Three friends from a small town find a strange spaceship in the woods, and a blue-skinned boy inside needs help before something dangerous reaches them.
Julka had been certain summer in their little town would be boring. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, everything changed.
She, Adam, and Lina found a thin trail of scorched earth behind the school, cutting through the woods like someone had dragged fire across the ground. The trees around it were blackened at the roots, and the air smelled faintly of metal and smoke.
Adam crouched first, fearless as ever. "Come on," he whispered, pushing aside a curtain of branches.
Julka followed, her heart thudding faster with every step. Lina adjusted her glasses and hurried after them, trying to look calm and failing.
And there it was.
Hidden in a pocket of ferns and twisted roots sat a silver sphere the size of a car, smooth as polished stone and shining between the trees. Blue lights pulsed around a narrow opening in its side. It looked less like something built and more like something dropped from the sky by accident.
Lina stared at it. "That is not from around here."
Adam grinned, though his voice had gone a little thin. "Spaceship?"
Before anyone could answer, the curved door slid open with a soft hiss.
Cool air spilled out, carrying a strange sweet smell. The three of them stepped inside, one careful breath at a time. Transparent screens hovered near the ceiling. Bright panels glowed under their shoes. Symbols flashed across one wall in lines none of them could read.
Then Julka saw the small figure sitting in the far seat.
He had blue skin, dark eyes, and a face so startled it almost made him look afraid of them. He opened his mouth, and the speaker above him crackled with a burst of static before turning his words into something they could understand.
"Help me," he said. "I need to get home before they come..."
The cabin suddenly flooded with orange light. Julka whipped around just in time to see several bright points racing toward the ship through the glass roof, moving fast, straight at them.