Dahlia

I: In Which Our Hero Dreams Of Things Beyond

Keagan had never fallen out of a tree, and she never intended to. Despite the darkness, it wasn't that hard. Just like climbing a ladder. There was still an egging unease in her stomach, though. The wind whipped around her softly. Even if she fell, the house wasn't too far away. Just across the pond. A mere 250 feet, almost. It wouldn't take long for someone to come to her rescue.

Finally, refuge. The fork in the middle of the tree was the perfect place to lay and stargaze. No moon glittered overhead, so the milky way shone faintly above her in the lonely Kansas sky. The rustling of the corn behind her made it sound as if the stars were audibly burning, singing to her in dying voices. She wrapped her jacket around her tightly and stared upward. This was why July was her favorite month, not only for its weather, but her birthday as well. That wasn't until the end, though, the thirty first. It was merely the fifth.

Keagan stared into the sky once more, picking out the summer constellations she had memorized from her astronomy book. She found nebulae hidden between stars and other anomalies in the universe. She paid no mind to the bark digging into her back. Sadly, she eyed a storm on the horizon, picking it out from the absence of stars. The small breeze at her back was a bit stronger, foreshadowing her eventual farewell to the sky. She sighed and began to scale down to the tall grass.

An odd noise provoked her attention once more, causing her to turn to the sky again. An odd, misplaced hoop of blue light grew in size just over the horizon. It was a small anomaly, ever so slightly far away, but closer than the stars. Keagan's hear beat fast in fear and amazement. What could it be? An explosion? A black hole? A white hole? A worm hole? Her speculation was ever so slightly narrowed down by the presence of a small object flying out of the ring from the darkness beyond. It buzzed around the sky, Swiftly growing in size as it neared Earth. Keagan held her breath, watching its every move, only to be cut off by the storm cloud growing in the sky. The anomaly vanished, and Keagan whimpered. The deliberate moving of the speck may never been seen again. She stretched out her craned neck and trudged back to the house.

The door opened creakily, betraying her presence to the silence. Her mother sat on the couch reading a book, her father already in bed. Keagan shook off her mud caked shoes and peeled off her jacket.

"There was a storm coming, and I had to go." she said to her now curious mother. She nodded. Just then, rain pelted the roof like stones being thrown by a giant.

"Well, it sounds like you came back just in time!" her mother said. Keagan smiled sadly. The odd object from the blue hole was hidden swiftly by the storm clouds, along with her hope.

"Did you see they blue ring in the sky? And the little thing that came out?" Keagan asked, hopefully.

"Sorry, hon. I didn't. Do you have any ideas on what it was?"

"I think it might have been some sort of explosion, but it just stayed in a ring forever. I really have no idea."

"Hm. Very odd. Well, maybe we could look it up in the morning, it's pretty late now. You and your cosmic brain need to get some rest." she chuckled. Keagan smiled. The rain still pelted hard, but thunder echoed far away. Keagan always found it easy to sleep in storms, despite the loud crashes above the plains. She pulled out her hair tie, releasing the spray of golden curls reminiscent of River Song from Doctor Who. Sleep wouldn't come easy tonight. Even despite the rain.

Thunder. No, not thunder. Something in the field. Keagan ran her hand through her hair, startled up into a sitting position by something. It was fainter now, but the thick hum still penetrated the rain. In a steady moment, the sound faded slightly and died. Keagan, chilled and shaking from the startle, checked her phone. 3:26 AM. The rain was at least fading, drifting out and back through in thin sheets. Drips off the roof.  She rubbed her goosebumps to calm down. It must be close. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to hear it. 

Maybe it was the object? The anomaly? She brushed back her hair and stepped off her bed. Adrenaline coursed through her arms, making her fingers sting. She slipped her rain boots on her feet in a fit of confusion and curiosity. Her parents hadn't woken, but she was a light sleeper. She always woke early. Grabbing an umbrella off her coat rack, Keagan opened the door, wary of the squeak it always made. Light from the flashlight on her phone hardly penetrated the moonless dark. She could see a faint light in the corn out the window, and her heart hammered against her chest. The front door opened silently, but rainy noises filled the house. Slight drips. Before she could chicken out, Keagan closed the door. 

Despite the rain, it was warm and humid as she crossed the yard to the object. It glowed with several different colored lights, the most copious being that of a blue hue. The rustle of the corn in front of her betrayed the movement of another creature, causing Keagan to jump behind the grill on the back deck. She clenched her fists to keep from whimpering as a form drifted out of the corn.