD!!!!” Young Valentina yelled at the top of her lungs as she fell to the floor dramatically.
“We’ve been traveling for days and the Solstice has already started!!” She continued complaining.
Vaughn made a grunt trying to hide his annoyance with her behavior.
“Well why don’t you make yourself useful, kiddo? There’s plenty of work around the ship.” He explained as he lifted her off the floor and pointed her in the direction of a bunch of metal scraps.
Valentina stomped over to the corner making sure that Vaughn knew that she wasn’t happy with him.
“...How did I get stuck with a kid this year?!” He whispered under his breath as he walked back to his cabin.
As Valentina was sorting the metal scraps she started to get an idea. It was of a cool toy she could play with and not have to be bored. The gears in her head started spinning, she grabbed a tool box and started building.
“Kid? You still alive?” Vaughn peaked from behind the door as it was suspiciously quiet.
To his surprise he found Valentina silent as a mouse trying to piece together metal scraps to make something that looked like a flying toy.
“Did you want help with that?” Vaughn scratched his head at the struggling child.
“NO! Go away! I’ll figure it out.” Valentina shooed him away.
Vaughn shrugged and went back to his desk.
Valentina was getting frustrated as she couldn’t find the right piece to fit the propellers. She took one more look at the scraps around her, nothing looked like a piece she could use. She had to start thinking outside of the box.
“Think….” She whispered to herself.
Her face brightened as she sprang up and darted across the room into Vaughn’s cabin. She pushed him aside and grabbed one the pens off of his desk.
“HEY?!” Vaughn yelled as he saw his favourite pen being yanked out of its holder.
Valentina ran back to her creation and jammed the pen in its place. She grabbed her remote and it took off the ground. Her expression was priceless, a smile ear to ear and complete joy.
From that day on she knew she wanted to build anything that came to her mind.
Vaughn watched her creation come to life from behind. Really annoyed that it cost his favourite pen, but also very proud of his kid.
As Valentina recollected her childhood memory she started smiling.
Vaughn recognized that smile.
“Hey kid, you still owe me a pen!”
art by Saeyra
Ash 8/7/19 
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