Beneath a Different Sky

PROLOGUE

Alego blinked, her sleepy eyes struggling for a minute. "Another story, please?" she pleaded, her voice laced with excitement.

Andrew chuckled, giving a warm smile with a hint of unease. "No, sweetheart. It's past your bedtime."

"Almost past bedtime," she insisted, her voice a soft mumble. "But not yet time."

Andrew sighed, his gaze flickering towards the window veiled by darkness. He ran a hand through his hair, his fingers brushing against a faint scar on his wrist.

"Alright," he finally conceded. "One last story to send my baby  to dreamland."

"I'm going to tell you a story about Mommy." He said.

Alego's eyes widened. "A story about mommy?"

The mention of her mother was a constant ache in their little world. It had been months since she'd left, leaving a void that echoed in the silent nights.

"Yes," Andrew said, his voice thick with emotion. "About your extraordinary mother."

Alego snuggled deeper into the covers, her heart pounding with anticipation. All these years, she'd longed to know what had happened to her mother, the woman who vanished into thin air on their way to school.

"Where did the sleepy little eyes go?" Andrew teased gently, his voice laced with a tremor he tried to hide.

"Dad, tell me about Mommy," Alego pleaded, her voice trembling with a mix of excitement and apprehension.

Andrew hesitated, his fingers tightening around the bedsheets. "There's something you need to know, Alego. Something I should have told you a long time ago."

The air crackled with unspoken secrets, and Alego held her breath, waiting for her father to unravel the truth.

Andrew's voice dropped to a whisper, sending shivers down Alego's spine. "Your mom wasn't from around here, sweetheart. She wasn't even from this planet."

Alego's eyes widened in disbelief. Her mind raced with questions, battling between the fantastical idea and the familiar ache of loss. "What do you mean, Dad?" she stammered, her voice barely audible.

"She was..." Andrew faltered, his throat tightening. He took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on a distant point in the room. "She was an alien, Alego."

"Your mom was an alien," Andrew repeated his voice barely a whisper.

The reality struck Alego like a bolt of lightning. The world around her seemed to tilt on its axis, and for a moment, she couldn't process his words. An alien? Her mother? It was impossible, yet a strange sense of knowing flickered within her.

"But...but how?" she finally managed to whisper, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and fascination.

Andrew reached out and squeezed her hand gently. "It's a long story, Alego. A story that involves strange lights in the night, a promise, and a sacrifice."

He paused, his eyes filled with a deep sadness. "But for now, know this: your mother was the bravest, most extraordinary woman I've ever known. And she loved you more than anything in this universe."

The gentle glow of her bedside lamp flickered. They stilled and watched it. They exchanged silent glances. Then Andrew continued his story. His voice was laced with a melancholic longing as he spoke of a planet bathed in the soft light of two suns, a world teeming with vibrant flora and bioluminescent creatures.

"Aeloria," he murmured, the name foreign yet strangely familiar on his tongue. "That was your mother's home. A place of breathtaking beauty and incredible technology."