Unearthed

This is a speculative short story I was asked to write in English. Had to base it on a writing stimulus which I based mine on

I used to check my windows each night for UFO’s convinced that aliens were going to take me away too. I look at you now and wonder what words I can say to comfort you. You huddle in closer. I can’t say anything to disprove them because I know they’re out there. Somewhere.

          The chilly night air breaths down your neck as you watch the television. It is dark outside, and it is scaring us as we watch alien encounter news. But it is a documentary.  They are real. And we know it.

You look up at me with those wide brown eyes and study the box again.  It is on the news.  A replay of the same thing that was on there when I was young.

On the screen, your eyes flick to the nervous astronaut as he was telling ground control about the appearance of a strange red-coloured UFO. He was shaking.

          “I noticed a UFO in the distance that was coming closer and closer to the space station.  The UFO was partially cloaked, which made it look transparent.” Scott C Waring, the UFO expert recalled. Your eyes widen �" as mine did when I watched the live footage myself �" until they grew as big as flying saucers. My mind wanders hesitantly. I used to lie there in bed sweating, in the hot, humid night air thinking they would come to get me. Alien like creatures. I wouldn’t step away from the safety of my home. I shake my head trying to rid the unearthly image that kept sneaking into my mind. I look down to my hands, pale with fright. Yes, I remember.

…

It is a shiny grey torpedo shape, its upper dome topped by a pulsating red light  �" kind of like a rugby ball that is on fire �"  that just appeared in the barley paddock that runs parallel to our house.

I have always been a kid that has an interest in extra-terrestrial creatures and objects. I’m not like other children though that like aliens and whatever because of the excitement. I know they are real, and I have my proof in the back paddock. I am terrified It is a week after the live footage of the mysterious alien cylinder was released to the public on the network air. The astronaut was shaken and unsteady. I wonder if he felt the same as I do now?

…

My mind shifts back to the present. You are scared but brave, little one. I put my nose in your hair and close my eyes. You are a brave soldier. I lift and turn you around so you give me a koala hug.

          “Shh,” I whisper. I feel the grip on my fluorescent green Adidas jumper tighten. It dawns on me. I remember the UFO I saw when I was young. I remember my fear.  They are out there I know it, that’s why I can’t tell you they aren’t real.

          “Who is to say UFOs and aliens will hurt you, Matthew?” I give a tired smile. I have always been aware and afraid of unearthed mysteries all because of a ‘UFO sightings’ book I read, a witness to the things that fear does to your head. You feel heavy. I carry you up the stairs, my slippers squeaking.

          You are lying in bed now �" a peaceful look on your face - and I look out the window to the fallow that runs parallel to our house. A faint dot can be seen trailing into the sky. Three concentric rings are shaped in the rough grass. I shake my head in wonder and give a small wave out the window.

---

Author's Note

Please ignore the highlighted parts, they were for my annotations I had to make for part of the assessment in English.

Reviews

[Tilly]

Thankyou very much :) It is a combination of both first and second person

[Laura]

I like this piece as a study on fear and the potential it has to affect a lineage. Your first few paragraphs beautifully brought me into your story. I love your cadence and the repetition of "you" and "I," these people could be anyone, anywhere.