A Little Drop of Starlight

Alicia woke up with a start. She sat up in bed, looking around her dark bedroom, trying to figure out what had startled her awake. Suddenly, the white sheer curtains hanging down over the inside of her window lit up; there was a bright flash of light outside her house. Glancing at the clock, the red numbers glowed 2:27am. Alicia frowned, confused. What on earth would cause such a bright light so early in the morning? Scooting towards the edge of her orange queen-sized bed, she hung her legs over the edge and placed her bare feet on the hardwood floor. A shiver ran down her spine. Alicia blamed the temperature of the floor, but she couldn’t deny that there was an eerie feeling in the air. She slowly walked towards the window. Stopping in front of the white curtains, she took a deep breath. Telling herself that it was nothing to be worried about, she pulled aside the curtain.

           Nothing. There was nothing in her backyard to have caused such a flash of light. Her eyes scanned the darkness for something, anything, to explain what had woken her up, but she couldn’t see anything different than her usual back yard. “Hmmm..” Alicia shrugged, letting go of the curtain and turning around. Taking a step toward her bed, the walls of her bedroom illuminated once again, as if a large finger of lighting struck right outside her window. She jumped, gasping at the sudden change. Quickly turning on her heel, she flung aside the curtain to look outside. There were no thunderclouds, no rain, no lightning. In fact, it was a beautifully storm-less night, with the stars twinkling overhead in clear view. Furrowing her brow, she focused again on the darkness, trying to see anything out of the ordinary. However, it was a new moon that night, so the only light came from the stars millions of miles away. Not much help there.

           Alicia huffed, trying to understand where the light came from. Out of nowhere, there it was again; that brilliant flash of light. She instinctively closed her eyes to protect them from the bright illumination, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. This time, however, she knew it came from her back yard. Turning around, she rushed to her bed, slipping her cold toes into her grey, fuzzy slippers, and grabbing the robe that hung on the wood bedpost. Wrapping it around her shoulders, she put her arms through and turned toward her white nightstand, pulling open the top drawing to retrieve the large LED blue flashlight. Ready to get to the bottom of this early-morning mystery, she slowly opened her bedroom door, wincing when it let out a slight creak. The best she could in her slippers, she tiptoed across the hall and down the single flight of stairs, reaching the main floor.

           The house was dark, but Alicia didn’t dare turn on the flashlight, else her parents think someone was breaking in. Feeling her way through the darkness, she passed through the kitchen, towards the back door. Taking another deep breath, she slowly opened the glass door, stepping out onto the wood deck. Alicia turned on the flashlight with a click, stepping down the three steps to the grass. Walking around the perimeter of the yard, she shined her flashlight back and forth, the wide circle of light moving across the grass. When another brilliant flash of light overtook her vision, her instincts dropped her to the ground, arms covering her head. It’s here somewhere…I know it! Standing up, she continued her search, shining the light over the bushes and trees that lined the perimeter of the yard on the inside of the tall wood fence. Reaching the right corner of the yard, she shuffled towards the round juniper bush that caught her eye. Warily, she shined her flashlight in front and to the sides of it, but nothing was there. Stepping to the side, she looked behind it, only to freeze at what she saw.

           What on earth… She got down on one knee, examining the object that caught her attention. It was oval shaped, like a football. But that wasn’t the odd thing about it. It was black and was covered in…stars. A black oval with small piercing dots of light, twinkling like stars. A piece of the night sky fell down…right into my backyard, Alicia thought. As she stared at it, trying to make sense of what it was, the little stars of light grew aggressively brighter, and she covered her eyes as another flash of light glowed outside of her hands. It was gone in an instant, and she looked at it again to see the stars dimming back down to their normal twinkling light. This is it. It was very odd, because when the flashlight shined on it, there was no reflection of light; it stayed dark and unilluminated, just like when someone shines a flashlight into the night sky. Almost as if it absorbed the light.

           Holding in her breath, she reached out a hand, slowly extending her fingers towards the black oval. Alicia could feel her heart loudly beating in her chest, betraying her confusion and alarm at this discovery. Leaning toward the object, her movements hesitant, she stretched her fingers, almost able to touch one of the stars, but she paused. The dumb girl always does stuff like this in the horror movies, and she always ends up dead, Alicia told herself. But, then again, this isn’t me going into a creepy, abandoned horror house. This is something entirely different. Taking another deep inhalation, she crossed those last two inches and laid her fingertips on the surface of the oval. It was cool and smooth, which didn’t make any sense. The little stars grew brighter, and Alicia withdrew, preparing herself for another flash of light. But instead of that, the little stars spread across the object, multiplying quickly in shape and size until the whole oval was glowing pure white.

           Staring quizzically at this white object, Alicia reached out and touched it once again, running her fingers across its cool, pristine surface. It almost felt like a metal, like stainless steel or something, except that it was a brilliant white instead. There was an audible click, and then she could hear little mechanisms whirring inside the odd shape. The surface of the object started to move, and Alicia jerked her hand back, startled. The top half of the oval slowly opened, revealing a black, silky inside, almost looking like the smooth lining on the inside of a coffin. In the center of the black silk-like material was a white ball. It looked smooth at first, but she noticed little white hairs growing out of it until it was a fluffy little white ball. Alicia leaned closer to try and understand what in the world she was looking at.

The ball moved. Alicia gasped. Instead of rolling left or right, it actually…hovered! Gaining height, it rose above the black silk lining, above the white oval. It rose until it stood at the same height as Alicia’s face, about two feet away from the tip of her nose. Heart pounding, she didn’t dare move. One the one hand, she was terrified at what was happening. But on the other, she was mesmerized. This little glowing, fluffy ball looked like something from another world. She didn’t know what to do…so she did nothing. Nothing but sit there and stare at this strange object before her. Cheep. The tiniest little sound, not unlike that of a bird, emerged from the glowing object. Alicia’s mouth dropped. No, not object, but creature! It opened little shining black eyes and emitted another tiny chirp. It seemed to look at her, confused at what was it was seeing. Believe me, she thought, I feel the same way. It swayed a little, reminding her of a little baby first waking up, adjusting to its surroundings.

The two beings, the creature and the girl, stared at each other in confused awe and wonderment. Alicia was trying desperately to wrap her mind around what she was seeing, her brain scrambling for a logical explanation. This little creature could manipulate gravity to float, or hover, moving through the air effortlessly. Its little furry hairs waved and swayed, as if it were underwater. Its small, beady eyes regarded her, probably trying to determine if she were a threat. It moved freely through the air, rising and falling a few inches from its pervious spot, swaying left and right. Time slowed in that moment, seeming to last forever as Alicia beheld this strange creature. She didn’t know whether it was friend or foe, but there was only one way to find out. Staring down at her tan hand, she turned it over so her palm was facing up. Looking to the white creature, she slowly extended her hand towards it. Its eyes moved to her extended hand, flickering between her hand and her face. It seemed unsure, frightened by the movement. She reached, but stopped a few inches away from the white ball.

It stared at her outstretched fingers for a moment, unsure. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, it moved forward an inch. Then another. Then another. Crossing the last bit of space between them, it touched the tip of her middle finger, its little hairs reaching out. Alicia’s eyes grew wide. It was so soft! Incredibly soft. It moved forward even more and lowered itself into the middle of her palm. She had never touched anything so soft, so smooth. It was warm too, its pure light radiating slight heat. I feel like I am holding a star in my hand, she thought in giddy wonder. A live, alien star baby. It nuzzled its face against her skin, closing its eyes for a moment. Alicia couldn’t explain it, or even understand it really, but she and this creature had an instant connection. She knew that is was young, just a baby of its kind. It was frightened, and confused, not knowing why it woke up in this strange place. But she could feel that it liked her. It thought her presence was soothing, warm. She carefully drew her hand closer to her face, getting a better look at this creature. Why are you here? She wondered. It turned its eyes towards her. She gasped in shock when she heard a bright, melodic voice in her mind reply, I don’t know. But I need your help getting back home.