Starter trial

Earl sat on the edge of his balcony, kicking his feet while trying to navigate his digital pet through a maze on the screen. Left, left, attack, right, hide… He was bored of the game already. Still, he mused, it was nice to play a quick round and earn some points outside. The terradragon, disguised as a human, put his arms behind him and leaned back. He let his head roll until his face was parallel with the sky.

The evening was pleasantly warm with a slight breeze that ruffled his brown hair. Lights from the city below reflected into the evening sky, causing the dark clouds to glow a soft orange. It wasn’t quiet out, not with the punks driving around in souped-up cars back and forth along the drag. Earl shook his head. Humans were LOUD. Unnecessarily. And why not go for a walk instead of racing around? The cold grate bit into his hands uncomfortably, but he didn’t mind too much. He was enjoying the feeling of being enveloped by the sky and the city.

A pale glow from above the clouds and smog piqued his interest. It was too early for the sun to be coming up, wasn’t it? He watched as the glow became bigger and brighter… the disappeared. Earl frowned, imagining the city had gone silent for a moment. That was odd. He squinted as a drop of light seemed to fall from the clouds and hover over a building two blocks down.

The young man scooched backwards on the steel balcony and rose to his feet. His left knee popped, a new feature of being human he wasn’t overly fond of. Earl leaned over the railing to watch the…star? Maybe it was a candle someone lit on the roof? No, he wouldn’t be able to see it this far, he reasoned. It also wouldn’t be growing. Earl cocked his head to the side. A low hum in the distance quickly turned into a rumbling vibration that shook his very bones. The light increased from a mere speck to a blinding ray in a matter of moments, white illuminating Earl as he threw his arms up to protect his face. A great wind suddenly came up to topple him. He was thrown into the grate at the other end of balcony, nearly being blown over completely, but landed hard on his knees. He gripped the cold metal rails tightly to keep his thin frame from being picked up and carried away by the event. The whooshing continued as the light raced away from his home.

And then it was over.

The intense light… the thundering… the chaos…all gone except for a ringing in his ears and a numbing ache in his hands. Earl looked up to see the light disappear up into the clouds once more, then vanish as if it had never been there. He reached up to hook his glasses back in place. What… was that? He had been on Earth long enough to recognize that whatever just happened wasn’t an every-day thing. He looked around frantically for someone to tell, partial words fumbling from his lips,  but Earl was alone. Earl sat back down, eyes wide and heart racing. Cold sweat beaded his forehead. No one walked on the street below or hung their legs over the edge of their balcony. No one was looking up at the sky in awe or fear of what he had just experienced. He was the only witness… and even then, he wasn’t sure what his eyes had just seen.

Slowly, the world began to come into focus for his senses. For miles around, horns blared and mufflers coughed with the night life. Lights flicked off and on in the surrounding sky scrapers. The sound of pulsing music throbbed like a heart beat, and enclosing the city was the every-present blanket of smog and clouds, softly illuminated in orange. It was like nothing had happened.

Earl continued to stare at the spot where the light he had encountered was whisked up beyond the city barrier. He began to wonder what else lay “beyond”, and he lay down to ponder, the metal grate digging into the back of his head. He didn’t mind. If he could be a visitor to Earth, surely there were other civilizations that could visit, other species from other universes. He wondered how they could travel in light… or maybe they were MADE of light!