An ordinary boy discovers he is
Extraterrestrial
As they ambled across the courtyard towards the park, Aaden felt the hairs on the back of his neck starting to rise. Since the lightning strike he’d developed a heightened sense of awareness to the point where he could sense danger. He scanned the crowd in front of him and to each side as much as he could without moving his head – he didn’t want to make it obvious that he was sensing danger.
The feeling of urgency increased to the point where he instinctively bent down on the pretence of tying his shoelace. He did so just in time to dodge the missile that sailed over his head. It was a rubber balloon, partially filled with water so that it would burst on impact. Only this time, it burst on the wrong person.
Still pretending to tie his shoelace, Aaden looked back to see Simon Damon’s eyes widen with the realization he’d missed his target. When the water bomb hit the teacher in front of Aaden, the splash was intermingled with startled gasps, not only from the teacher, but those around him. Spinning on his heal, the teacher immediately recognized Simon as the culprit, whose bulging eyes and gaping mouth gave him away.
“YOU!” yelled the teacher, pointing directly at Simon, “To my room, NOW!”
Simon seemed rooted to the spot, still gaping in disbelief. To Aaden, the image of a yapping Chihuahua was morphing into the form of a gulping goldfish. He kept his head low to conceal his mirth and it was only then that Simon seemed to realize he’d been set up.
“MOVE!” yelled the teacher, stomping towards him.
Fleur chuckled as she watched the teacher escort Simon back into the building. “That’ll teach him. Stupid idiot – what was he thinking?”
“Yeah!” said Aaden as he stood up again, beaming. “Come on, let’s catch up with Tiffany.”
Tiffany was laughing when they reached her.
“I can’t believe how dumb that guy is. He still hasn’t figured out that you’re one step ahead of him – you know what he’s going to do.”
“It’s not that I know. It’s more of a feeling I get when I’m in danger. I can’t read everyone’s thoughts at will. And I’m glad I can’t – some of the thoughts that go on in peoples’ minds.”
“Thank God for that,” said Fleur. “I like you Aaden, but I don’t like the idea of you knowing my every thought.”
Tiffany frowned. “Yeah! Stay out of MY head.”
Aaden gave her a playful pinch. “Don’t worry – I won’t tell anyone about that guy Peter in your class.”
Tiffany blushed and glared at Fleur, who looked stunned.
“That was meant to be our secret,” Tiffany snapped at Fleur.
“I didn’t tell a soul.”
Tiffany glared at Aaden. “You keep that to yourself.”
“My lips are sealed,” he said, but with a glint of mischief in his eye.
Tiffany kept glaring. “Ever since that lightning strike, I can’t keep anything secret.”
“Hey, I didn’t ask for it. When I woke up from that coma and blurted out a few things, I had to learn to keep my mouth shut pretty quick. I could see the nurses thinking I’d lost it.”
“Huh!” said Tiffany, “You never had it in the first place.”
Fleur simply smiled and shook her head. Aaden knew what she was thinking. She had often mentioned that few people would believe they were brother and sister because they related more as friends than siblings … even their physical appearance was different. Aaden was stockier than his younger sister and at fifteen years old it was obvious that he would never resemble Tiffany who, although only fourteen, was quite tall and slim.
They continued the banter as they wandered home, which was not far from their school – only a couple of blocks away. When they turned the corner of the avenue leading to their home, Aaden suddenly pointed to where he could see a car parked in their driveway, further down the tree-lined avenue.
“Dad’s home!”
“So?” said Fleur.
“He promised to get tickets for the baseball playoff this weekend.”
Tiffany flashed a concerned look, tinged with sadness.
“Yeesss… but you know Dad’s promises. His work always comes first.”
Fleur glanced at Tiffany, then to Aaden. “He has an important position, being a Senator and all.”
“Yeesss … which means we don’t see much of him,” said Tiffany. “Either he’s away on tour or working late at the office or locked away in his study. He’s always got some public function to prepare for.”
Aaden shook his head. “No, this time he promised we’d go to the game together. I’m running ahead – see you later.”
He gave them a wave and broke into a jog. Being more enthusiastic in nature than his sister, he still had faith in his dad’s promises. When he reached the house he burst through the door.
“Hey … Dad?”
“In here, Aaden,” came the reply from the kitchen area.
Aaden went through to find his parents sitting at the breakfast bar, having a coffee – a rare moment when they were both home at the same time. Aaden was pleased to see them taking the time to share an intimate moment – other than the occasional breakfast or dinner, they rarely spent much time together.
He went straight to the kitchen to grab a container of yoghurt, his favorite snack, and then joined his parents.
“Did you get the tickets?”
His dad reached into his pocket and pulled out two vouchers.
“Great! Are they good seats?”
“The best. I gave strict instructions to my secretary.”
Aaden grabbed the tickets and looked at the seat placements. Beaming, he laid them down and then started eating his yoghurt.
“It’ll be a great game,” he said, still staring at the tickets.
“Yeah!” his dad replied in a guarded tone. “Wish I could be there.”
Aaden had just placed a spoonful of yoghurt in his mouth and he slowly licked the spoon before lowering it in a resigned fashion.
“What do you mean?”
“I’d love to go, son … you know that. An important engagement came up for this weekend … I won’t be able to make the game. It’s something that was arranged for me unexpectedly … I can’t get out of it.”
Aaden looked away, determined to blink away the moisture in his eyes before his father noticed.
“But I got you great tickets,” said his dad. “You can go with Tiffany, or Fleur.”
“You know they’re not into baseball,” said Aaden in a resigned tone. He shook his head and added with a hint of sarcasm, “I may as well take Simon Damon.”
“Hey, great idea,” his dad replied, unaware of the irony of Aaden’s comment. “As you said, it’ll be a great game – have fun. We’ll catch the next game together.”
“Yeah … right,” said Aaden slowly, amazed that his dad didn’t get it that he just wanted to spend some time with him. “… next time.”
“I have to go over some of my notes,” said his dad, draining the last of his drink.
Aaden turned his back so his dad wouldn’t see his disappointment. He stepped off the barstool and, with slow movement, walked to the kitchen. His father went the other way to the study.
Aaden glanced at the recycling symbol on the yoghurt container in his hand and looked at the recycling bin. He then tossed the container into the trash that was beside the recycling bin.
His mother, walking behind him, saw his action and glanced back to make sure Adam hadn’t seen it. She looked back at her son, with sadness in her eyes. “Aaden, why do you do that? You know he hates it when you don’t recycle.”
“He’s too uptight about these things,” said Aaden. “One little container won’t make a difference.”
She gave him a reproachful, but tender look. “Environmental issues are important to him; you know that. It’s his life. I know he spends too much time with his work, but he’s doing it because he cares about you and Tiffany and he wants a better life for you both.”
Aaden waved his hands in mock surrender as he left the room. “Yeah … okay … next time.”
When he got to his room he slumped onto the bed, rolling on his back, looking up at the ceiling. He lay there for awhile, his eyes moist. Then, forcing the disappointment from his mind, he fixed his gaze on a spot on the ceiling.
It wasn’t that he felt tired, but the only way he knew to sidetrack his disappointment was to try and relive the experience that he’d had when he’d done this previously. He had somehow been able to go into an alternate reality. Some would say that it was a vivid dream, but to him it was more than just a dream – it was too real. Although frightening at times, each time he’d enjoyed the experience so much that he regretted coming back to the so-called reality of his life as Aaden Greene.
In the alternate world that he ventured at those times, he was no longer a teenage boy. What amazed him most was that he wasn’t just an older version of himself, but a different person altogether.
Whenever he found himself in that body, while in the trance state, he was flying – not like a bird, but in a craft. He was flying a spaceship. As a teen he had only basic knowledge of driving a car, but in this alternate reality he was a competent pilot.
The thing that fascinated him most when he was in this state was his sense of time. He felt as though it wasn’t in the present as he knew it now … but he wasn’t sure whether it was a future time, or a past era. In a way it didn’t matter. When he was in that state, there was no future or past … there was only the present.
He had tried to get a name, but each time he got a word that made no sense to him. It was more of a rank or position than a name … ‘BlueStar’.
Lying there, staring at the spot on the ceiling, he allowed his eyelids to close. Then, peering into the inner darkness, a pinpoint of light appeared. Aaden concentrated on that pinpoint of light until it started to grow. The more he concentrated the faster the ball of light grew, until it appeared to suddenly come rushing towards him. Bursting through the orb of light in his mind’s eye, he emerged in familiar surroundings. The outline of a spaceship control panel formed in front of him. He was once again in the pilot’s seat, staring at an alien craft that was visible through the transparent hull of his ship …
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This is an excerpt of Aaden BlueStar – check back soon for the next installment (or earlier ones) … or you can download the full story HERE!
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