Matilda and the Alien

Matilda laid very still in her bed. She listened as hard as she could, waiting for the sound of her mom and dad’s bedroom door to click shut. She felt like she had been laying in bed forever. She had her pink flashlight under her pillow, and had put her shoes and coat under her bed where her mom wouldn’t see them.

There it was - the click of the door. She laid there a few minutes more, just in case. Then, when she couldn’t hear anything else, she very quietly got up. She dug her shoes and coat out and put them on, got her pink flashlight from under her pillow, and then, as quietly as she could, opened her window. She was glad that they didn’t have two stories in their house. She climbed over the window sill and shut it, making sure she put a little rock under it so it wouldn’t shut all the way.

Matilda ran across the yard and snuck through the gate. Behind her house was a big field full of really tall wheat. She stopped at the edge and looked down the rows. She took a big breath, turned on her pink flashlight and walked into the wheat.

Matilda walked straight down the row for a while. She turned right when she saw a purple ribbon, then left when she saw another one. Pretty soon her flashlight shined on the spot where the wheat was gone. She walked out into the flat circle, nervous because she thought it might be gone.

But it wasn’t! It was still sitting there, shiny and round and sparkly!

She had seen weird lights and heard a little “poof” three nights ago. She had been very frightened, especially when she heard a tapping on her window. But, she was more curious than scared, and when she went to the window she saw a big pair of even more scared eyes. The little alien was only as tall as her knees, and he was blue and hopped everywhere. He was the nicest alien Matilda had ever met, but she hadn’t met any other aliens.

He told her that he was flying home in his little ship when it crashed into Matilda’s wheat field. He had run out of green beans, which is what made his little ship fly. Matilda’s mom was surprised when Matilda started asking for green beans for dinner. She didn’t see Matilda scoop them into a little bag every night!

The little spaceship door opened, and the little blue alien came out. Matilda pulled a bag of green beans out of her pocket, and the little alien took them and put them into a little hole in the bottom of his ship. Then he ran back into it, and all of a sudden the lights came on and it started humming. His spaceship was working again!!!

He came back out and gave Matilda a big hug and thanked her for the green beans. He had enough to get all the way home now. He went inside again and closed the door, then waved out of the window. The spaceship floated into the sky, spitting out green bubbles. Then it made a squeak and shot away into the sky. Matilda waved goodbye until she couldn’t see it any more.