What If the Moon Got Bigger (Much Bigger!)

Whoa, the light from outside your window just got brighter. It’s 9:30 in the evening, and you have a huge exam coming up tomorrow. You peek outside to see if your neighbors use their floodlights again, but they’re outside looking up in the sky.

You stick your head out and notice that the moon got a lot bigger — double in size. You run outside and ask people what’s going on, but they don’t have a clue either. You take a picture of it and post it on social media. You view your feed and see that everyone is talking about it.

The dark sky is brighter because the moon has more real estate to reflect light from the sun, making the light more intense. You can feel a slight imbalance while walking. Every time you take a step, it feels like you’re walking lighter than usual. Because the moon became so large, its gravitational pull became stronger, so gravity became weaker. Suddenly, you look below you and feel your socks are wet.

You run and hop on top of a car and see that there’s water flooding your neighborhood. Everyone tries to find higher ground or run back to their houses. This isn’t a fire hydrant that busted and is spewing out water. This is ocean water seeping in. You’re confused and lose your balance. You slip and fall in the water as it rises.

Some people are in their cars, but they can’t drive anywhere because of the water. You live near the ocean, but there has never been a tsunami or any flood reports in your whole life. There are no reported earthquakes around the area, so something strange is happening. You run back to your house, trying to see if you can get out your old inflatable raft to help you with the flood.

The only problem is that you need to inflate it but don’t have your pump. You inflate it with your mouth at first, but it’ll take forever to pump it up. You search around your house for an alternative and find your hairdryer. You plug it in and inflate the raft as much as you can until you can use your mouth to do the rest.

The water level rises by every second and has now entered your house. You pack up a bag with a good flashlight, some food, and thermal blankets. You go downstairs and see that the water is now at your knees. You keep walking until you reach the door.

When you step outside, the water pushes you left and right since the waves are very harsh. Since gravity has changed, it’s not easy to swim around. You get your raft ready and use it to float yourself down the current in your street. It doesn’t help that the water is freezing, and in you’re in the middle of February.

After a while, you reach the highway where water is coming directly from the beach. You manage to get a high surface and take out your phone. You kept it in a protective compartment in your bag for safety. You only have 15% battery left, but you brought your power bank. You call your family to see what’s going on, but they too have no idea.

You venture into the forest and try to spot an old cabin you used to visit as a child to see if you left your old bicycle there. After a few minutes, you find it and bike across the mountain to escape the flood. You can’t seem to balance yourself since the gravity is affecting you. (NASA — 2 hours after the moon incident.)

Some scientists sit around with laptops and spreadsheets, attempting to understand what’s happening. Everyone is shouting and throwing out random solutions, but nothing seems to make sense. After a while, the head of NASA decides to launch an unmanned rocket into the moon. The rocket is ready in a few hours, and everyone is awaiting orders. 3, 2, 1 blast off!

The rocket soars in the air and approaches the moon. It exits the Earth’s atmosphere and travels at full speed in that direction. After a day or two, everyone gets live footage of the giant moon. According to the studies, the rocket can’t be too close to the moon since it may have a stronger gravitational pull. However, the footage shows that tiny particles are floating around it, similar to Saturn’s rings.

These rings look like a giant disk surrounding the large planet, but up close, they’re just particles that are the size of rice grains to the extent of a large bus. They’re orbiting Saturn because of the gravitational pull. The images show that these particles are big and small, which doesn’t make it safe for the rocket to get any closer.

So, it suspends itself nearby to orbit the moon and unleashes a mini rocket that looks like a drone to get closer. The particles are many miles thick, making it difficult for the mini rocket to maneuver. It flies closer, and the particles start crashing on it. It’s a good thing that the mini rocket is durable for this.

The rocket finally gets past the particles and lands on the moon. Gravity has gotten stronger since it inflated in size, which almost broke the rocket. As soon as it lands, another robot pulls out and starts driving around the surface, trying to get some clues. As of now, nothing is happening.

But they’re noticing some quivers coming from deep inside the moon. The moon’s core is reacting abnormally. It looks like it’s getting bigger and bigger. Scientists don’t know if it will stop growing at a certain point, so the only way to find out is to drill a hole deep inside to uncover the reason.

You’re pedaling away and reach the other side of the mountain. The ground is shaking, and your balance is getting worse. You look across the mountain and see that the whole other side of town is flooded. You get your raft and supplies and make it there.

You find a rowboat and paddle as fast as you can until you reach the lighthouse. From there, you can try to find the NASA station. Suddenly, you see a large rocket erupt from the ground and into the sky. You know for a fact that your brother is there working, but cellular networks are down. You paddle your way there for safety.

The little rocket that landed unleashes a small drill strong enough to go miles to the center. It’ll take days for it to reach down. So, NASA is already launching another rocket to fly off and bring a bigger drill. The only problem is that the moon is getting bigger, so the particles around the moon also gather a lot more.

The Moon is reaching the Earth’s size getting bigger by the minute. The flood could reach several coastal cities, and many micro-islands could be submerged, so it needs to be prevented. Gravity could affect the structure of most of the buildings causing them to collapse one by one, but the little robot will not let it happen, so he is drilling to figure out what’s going on with the moon.

Some of the rocks appear to be getting hotter as it digs deep. This could be a sign of the moon expanding which might ultimately explode. The scientists in the room are baffled and don’t know what to do. The lead scientist, who is your brother, calls you, but he can’t reach you.

Meanwhile, you’re still paddling around trying to get to NASA. On your way you head back to the mountains to stay on dry land. When you arrive back at the old cabin, you see some strange men wearing trench coats looking for you. There’s a stare-off until they chase you. They seem odd, like they’re not from Earth.

The drill has reached its maximum depth and can’t go down any longer. Also, the control transmission is getting weaker. Suddenly, a figure pops out of nowhere and flashes its lights on the robot. The transmission chops and only show little snippets of the giant figure eying the robot.

A little creature descends from the figure and walks towards the robot. Everyone at NASA is freaking out and recording every single frame. No one can believe what’s going on. After a while, the creature transmits a signal that NASA can’t decipher. But the creature seems friendly.

The creature gets back in its ship and in an instant disappears into thin air as it teleports away. The moon starts shrinking, it’s getting back to its normal size. Everyone celebrates in NASA and around the world. The currents become calmer and retreat to the coast. It’s a good thing everyone reached to higher hills before.