Timothy's Travelers

"Are you sure it doesn't hurt?" my mother asked for the tenth time that day.

"I'm fine, " I insisted waving her hand away from my cheek.

"It was smaller than a pebble, hon. Leave him alone." My father had gotten over his worry.

We finished dinner without anymore concern. Desert too. My mother and sister made popsicles while dad and I were outside playing--around the same time IT happened.

A small dark shadow had whizzed past my eye and stung my cheek.

"You okay, son?" Dad asked running over to me. He pushed my hand aside, ignoring my protests, and eyed the small slash across my cheek. It was no bigger than a scratch from one of my mothers perfectly manicured nails.

"I think a bee stung me," I said, holding up my hand. "But I got him back."

My dad and I both looked in my hand and saw that it wasn't a bee, but a piece of rock. It was mostly black with bits of green and blue peeking through.

"Woah," I said amazed.

"Yeah," my dad agreed. "Looks charred." We looked up in the sky for answer, but all we saw were clear blue skies and white puffy clouds.

"Go wash up," my mother said now taking me out of my thoughts.

I could tell from the clown smile of red fruit juice around my sisters mouth that we both needed a turn at the sink. I let her go first and went to my room to get my pajamas on. Once dressed I headed into the bathroom where Jessica was playing instead of cleaning up.

"Come on, Jess. If mom catches you she's going to flip." I said and helped her mop up the small puddles around the sink. When we were finished, I cleaned her face and sent her to her room. Using our step stool, I checked out my cool new scar. It was raised, red, and painful looking, but it barely itched. weird.

"What's taking so long in there?" My mother called upstairs.

I didn't bother to reply. Instead, I splashed water on my face, pumped some soap into my hands and gave the skin around my mouth a good scrub. I was especially careful near my cheek.

Back in my room, I unmade my bed, climbed in, and sighed happily against the cold feeling of my pillow. It didn't take me long to fall asleep, but when I opened my eyes again I wondered if I had at all. It was still dark.

My cheek itched, but when I tried to scratch it I found I couldn't move. I tried to pull my other arm up but no luck their either. "Hey!"

I heard someone snicker beside me.

"Jess, this isn't funny. Untie me now."

I heard it again, but this time it was on the otherside.

"Jess--" I started to say when I saw a shadow crawling up my nose. It looked like an ant, but as it crossed the bridge of my nose, it looked more like a little person. Impossible! I thought and blinked my eyes a few times. It didn't disappear. It just kept coming unti it reached my eye. His mouth moved but the sound didn't hit my ear until a few seconds later. It was like watching a show with a delayed feed.

"Do not fear. We do not wish to harm you."

WE? I thought, confused.

"We are the Meterians. We have crash landed on your giant planet. You are the life form who has saved us, yes?"

I narrowed my eyes even more baffled. "I don't know what you mean."

The little man stumbled in his place, and I realized my movements must feel like an earthquake to him.

He steadied himself and moved his mouth again, but this time he wasn't looking at me. He looked to the right and to the left. Before I knew it identical beings climbed up from both sides of him--tiny ant-like creatures climbing Mount Timothy.

The original Meterian pointed to my face, then to a place far off in the distance.

I furrowed my brow.

The group that had gathered began to climb one another creating a pyramid. One Meterian stood a the bottom of it while the Meterian on top rolled down to him. The original Meterian pointed to my cheek again.

The meteorite!

Opening my mouth, I saw the Meterians flinch and decided against speaking.

A few of the Meterians retreated to where they had come. I watched them descend the curve of my side before looking back at, what I decided was, their leader.

"If it hadn't been for you catching us. Our ship would have been unrepairable. We thank you, sir."

"If you're thanking me," I was careful to speak softly and keep my movements small. "Why am I tied to my bed?"

"Precautions, sir. We didn't know how you would react." He gestured to his comrades and they spilled over my sides. I didn't have to wonder what they were doing, because I felt the restraints give way.

The leader slid down my arm to the bed and when I was sure they were all clear I sat up carefully, just in case. I watched the little men climb an invisible line up the side of my dresser to the meteorite. I could see the black on it was gone, replaced with green and blue. Their ship, I thought and watched as they climbed in. It was like watching clowns pile into a buggie at a circus---at a flea circus. Their leader stopped, made a movement too small for me to see, then joined his comrades. I waved, because I believed that's what he did. Then the thing I once thought was a bee, zoomed out my bedroom window and out of my sight.

Touching my cheek, I thought to myself no is ever gonna believe this.


(word count:990)

Authors Note: Originally written for The Writers Cramp contest. Direction: Take the prompt given and write a story not exceeding 1000 words in 24hrs. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I wrote my story first, then went back and took out parts that I thought the story could survive without. Original Story: 1477 words reduced to 990. It was a great way to excercise my writing skills. I suggest you give the contest a shot:

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The Writer's Cramp  (13+) Write the best story or poem in 24 hours or less and win 10K GPs! #333655 by Sophy