The Thing in the Sky {COMPLETED SHORT STORY}

LEWIS: THE UFO

I sit on a booth in Big Back Burgers, drinking a Big Back's Chocolate-Peanut Butter Milkshake and writing in my notebook. I always get a booth and always get a chocolate-peanut butter milkshake. I take a sip of my milkshake as I notice something outside.

I squint my eyes and push up my glasses as I see something bright shooting through the night sky. It's nothing, I think to myself. I shrug and finish my drink. Weird things happen every day around here, so I wasn't too surprised. I then turn around and look at the bright light in the sky once again. That's when I notice it's an object; but not just any object. It's a UFO. Twenty-three feet across give or take. It looked super high-tech. I'm talking about technology that humans haven't yet created. I wonder what it's powered by?

I jump up from my table and rush out the door. A tall man wearing a plaid shirt stands next to me, stroking his small beard as we both look up at the sky. I knew it! I knew the day would come when aliens finally got sick of us humans and decided to take over the world!

My theory was right all along! A million thoughts go through my mind as I stare, bewildered, by the sight of the UFO heading straight for us. Are they green like most people think? How do they reproduce? What do they want from us? Are they here to kill us all? Do they speak another language?

My thoughts are immediately cut off when the man next to me yells in horror, "I knew it! The end of the world has come!"

I watch as he climbs on a table and shouts to the top of his lungs.

"I warned you people that the day would be here soon! We humans shall pay for all of the evil we've done!"

I scoff. The end of the world? No way. I look at the man with concern. "It's not the end of the world you goof ball. Clearly it's a UFO."

The man looks at me as if I slapped him in the face. "Can't you see four-eyes? Are you blind? Look up at the sky! It's an asteroid headed straight for us!"

I roll my eyes as I look back at the UFO. Then I realize that I left my notebook in the restaurant. I run back in, grab my notebook and rush back out. I can't miss any of this action! I grab my pencil from my pocket and start writing in my notebook. OOKLA HARRT MOP SHAK LO. In alien language, this means: HELLO, WE DON'T MEAN ANY HARM. At least I think that's what it means. I've been studying their language for years, but I'm still a little rusty. It's a complicated language.

I gasp as I think of the worst. What if I misspelled a word? What if I mistranslated? Would they kill us all because of a simple mistake? If the aliens land here, then hopefully they understand my writing.

I write in my notebook again. WAMP GAH IFTI, KASH MITOO POWA DOORT. That means, I'M NOT TRYING TO BE RUDE, SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME IF I MISTRANSLATED. Before I can even read over it, the man yells and pounces on top of me. I shove the man off me. "What's your problem? Can't you see I'm doing something?"

The man looks at me with wide eyes. "Get down! It's an asteroid..." His voice slowly fades away as he looks up at the sky. "It's...it's gone."

I look up in confusion. The UFO was gone. I frown and throw my notebook on the ground. I translated this for nothing. I guess the aliens decided to choose another day to finally conquer us all.