The UFO

Millie rolled her eyes when she heard her little brother Jack knock on her door and yell her name. She was right in the middle of binging music videos on Youtube. Being interrupted was annoying, especially for what would probably be something stupid. She got up from her bed and went to the door. When she opened it, she asked, "What?" in a somewhat annoyed tone.

"I saw a UFO!" Jack exclaimed with a shocked look on his face.

Millie groaned. "Sure, just like when you saw Bigfoot, or that werewolf, or when you thought your teacher was a vampire."

"No, this time it was real!" Jack insisted, sounding frantic. "I was in the woods and I saw a big flying machine in the sky! It didn't look like anything I've ever seen before. It was shaped sort of like a flying saucer and it just floated there for a while. There was a lot of blue light coming from the top of it. I tried to get a better look at it, but it floated behind the trees and disappeared before I could get much closer."

Millie still didn't believe Jack, and she just wanted to get back to her music. He loved to make up nonsense, and although he seemed unusually earnest this time, she assumed he had just become a better actor. She dismissed his story and told him not to bother her anymore. She then shut her door and resumed what she had been doing, leaving Jack disappointed.

Later that night, a few hours after Millie had gone to bed, she woke up and needed to go to the bathroom. She always hated having to get up in the middle of the night to pee, but she loved drinking hot chocolate at night, and sometimes she drank it too close to bed time. After lying in bed for a few minutes, she dragged herself up and went down the hall to the bathroom.

When Millie returned to her bedroom, something caught her eye. The light coming from her window looked a little bit blueish. She went to the window and was shocked to see a flying machine off in the distance that looked just like what Jack had described! It floated there for about a minute and then retreated behind the trees. Millie returned to bed, but she had a hard time falling back asleep after what she had just seen.

The next morning at the breakfast table, Jack continued to talk about the spaceship. He was convinced that aliens were invading, and he speculated about what they were going to do. His parents assumed this was just another made up story, so they didn't react much. Millie tried her best to act normal, but at one point, her dad remarked that she was unusually quiet.

"I'm just a little tired," she replied. "I didn't sleep well last night. I'll try to go to bed earlier tonight."

This answer satisfied Millie's dad, and she was relieved that he didn't push the issue further. She knew there was no point in telling her parents what she had seen since they would assume she was just playing along with Jack. Or maybe they would think she had dreamt it. Either way, she didn't want to tell them something that they wouldn't believe. If she wanted to confide in someone, it would have to be Jack.

That afternoon, while both of Millie's parents were at work, she told Jack what she had seen and apologized for not believing him before. He was surprised, but also relieved that he wasn't alone in this bizarre experience. The two siblings discussed what to do next, and they agreed that they wanted to try and find the ship. Maybe if they could get up close and observe it for a while, they could figure out what it was and why it was here. Their parents were going out that evening and wouldn't be home until late at night, so it would be the perfect time to go out looking for the ship.

Millie and Jack waited until they were sure that their parents had left the neighborhood, and then they headed out into the woods. They started off by going to the place where Jack had seen the ship, but there was no sign of it yet, so they went further. Not long afterwards, a faint blue glow became visible in the distance. Millie and Jack sped up when they saw it, and as they got closer, they saw the ship floating a short distance above the trees. For a little while, it stayed perfectly still and emitted a faint buzzing noise. However, when the kids were getting fairly close, it suddenly got louder and started moving! It retreated a little bit further into the woods and then descended behind some trees.

The kids ran in the direction of the ship until they heard a thud indicating that it had landed. They then continued to approach, but at a slower pace to avoid making too much noise. For several minutes, there were no more sounds coming from the ship. Millie and Jack were able to get close enough to observe it, and they found a place between the trees where they could stay pretty well hidden. Shortly after they settled in, the ship made another noise and a door opened in the front. The kids were expecting aliens, but instead, five people came out. There were three men and two women, all dressed in oddly casual clothes.

"That was so cool!" said one of the men. "I can't believe you actually had this thing built!"

"Thank you! I'm very proud of it," replied one of the other men. "My team worked hard on it for years. We're going to usher in a whole new era of technological innovation!"

"For me, all this did was confirm that you have way too much money," said the third man.

The second man scoffed. "Fine then. We'll see how you feel when I'm renowned for leading this world into the future."

"The ship is impressive," said one of the women, "but I'm worried about the panic it might cause if people see it and don't know what it is. You shouldn't delay going public about it any longer."

"If there's a major panic, I will," the second man replied. "I'm not worried, though. This is the perfect way to create hype for my new creation. We convince a bunch of people that aliens are invading, and when the rumor reaches its peak, we reveal the truth! It's the perfect publicity stunt."

The third man rolled his eyes and took the other woman by the hand. "Let's go home babe," he said to her. "I've had enough of this egomaniac tonight."

The group headed off into the woods, unaware of the nearby eavesdroppers. Millie and Jack waited until the coast was clear and then headed home. Millie was so relieved that there was no alien invasion, but Jack was kind of disappointed. Still, he was excited to see how far technology had come and hoped that he could one day own a ship like that. He wanted to meet the owner of the ship, but Millie wasn't so sure he should. The third man from the group seemed to not trust the owner, and she had a feeling he was right.