Descriptives and Narratives(IGCSE English)

Meteorite strikes!

Andrew sat by the shore - half-dreamy - staring at the cluster of stars and the swirl of planets that rose from the horizon. Stars and galaxies always fascinated him, ever since he was toddler playing with star and moon shaped crib toys, to when he got a telescope for his 15th birthday. Andrew - now 17 years - got in his Corolla from school and packed his stargazing kit (telescope, lenses, camera, charts and many more...) and drove to the beach down by Mrs.Lana's derelict bakery shop. The onIy beach that would be deserted on a Friday night mainly because of the rumors that the bakery shop was haunted by Mrs.Lana's ghost since she passed away two years ago. Such things didn't bother Andrew, he'd been reading about aliens, ghosts and mysteries ever since he got an Amazon Kindle in 2nd grade. It was the beginning of the Perseid Meteor shower and he couldn't miss it. He warned his parents he would be late, Andrew often gets lost dreaming about how it would feel to be among the stars, traveling between galaxies at the speed of light, reaching the cores of stars and comprehending their structure and function in the immeasurable universe. The formation of the universe still remains very mysterious and arcane but Andrew doesn't want to be a detective. He wants to experience the feeling of flying through the unknown, the rush of adrenaline as he enters atmospheres of planets he's only seen in books and dreamt of, all without the fear of being struck with radiation sickness or freezing to death or running out of air. An experience of being a god, even if it is ephemeral. Impossible? He knows that, but there's no harm in dreaming.

The cold water rushed in from the sea and wrapped his feet with spume waking him up from his dreamy trance. The shower had started. Andrew quickly got up and skittered to his telescope that was set up a couple of meters up the shore on stable, flat ground. Looking at the speed of the meteors he wondered why he bothered setting up the telescope. They wouldn't be in range for too long. He just glanced at them fleetingly through the telescope and took his binoculars that were lying in his backpack. They offered a better and faster range of motion but not as much clarity, still it was enough. White flares streaked the sky as they ripped through the black canvas of the night. It was magnificent, like tiny sparklers lit and thrown against a black wall embedded with tiny, gleaming stones. Andrew let go of his binoculars for a second and it hung from the tag on his neck then cupped his hands together, shutting his eyes firm and said in a low, murmuring whisper, "I wish I could be out there..."

From within his closed eyes, the eternal black was replaced with changing smudges and blobs of red and orange. He opened his eyes and the sea floor was rippling with a blinding light as a meteor whizzed through the air very close to the shore. It was white fire. The fiery ball of rock radiated heat that could be felt by Andrew, his eyes shut tight and skin getting moist with sweat. Then it crashed, with a splash, into the surface of the water, sending out waves of water and tremors through the air. The fire continued on the surface, turning from white to blue to orange till it became a dying yellow and eventually a smoking residue. Andrew sprinted through the sand towards the shoreline and watched the meteorite in confusion as it began to sink below the surface. A grayish-black rocky exterior with dimples like those on a golf ball carved into its surface and wisps of smoke leaving it.

"This is amazing!" he exclaimed with exhilaration. "I've got to check it out."

Andrew ran straight into the cold, blue waters, removing his shirt in a flash and diving. He swam in an exaggerated dolphin motion and swam and swam till his skin felt warm against the burning water. There was still a bit of fire burning away on the surface. Andrew stopped momentarily, took in a deep breath and plunged downwards, his toned, white legs rising up momentarily. He felt the cold creep into his bones and the saline waters sting his eyes but he persisted and kept swimming as the pressure began to squeeze him. He could see the meteorite at the bottom and it was humungous - bigger than any normal boulder at the sea floor. It was an odd, oval shape with bubbles rising from within narrow cracks and fissures. Andrew swam slower as he approached it, and he first tested it using his fingers, running them across its rough terrain. It was warm and Andrew felt a layer of slime on it, maybe it was just his imagination because something this hot would incinerate anything off it. Over two of the dimples on the surface was an arch and there was another one exactly one dimple across it. They looked like two handles. Andrew stood on the surface - his feet getting warmed and running out of breath- and tugged at both the handles. There was a fissure in the middle and bubbles starting forming and rushing at him in a frenzy, he pulled harder and harder and he felt it coming apart. Slowly a light began to creep from within the fissure as it widened, a dim, eery glow that made Andrew gasp and in that moment the two handles were slammed open, throwing him off the meteorite. He floated upwards, barely any air left in his lungs and from within the last of his consciousness, he saw a faint, incandescent image move out of the fissure and swim away. Andrew fainted.

* * * * * * *

He was woken up by vigorous shaking and when his vision became clear, it was the city police, he could hear sirens and motors of boats scanning the site of the crash.

"Are you okay son?" an officer asked. "We found you passed out by the shore, did the meteorite's impact make you pass out?"

"No" Andrew replied quite hesitantly. "I swam towards the meteorite after it crashed... but then something struck me... and... I saw something move... and then I don't remember."

"We found you by the shore and there's no way you could have reached here after passing out all the way over there," he pointed to the where the meteorite crashed and it was pretty far.

"Don't overthink it son, I'm glad you are safe, let's get you to the hospital now and let us contact your parents. We can have an interrogation once you feel better."

Andrew lifted himself up with the help of the officer and felt it sting where the handles slammed into him - his chest and stomach. He hobbled towards the ambulance parked a couple of meters away and climbed in, still in a state of confusion. He didn't understand what had happened. He didn't think the officers found anything either but something moved and he was sure of that. He saw a ghostly image float away. Maybe he was hallucinating from the impact and lack of oxygen was screwing up his brain but it looked too real to be his imagination. Whatever it was, he had to find out, even if the city police doesn't. He was a step closer to understanding the mysteries of the universe and he wouldn't let it slip. Andrew sat on the seat as a lady nurse attended to him. He placed his forearm over his eyes and reclined on the seat, contemplating and trying to comprehend what he had seen. He slept.