I don’t remember letting go of ma’s hand but when I no longer feel her touch I begin to scream. The world is now completely dark, like a TV when you shut it off, and if it weren’t for my screaming, it’d be completely silent too. “Three… minutes.. remaining.” A robotic like voice pierces through the darkness and rings in my ears. “Ma!” I cry out. “Ma, where are you?!” I only take a few steps forward before tripping over something and falling down. The ground is cold and unwelcoming. I figure I should get up. Maybe I should wake up, because maybe I’m just dreaming, but the voice speaks again, more urgently, “Two.. minutes.. remaining.” I force myself up, sniffing for that familiar smell of ma’s lavender perfume or hoping she will tap me on the shoulder and frown jokingly, saying, “You got lost again, didn’t you?” And I’d shake my head and say I knew where she was the whole time. “One.. minute…. remaining.” “No! Stop!” I shout. I don’t know what’s happening. Not even when the robotic voice fades away and there’s a loud sound in the sky. Like a helicopter. “Ma!” I know it isn’t her, but I hope it is, especially when a blue light beams down, bathing me in an otherworldly glow. “Hello?” I look up, almost blinded by how bright it is. “Hello!” I start to get frustrated. Mom says I have little patience. I remember telling her I wasn’t a patient and she laughed. I can’t help but cry. Even when this alien-like creature lowers itself from, what I can now see the blue light is coming from, a spaceship. The alien isn’t green with an oval head or one eye like I always thought. The alien is blue, a blue like the midnight sky, and it has hair just like me except it’s a pale white. It’s eyes are yellow like stars. It extends it’s hand to me. “Hello,” “Hello…” I reply instinctively. I wipe my snotty nose with the sleeve of my shirt and reach for the alien’s hand but he pulls it back. “You are a human boy.” It states. It’s voice is just as human as mine. “What are you?” I whisper. “Your savior.” It smiles wide. It has no teeth, not even any gums, and yet it talks perfectly. It’s mouth is just a black hole of nothing. I’m afraid It might eat me and I’ll be trapped there forever. “No!” I push It away. “Don’t come near me! And give her back!” “You are confused, boy-“ “Give her back, now!” “You don’t understand-“ “GIVE HER BACK!” I yell at the top of my lungs, my fists balled and body hot with anger. “I am here to save you!” The alien shouts back. It’s shout is different than it’s regular talking. It’s scary and it immediately makes the tears flow again. Never-stopping. “You are just a kid now, I don’t expect you to know, but I am doing this because it is what your mother would have wanted.” “You know her?” I ask. “Her name was Amanda-“ “Was?! What do you mean, was?!” I’m yelling again. I want to punch the alien in It’s blue face. I want to crawl into ma’s lap and hug her tightly. I am so confused. I am so angry. I am so sad. Without saying anything else, I wrap my arms around the alien’s waist and cry into his shirt. It’s dressed like my teacher and smells like laundry fresh out of the dryer. I almost wonder if It is alien at all. But, then, I don’t think it matters. The alien hugs me back and, together, we slowly float up into the bright blue light and into the spaceship that appeared above me. “Is she dead?” I ask quietly, preparing myself for any answer. “No,” It says and I can’t tell if this is a lie, but since I want it to be true, I hold onto what it says for the entire long ride into outer space and into the unknown