1985 was when Kaitlyn Henderson’s life changed unexpectedly.

“It’s story time, Grandma,” twelve-year-old Kaitlyn hollered as she made her way up the rocky countryside to her grandmother’s house, only a short distance from her home at Hilltop Cottage, where she lived with her parents and eleven noisy siblings.

She hopscotched up the steps that led to the freshly painted yellow house, occasionally bending to pick the blossoms of the potted daisies that decorated the edges of the flight of steps. Kaitlyn was happiest when spending time with Grandma Deidre.

“Isn’t it a bit early, Kaitlyn?” Grandma Deidre shot back, above the clanging sounds of pots and pans that bounced off her kitchen walls.

“We’re right on time, Grandma!” Kaitlyn replied in a soft voice, as her two little brothers, Tyrell, and Jayden lagged farther behind.

Storytime with Grandma Deidre had become a weekly affair; sometimes, the stories were delightful, other times scary, as if they came out of hell. However, this night the story had taken on a dark turn, and Grandma Deidre seemed all too happy to tell it, sitting outside on her front porch.

“One dark stormy September night,” Grandma Deidre began. “Four fiery eyes peered through Ms. Lizzy’s glass windows. Her neighbor’s dogs howled and whimpered at the whistling sounds of the trees, and the crackling noises of broken branches. Her granddaughter, Zoey curled up in the corner of their living room. She squeezed her eyes shut, clutched her knees up to her chin and swayed back and forth, trying to block out the sounds of the storm and the shadows of the two black-hooded fiery-eyed men that lurked outside at the back of the house.”

The mischievous grin on Grandma Deidre’s face was all too familiar, and the quivering, frightened little faces of Tyrell, and Jayden, looked a bit perilous. The sleeping dogs laid beneath Grandma Deidre’s feet; their chins rested ever so peacefully against the cold concrete. With one foot in the doorway, and one foot outside, Jayden and Tyrell nervously waited to make their exit when the story got to a state of fright. It didn’t take much to scare them, they were the cowards of the family, too afraid to listen to the tale of two boogeymen only their grandmother could see.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, the hand on the clock shifted downward, echoing loudly in Kaitlyn’s ear as it slowly ticked by. And as time passed, she realized her heart had fallen into tune. It was beating against her chest, sounding louder, racing faster while listening to Grandma Deidre telling the story of mythical creatures lurking in Ms. Lizzy’s backyard as they breathed fire that left a trail of plume. 

Grandma Deidre’s stories were always gripping, with no shortage of hype or fright. She had a ghost story, every story night. But, just like always, right before the ending, the boys bolted out the door, back to their home at Hilltop Cottage.

And there Kaitlyn was, alone with her grandmother, staring into the darkness of the night, too afraid to move, much less to run. She listened to her heart pounding harder, racing faster, just waiting for this nightmarish story to reach its frightful end.

But then, right before the ending, out of nowhere came a shooting star. Nothing Kaitlyn had ever seen before traveled as fast or that far. Even Grandma Deidre seemed a bit surprised, looking at the image shooting past the countless stars stuck to the big black sky. Speeding at a hundred thousand miles per hour, Kaitlyn thought, finding its way to a galaxy somewhere to the north.

“Grandma, Grandma, look at that star! Did you see it, Grandma?” Kaitlyn blurted out, overly excited by the light that came in as just a flash, no speeding bullet could catch.

“Yes, I did. This is not the first time I’ve seen such a fast light. When you’re as old as I am, you get to see many things, and most of the time there is no logical explanation,” Grandma Deidre told her as she leaned forward, holding on to her chair, trying to get a better view of the shooting star’s glare.

“Out there is another world, I bet, Grandma, if you stare long enough, you’ll feel the energy pulling you forward. I can feel it. Can you feel the energy, can you, can you?” Kaitlyn was beyond ecstatic, pointing upward at the image that made her feel euphoric.

“It’s just a flash Kaitlyn; it happens all the time. If you stay out here longer, more will certainly follow behind.” Grandma Deidre was not as excited; she had years of experience, seeing events like the shooting star happen.

Kaitlyn was mesmerized by the force of what was out there, far, far away. Somewhere out there, other worlds exist. She imagined, waiting for Astronauts to discover them, whether it’s an asteroid or a comet. One giant leap was all it took; Neil Armstrong got to the moon and took a closer look. 

As Kaitlyn sat pondering over what she had witnessed, another bright light came towards her, more brilliant and spectacular than the one before. Beaming down, it came and settled right over her. The glare was almost unbearable as it shone all around her. Blinding her as it illuminated the night’s sky. For at least a minute, Kaitlyn was fully eclipsed into the ray of light that burned right through her, penetrating her skin before leaving a scar, with an imprint in the shape of a star. The light’s brilliance lulled Grandma Deidre into a trance.

Not even the fire-eyed boogeymen, or the mermaids lurking in the river at Pond Gully, two of her favorite tales, could compare to what Kaitlyn had just witnessed; this was far more frightening on a different level and a much bigger scale.

Grandma Deidre’s story didn’t scare Kaitlyn as much as she thought it would, not after watching the majesty of the shooting star, as it flew so fast, way up in the sky, and found its way straight into orbit. A spectacle far beyond words, a mystery too hard to process, much less ignore.

Kaitlyn couldn’t make sense of what had happened; it took some time to understand that something from outer space had consumed her. She felt as if it bounded both of her hands, she stood motionless, under the control of the light’s brilliance.

“Grandma, did you see the light that struck me?” Kaitlyn blurted out after she wrestled her body from the light, thrusting her to the ground.

“No, I didn’t, my dear.”

“But it came right at me. There’s no way you could have missed it, Grandma!” Kaitlyn beseeched, narrowing her brows. She leapt to her feet; almost hitting her head against a nearby ledge.

“Are you okay, my dear?” Grandma Deidre extended her hand and offered Kaitlyn help to regain her balance.

“When the light hit, it trapped me. I couldn’t move, and I could hardly breathe.” Kaitlyn staggered, feeling like Ned, the neighborhood wino, who often passed out drunk on the side of the road that led to Grandma Deidre’s house.

As Kaitlyn struggled to stay on her feet, she looked as if she had just emerged from a battle between two worlds that collided, which left her dazed and confused.

“I’m not sure what happened, Kaitlyn. At first it felt as if the sky was falling on me, then I felt like something lifted me out of my chair and I floated into the air. After that, nothing else was clear.”

“That must be why you didn’t see the light that struck me. You were hypnotized, Grandma. It put you in a trance. See, it left a mark on my chest. This was not here before.” Kaitlyn began to slowly come out of her whirlwind.

“Baby-girl, I’m not sure what really happened, but whatever you saw, it came with a message directly for you. One day, I’m sure we’ll find out what it is. Who knows, maybe it’s just part of the big bang theory?”

“Grandma, you have to keep this a secret, you just have to. Will you promise me that you won’t say a word about what happened here tonight? Especially to my parents, I don’t think they would believe it, if I should tell them that something from outer space attacked me and invaded my body. They’ll probably think that I made it up or that I’m losing my mind and call it insanity.” 

“I didn’t see what struck you my dear, so there’s nothing for me to talk about. This is your story to tell.” Grandma Deidre wrestled with the armrests of her old broken-down rocking chair.

“Not a word, Grandma, you promise?”

“I promise.”

“Pinky-swear?” Kaitlyn curved her pinky onto the wrinkled finger of her grandmother’s and swore her to secrecy.

“My lips are sealed. This is too incredible even for me. But I’ll leave it up to you how and when to tell your parents; I’m trusting you to do the right thing.”

“But what could this mean? Something strange happened to me tonight.” Kaitlyn folded her hands over her heart.

“Look, Sweetheart, somethings in life are not always easy to explain. For as long as I’ve been alive, I was able to go with the flow and not question things that seemed impossible. And this encounter may be one of those things that no one can explain. I’d feel like a bumbling idiot if I tried to describe what happened here tonight.” Grandma Deidre gazed up at the night’s sky.

“You are wrong, Grandma, somewhere there is someone who can explain what just happened. There must be, I don’t think this light is normal, and I know there is an answer to what attacked me. What if an alien has invaded me, or something worse?” Kaitlyn’s big black eyes widened; her trembling hands covered her mouth.

“Let me tell you a story.” Grandma Deidre was not used to seeing her grand-daughter so afraid. She thought Kaitlyn could use a distraction to calm her down.

“Not again, Grandma!” Kaitlyn slung her tiny frame back into her chair. She didn’t seem eager to listen to another one of her grandmother’s stories; not after what had happened. “Not after what I’ve just been through. Another story will not do me any good, Grandma. I can barely stand. I am just trying to understand what happened?”

Kaitlyn felt distressed and in no mood to listen to another mythical creature that only existed in Grandma Deidre’s mind.

However, this story was much different from the ones Grandma Deidre usually told. It seemed personal as she reluctantly went back to her childhood years. Grandma Deidre was not one to bring up her past; in fact, she never talked about it at all. She kept it hidden from everyone. Now, she was about to share her story with a twelve-year-old, and you could see the pain on her face, as she travelled back decades to her childhood years.

The smile she flashed to Kaitlyn looked emotional. She seemed as if she was struggling to prevent the tears that built up in her eyes from falling out. Her hair was silver, and her face showed all the usual signs of aging. The wrinkles around her eyes were a dead giveaway that Grandma Deidre had more than six decades on which to reflect.

“When I was a little girl, my mother died. That’s your great-grandmother. If she were alive, you would have loved her, and she would’ve adored you.” Grandma Deidre finally was able to muster the courage to begin telling her story. “I was at her bedside the day she died. I felt terrified for two reasons. One, I’d never seen a dead person before, and two, I wondered who would take care of me after my mother was gone, since I didn’t have a father.

“When my mother died, I couldn’t stop crying; nothing or no one could console me. The impact of her death was more significant because I watched her as she took her last breath, and that image stayed with me for a long, long time. I was motherless and fatherless, and suddenly, I had no one to take care of me.”

“No one?” Kaitlyn lifted her chin with her small hands, then rested her elbows firmly against her knees.

“I was not as lucky as you are, my dear. You have two wonderful parents who would do anything to protect you, and one day when you are older, you will appreciate the need for a warm bed and a place to call home.” And just like that, Kaitlyn got her color back, after it had drained from her face.

After that night, the moon and the stars began to consume Kaitlyn. While she was only a little girl, she was determined to find out how she fits into the giant puzzle of the universe and space. Unenlightened though she was of what made up the galaxy, Kaitlyn knew it would take a miracle to fully understand her strange entanglement with the mysterious light that struck her and left its mark.

Kaitlyn knew she had to keep the encounter secret, at least temporarily. Still, with such a bizarre experience, she became fixated, dedicated, and determined to find out the purpose of its existence, and why out of everyone else, the star had struck her.