“Ben! It’s time for dinner,” she shouted from the kitchen. I could smell the food cooking even from where I sat. Pasta, maybe?

I picked myself up off my chair and strolled down the hallway to the dining room, where my dad, a tall man that shared my brown hair, was already seated. He smiled at me, looking up from his magazine before he put it aside. Bouncing in from the kitchen, my mom set a tray of lasagna down on the table with a crash. She had always been a bit flustered, a trait that didn’t carry down to me. She flung her oven mitts down on the table, and then brushed her long, wavy brunette hair behind one ear. “Eat up,” she announced, blue eyes shining and hands on her hips. My mom always cooked and hoped we loved her food. And, unlike some other parents I’d heard of, her cooking was actually really good. Not as good as her baking, which she did for a living, but still very tasty.

My dad and I both cut a square of the pasta dish and started eating, reassuring Mom with smiles of approval. We ate in silence, listening to Mom talk on about her day at work at a bakery in town. Apparently, there had been some issue with a cupcake order, but it’d all worked out. I half listened, my mind on other matters.

She then stopped, seeming to remember something, then got up, running to the living room. She returned with a package in hand, dropping it next to my plate. “This came for you this morning,” she told me, “It’s your weird alien book you ordered, right?”

I frowned. “It’s not weird. It’s a hobby,” I mumbled as I opened the package, seeing it indeed was the book. The cover read The Guide to Life on Other Planets in shiny silver text, set over a dark background dotted with stars. I’d been obsessed with the concept of aliens since I was small. There just had to be other creatures out there besides those on our planet! And in the case that there were, I would not miss meeting one for anything.

“Say what you like, my dear son,” my mom laughed, picking up her plate and setting it in the dishwasher. I got up to do the same, tucking my new book under my arm to bring back to my room.

“I’m going to finish some work, then read for a while,” I announced before retreating into my room. I went to grab my History book, but then decided against it. I’d have all weekend to work on it, anyway, and I wasn’t doing much besides possibly meeting up with Mark. Instead, I picked up my new book and settled into my reading chair. I opened to the first page, breathing in deeply. I may be insane, but I love the smell of new books.

I read in silence for a while until I yawned and looked up, checking the clock. The glaring red letters shined the numbers 1:46 AM back at me. Started, I looked down. Had I really been reading that long? It seemed like it, considering I was already three-fourths done with the book. I had a tendency to lose myself in books I really loved. After all, losing track of time was easy when you were being transported to other places with your mind. I grabbed a bookmark from the shelf, placed it between the pages, then added the book to the shelf, amongst the other alien-related books I already owned.

I wandered out of my room, heading to the bathroom to change my clothes and brush my teeth. It was a routine I’d never break, even if I was tired enough to head straight to bed. The rest of the house was dark, and I could tell that my parents had already gone to sleep. I flipped the light switch in the bathroom and shut the door behind me. After finishing my nighttime routine, I headed back to my bedroom in my favorite striped pajamas, carrying my clothes back to the hamper.

Before shutting off the lights and getting into bed, I glanced out the window, watching the lightly-falling snow. It was mesmerizing, and I found myself staring for quite a while. I did love winter; the snow made everything seem more pretty. The second before I went to turn away, something caught my eye. Something dropping out of the sky. Something large. I stared in confusion as the snow blew around the strange object that had just landed. It looked like some large metal cylinder with a door.

WHAT?!

I pressed up closer to the glass to get a better look. What in the world is in my backyard? My thoughts raced. My heart beating quickly, I rushed to my closet to get my coat. I stopped myself right before I went to pull open the closet door. It was almost two in the morning, and I was probably just seeing things from being sleepy. Maybe my dad had something stored in the back yard. Maybe it was a rock or a shadow. Maybe I had fallen asleep while reading and this was all just a strange dream. I chuckled to myself softly. It was nothing. I really needed to just calm down.

Shaking my head, I decided to just get some sleep. I’d look tomorrow, when it was less dark and cold. Turning away from the window, I climbed into bed, turning off the lamp. I pulled the warm covers around me and tried to take my thoughts off of whatever was in my lawn. Tossing and turning, the room around me felt darker. I could feel my heart beating faster and louder. Closing my eyes like I normally did didn’t seem to help me fall asleep whatsoever. So I sat there, staring at the ceiling and wondering what to do.

It took me all of ten minutes after that before I realized that I wouldn’t be getting any sleep that night. Now determined, I slipped out of bed, quietly opening my closet. I retrieved and pulled on my winter coat and some boots so my feet wouldn’t freeze.

Now finally prepared to face the elements, I snuck down the hallway to the door leading to the backyard. I slowly turned the doorknob, stepping out into the swirling snow. The air bit at my nose, and I wished that I had thought to bring a scarf. I walked around to the spot that I had seen the strange object, leaving tracks in the snow behind me that would be filled by the snow and gone again in the morning.

When I finally got to the spot, there was nothing there. I sighed. Even though I was nervous, I guess I had gotten my hopes up. After taking all that time, it had just been my imagination after all. All my sleeplessness had been for nothing.

I turned to leave, but I noticed something and stopped. It was barely visible, but you could see the space in the snow where the object had once sat, along with the beginning of a line that seemed to be dragging away from the spot. However, you could only see a few feet before the snow covered it, like liquid paper. So… had it been moved?

The longer I stood watching, the colder I felt. I looked around me, but there was nothing to see. Even if there had been something here, it was gone now. Convinced I was surely hallucinating, I turned on my heel to head back inside, but got off balance, I slammed into the snowy ground, feeling the icy cold on the back of my neck. My head throbbed, and I closed my eyes, trying to will the pain away. Just my luck. I can’t believe I thought it was logical to go outside in the snow this early in the morning.

I didn’t want to get frostbite or hypothermia, so I had to get out of the snow soon. I cracked open my eyelids, staring straight up.

… into a strange pair of jet black eyes.

The Stars in Her EyesWhere stories live. Discover now