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When you lived in Charlotte’s Creek your entire life, it was easy to become desensitized to the strangeness that blanketed the sleepy town. From the random appearances of crop circles that damaged the business of local farms, to the E.T “fan club” that could often be seen spotted near those parts late at night, with their camera equipment and telescopes. Despite the eccentric quality of your quaint town, nothing could have prepared you for the sight of your older brother’s dusty pickup truck barreling up the driveway, as he sped towards the house like a bat out of hell.
Dawn had just broken over the tree line, bathing the front porch in soft golden light. Your hand still hovered near the front door, preparing to lock up before you headed into work for the morning shift – your apron hung loosely over your right arm. Before you had time to process the knot carefully looping itself inside your stomach, the truck skidded to a sudden halt – kicking up dirt and pebbles – and your brother was stumbling up the porch steps towards you. His face, usually calm and stoic, was pinched with panic.
“We need to go, now,” he ushered, snatching your wrist away from the door. You tried tugging your hand away from the ironclad grip he had on you, but it only encouraged him to tighten his fierce grip.
“What are you doing!” You dug your heels into the ground to try and slow his pace down, but it seemed to have little effect as your brother stalked over to the truck, yanked open the passenger door and shoved you inside.
You watched in stunned silence, as he hurried over to the other side and slid into the driver’s seat beside you. Wordlessly, he backed out of the driveway and whipped around before taking off, leaving behind a cloud of dirt in his wake. Silence engulfed the space, pressing down on your frayed nerves as you continued to peer at your brother from the corner of your eye. He resembled one of the local stray cats that slept behind the dumpsters of the market you worked at, with their tense posture and thousand-yard stare that pierced you whenever you came across them.
Whatever it was that frightened your brother, his reaction alone was enough to unnerve you. You drew in a shaky breath, struggling to calm the erratic pulse of your heart while inside the shared cramped space. When that failed to settle you, you threw open the glove compartment and frantically began searching through the disarray of clutter for the pack of Camels you had left behind last night. As soon as your fingers brushed over the glossy carton, you breathed a sigh of relief. You scrambled to open it and flipped back the lid… only to find it completely empty.
“Shit,” you hissed, tossing it back into the compartment. “If I miss work, you owe me a new pack of cigs.”
Your brother shrugged and kept his eyes on the road.
“Since I’m most likely going to be written up because of you, can you at least tell me what the hell is going on? Where are we even going?” you asked, no longer able to bite back the numerous questions that had welled up on your tongue since you first were manhandled into the truck.
Your brothers pensive face eased up enough for him to let out a deep breath and release the white-knuckle death grip he had on the steering wheel.
“It’s hard to explain…” he began, nervously glancing over at you. “River and I had never seen anything like it before, I-I mean it was like this giant ball of fire and it just— Jesus Christ it just lit up the entire night sky! It was careening down so fast too, I thought it was going to split the earth or something. We felt it too, the impact practically shook River’s trailer as if it had happened right next to us, but it was still miles out.”
You struggled to hide your own bewilderment, as you slowly digested your brothers’ words. His expression had morphed into subtle glee as he spoke, which only further confused you.
“W-Well, what the fuck was it?” You were practically burning a hole in the side of your brother’s face now, unable to break your gaze from him as you waited for an explanation.
All that came was another gap of silence. You quietly said his name, feeling your stomach churn at his sudden reluctance to answer you. “For fucks sake, say something,” you pleaded, trying to catch his line of sight.
He sighed. “You’re just going to have to see for yourself.”
You slumped back against the seat and decided to fix your gaze at the passing trees as the truck zipped down the road. Counting each one until the thrumming of your heart no longer pressed against your throat.
+
Before long, your brother was pulling up to River’s place – which was nothing more than an RV attached to a red Ford pickup, parked on the outskirts of town. They were both grimy and worn with age, nestled in among the low-lying trees and shrubbery. It was difficult to spot both vehicles from the main road, as the surrounding nature hid them from view. You could never stand the place, due to the constant spider problem. Your brother however, spent most of his nights here after work, sleeping on the stiff couch and killing said spiders.
As to why, that was beyond you.
Even inside the truck, you could still make out the familiar faint twinkle of colored lights that had been placed four Christmas’s ago, along the edge of the roof. You chuckled, knowing River’s lazy ass would probably keep them up there till they eventually blew out or fell off.
“Why are we here?” you asked, looking over at your brother. He ignored your question and instead hopped out of the truck, leaving you alone. You huffed in annoyance and quickly followed him, slamming the door extra hard in the process.
“I heard that!” he called over his shoulder, already nearing the front steps of River’s RV.
“Good,” you muttered, folding your arms. A chill spring breeze brushed along the nape of your neck, reminding you of the simple T-shirt and jeans you had on – the bare bones of a uniform. At the thought of work, you couldn’t help but grimace as your stomach tightened. You only hoped that whatever the reason your brother dragged you out here, was enough to later overshadow being faced with your short-tempered manager.
You swallowed down the bundle of nerves trying to hoist itself up your throat and walked over to your brother, who was already banging on the RV door.
“Hey man, it’s me!” he shouted, slamming his palm against the door. “Open up before I break down your fucking door!”
You rolled your eyes, as River let out a slew of curse words on the other side, most likely aimed at your brother. Before your brother had the chance to make good on his promise, the door swung open and you two were quickly dragged inside. You stumbled over the lip, just barely catching your balance before a warm hand grasped onto your forearm to steady you.
“What the hell, River!” You yanked your arm back and swiveled around, only to fall quiet. River’s muted green eyes were stricken with panic, as he quietly shushed you. His usual sun-tanned face was now startling pale, and heavy with exhaustion. The shaggy brown locks that usually framed his round face were now messier than usual, as if he had been tugging on it all night long.
“Shut up,” he hissed, glaring down at you.
Your brother smacked his arm. “Don’t talk to her like that, dude.”
“She could have woken them up!” he whispered, whirling around to face your brother. At his words, your brother’s face tensed up.
“Wait, wait—” you said, getting River’s attention, “what are you talking about?”
River stepped aside and silently gestured behind him. As you stepped forward a strange shadow passed over your brother’s face and was gone before you could understand it. His eyes followed your stiff movements, watching the drag of your footsteps as you tried to stall the moment. It came all too soon though, as you eventually stood just a few feet from the couch. There, dozing among the brown crackled leather, was something akin to a man.
Their skin was void of warmth and age. A bright azure suit clung to their startling pale body, not quite fitting their shape right. They had a mess of flaming orange hair that stuck up in numerous directions as if they had barely run a comb through it. Despite the person’s bizarre appearance, you perhaps would have been able to look past it – if it weren’t for the antenna’s that poked out beneath their unruly hair.
You watched, in frozen fascination, as they twitched with movement.
“W-Who are they?” you stuttered, tearing your eyes to look over at the two men. They flinched at the sound of your voice, having been as still as statues as they watched the scene unfold.
River snorted. “Not who, but what.”
“We found them, last night, in the middle of the woods,” your brother explained. “They were passed out on the ground, a few yards away from the crash site.”
“Crash site?”
At your confusion River frowned over at your brother, with a mixture of surprise and disappointment, “You didn’t show her yet?”
“Sheriff Kinley is probably crawling all over it by now, and she knows too much,” your brother argued, glaring over at River. After a beat he sighed and hung his head. “Shit, we know too much.”
“Dude, I told you to bring her to the crash site first!” River exclaimed.
As the two continued to quietly argue with each other, you looked back over at the strange figure still sleeping away on the couch. You cautiously edged closer, eventually peering down at them. Your heart hammered against your ribcage in protest, as you ever so slowly leaned forward, intrigued by the unnervingly smooth complexion of their skin. As if coerced by some strange spell, you inched your hand forward until your fingertips just danced over the edge of their cheek.
As if sensing your warmth, their eyes shot open. You swallowed back a scream, as a pair of inky black eyes stared up at you. Within them swam the cosmos, that seemed to stretch on into forever the longer you gazed into them. Your mind felt weightless, as if you were floating downstream. Yet even as terror gripped your heart, you could not help but be in awe at the universe that silently watched you.
You weren’t even aware that your body was subconsciously leaning forward, until a rough hand yanked you back by the shoulder.
“Oh, shit!” you heard River say, his voice muddy in your ears.
“Get her the fuck out of here!” your brother ordered, his hand still clasped onto you. His body stood in between you and the stranger, effectively blocking their view of you. As River gently pried you away from your brother, and started leading you out the door, you glanced back over your shoulder to find the same black eyes now following your retreating figure. Their antennas’ stiff in what seemed like alarm.
As soon as River opened the door and the morning sun bled over your face your head cleared, as if you had just come out of a long dark tunnel. You swayed and carefully walked down the steps with River following close behind. As if your strings had been cut, you landed on your knees and proceeded to throw up the cup of coffee you had for breakfast.
When you finally emptied your stomach, you sunk down to the grass floor and rolled onto your back. You blinked up at the blue sky, and the puffs of cotton that drifted by without care. As its vastness pressed down on you, something stirred within the cavity of your chest. A thought, or maybe a deep-rooted feeling that you had long since buried.
That you truly were as small as the world made you feel.