It was a usual rainy day, so Marichka stayed at home, finishing embroidering a new t-shirt. Her hair was in a braid, but some loose strands were falling to her chin in slight curls, like branches of a young willow. Her face was beaming with concentration, however, her thoughts were far away from this room. «When was the last time this place saw a ray of sunshine? Probably, weeks ago.» she thought. And that was true, the weather didn't change, the rain was coming down from the sky in large drops.

When suddenly…the sound changed to silence. Marichka could hear her heart beating faster and faster, echoing in her stomach. «What happened? The weather has never changed this quickly here…” She thought and felt a cold sweat break out on her forehead. Her hands started to shake, but she made an effort to get up and reach the door to the garden. She slightly opened the door, just to see what was happening outside, her breath warming the wooden slivers of the doorway.

A whirling wind filled everything around, swooping green leaves and flower petals. Behind the cloud, you could see a dark silhouette that was becoming bigger and bigger until the big, beaming with green light, spaceship became recognisable.

Marichka wanted to run away, to hide so no one could find her, but instead, she stayed there as if her muscles were frozen. She silently watched the spaceship land in her garden, her eyes wide open and her heart beating so quickly that Marichka thought it was going to explode.

Three tall, weirdly shaped, green creatures came out of the spaceship and fell to their knees.

“Hello, human, I assure you, we come with peace; and we’re begging you to listen to us carefully so we can help each other survive.” one of them said, but Marichka stayed frozen. Her half-working brain didn't understand, didn't comprehend the information. She was just watching them silently, trying not to faint.

The creature, talking to her, continued: “We promise we will not stay for long, just until the danger is over. A huge asteroid is coming, and you’re the only one that can help us to save our Galaxy. We’ve found an enormous amount of energy coming from this place and we need to find the source. We’re begging you to listen and agree to our conditions. Do you agree to help?”

Marichka swallowed. She could feel her heart trusting them, even though she didn’t know why. Her body gained a bit of strength and confidence, just enough to nod slowly.

“Okay… Now let my partner come closer and show you the place we’re looking for.”

Another creature stepped forward, slowly approaching Marichka. When he was just close enough to touch her, Marichka stepped back, her eyes showing panic.

“Don’t worry,” the creature said. “I won’t hurt you”. And placed his hand on her arm. And then, Marichka saw it. The lake she and her family went to visit every summer, she knew exactly where it was. So she stepped forward, now full of determination, but still so weak, she started to walk slowly in the direction of forest. They followed her, their large dark eyes flickering in the coming sunset.

They followed her through the wet pine needles and the soft moss full of bugs. They followed her without any complaint, just their silent faces beaming with gratefulness. They walked for an hour and, finally, reached the lake. Full of fresh water after the rain, it was as beautiful as ever. The birds were singing again, excited about the change of weather, the coniferous trees staggered in their graceful manner. Three creatures walked into the lake and stopped in a circle, holding their hands and mumbling enchantments. There was a small swirl first, in the middle of their circle, then it became bigger and bigger until you could see the ground, always full of water. A large flow of invisible energy flew up to the sky, forming a dome around our and other planets.

Marichka was now drained, standing next to a tree, went still and lost control over her steadiness. White stains started to appear before her eyes, covering her field of view; and the last thing she heard was a quiet “Thank you.”