Contest Entries by Mouse

Extraordinary Find

To Find Something Extraordinary

By Mousethyme



Prompt: What if there was a sign of life?

Contest: What if....?

Word count: 615



My little brother Chris collects bugs. What do you expect from a seven-year-old boy. It didn’t help that we lived six miles east of nowhere; population 854.

I don’t remember what I was grounded for that day. All I knew was a thirteen-year-old sister didn’t like being shadowed by her little brother. I sat on the picnic table and tried to ignore him and read my book. Something made me set the book aside and watch him. Chris picked up the plastic shovel from the sand box and playfully started swinging. I heard the thunk as he connected with a bug. It didn’t seem to faze Chris. He went running around the yard like he was running bases on a baseball field.

I walked over and looked at the bug lying there. It was mostly blue with iridescent wings. It didn’t move. I was pretty sure it was dead. I started to walk away. I saw it start to flicker in different colors from the corner of my eye. The light was dimming. I bent to pick it up.

There was a large flash of green light that encompassed us both. I heard Chris call my name, but I couldn’t answer. I was surrounded by a woosh of wind. I got dizzy for a minute.

I wasn’t in the backyard anymore. I was standing in the desert outside of town. The creature in my hands was squirming. A spotlight shone down on us. I couldn’t see the source.

The voice seemed to come from everywhere. “We’ve been watching you and Chris, Cara. You are ours.”

“Why are you telling me this? Who are you?”

The light from above dimmed. It had been coming from a cube floating above us. It had different colored lights wrapped around it at odd angles.

I opened my hands. The little figure I had been holding had three legs, four arms, and five eyes. The iridescent wings spread out and the lights on them flashed in sequence with the ones on the cube. The rhythm of the lights kept beating with the tones of the voice.

“I was able to use your essence, Cara, to revive myself. I know Chris meant me no harm.”

“You aren’t answering my questions.’

“We have come from far away. Our world was dying. Your earthly parents told us they would help us. They let us combine our essence with theirs to create you and Chris. Our world is prospering now thanks to help from other reaches of the galaxy. We have decided to leave you here to help your planet.”

“I don’t understand. Are you like aliens?”

“All the answers are in the book. It’s time you know who you are, Cara.”

“Book? What book? Who I am? I’m so confused and tired.”

“All will be revealed.”

There was a flash of light; a woosh of wind. I was in the back yard being tackled by Chris.

“Yay you’re back! I got to tell Mom.” Chris ran into the house.

I walked slowly to the picnic table. My book was lying in the grass and a blue book was sitting where I had been earlier. There was an ornate emblem on the cover made out of two C’s. I opened the cover. There was an inscription on the first page. “You are destined to do great things.”

Mom put her hand on my shoulder. “I was wondering when we were going to hear from them again. We have a lot to talk about.” My mom’s eyes glowed blue for a second as she smiled.