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Rowan watched with bated breath from the ditch at the edge of the path, her white dress hitched up in her hands to keep it out of the dirt. Crouched behind the dry shrubs, she heard the sound of jogging footsteps drawing closer, multiple pairs of boots moving at once. Her heart skipped as she saw the trainees appear over the ridge, running in unison as their commanding officer set the pace. Ducking down a little further to keep herself hidden, she peered through the gaps in the desert foliage, scanning the faces of the young men as they jogged past.

There he was: William Hill. School captain, star football player, first class recruit in the local military and all-round dreamboat. A fine layer of sweat beaded on his handsome features where the rest of his squad were drenched in the stuff, and to the young lady hiding in the ditch, it looked like he was holding himself back. She had to suppress a longing sigh as she once again wished she were special enough to earn his attention. But she knew better; what could such a magnificent young man ever see in the smallest girl in school? She wasn’t the cleverest, she wasn’t the fastest, she wasn’t the funniest and, in her eyes at least, she certainly wasn’t the prettiest.

“Oh to be worthy of William Hill,” she whispered under her breath, “I couldn’t wish for more.”

While leaning forward to get a better look at William, Rowan’s feet slipped ever so slightly. A yelp escaped her throat as she rebalanced herself, her eyes wide and her hands clasped over her mouth. A few of the recruits glanced over in the direction the noise had come from, though not one broke formation. Rowan crouched down as low as she could without actually sitting down, pulling her wavy black hair over her face like a curtain and hoping against hope nobody would stop.

A few seconds later, the trainees passed by, the clunk of their boots gradually receding as they made their way back towards the town. The young lady breathed a sigh of relief, tottering awkwardly out of the ditch and dusting down her dress to make sure there were no signs of dirt on it. Despite it being well into the night by this point, both she and the surrounding arid landscape were lit up reasonably brightly by the full moon above. She watched the squad jogging into the distance as a single pair of stumbling footsteps slowly approached behind her.

She glanced back and watched the scrawny, bespectacled young man run up beside her before grinding to a halt. Leaning forwards with his hands on his knees, the brown haired weed of a man heaved great gulps of breath as he struggled to remain standing.

“Still followin’ the bigger boys Sprout?” Rowan asked pleasantly, smiling as the young man nodded between wheezes.

“You… bet… Ro… Jus’ you watch; one day… I’ll be… good ‘nuf… to be a hero!”

“Hehe, you’re already a hero t’me Sprout. Those army folks would have to have their neckties done up too tight if’n they don’t accept you when you’re old ‘nuf.”

“Thanks… Ro… gosh, I’d best… keep runnin’.”

“Go get ‘em Sprout!”

The weedy young man let out a growl of determination which would have rivalled a yawning puppy on the intimidation scale. A moment later, he set off with an undignified trot, running as fast as his legs could carry him after the recruits. Rowan smiled in amusement; Sprout was a lovely, clever boy, but he wasn’t cut out for a soldier’s life. Still, she hoped he could find somewhere in the military that he could be useful.

Turning in the direction of her house, Rowan decided to forego the usual routine of taking the road home in favour of just cutting straight across country. She knew the terrain so well after eighteen years of living here that she was confident she could run the entire way in the dark, if she had better shoes.

Even at a walk though, it was a perfectly pleasant trip home. The desert landscape may not have been terribly populated, but there was a distinct serenity to it all; you could see everything coming from a mile away, so there was nothing to surprise you.

Well… normally there was nothing to surprise you.

Rowan’s attention was drawn to a bright light high above her which appeared to be growing rapidly larger. At first it was little more than a circle of spinning light in the starry sky, but as the seconds passed, a dull whirring noise reached the young woman’s ears. She stood like a rabbit in headlights, mouth slightly agape as the object became more distinct.

The disc seemed to be made of some sort of metal, emitting licking tendrils of pure light from great gashes in the hull. It spiraled down towards Rowan at an alarming rate, zigzagging through the air before attempting to pull up at the last second. A great gust of air whipped around the young woman’s ankles and she squealed in terror, tumbling over onto her back as the flaming object shot over her head. A deafening explosion from behind Rowan told her the flying disc had struck the ground, and she scrambled quickly to her feet, heart hammering in her chest as she stared at the smoldering wreckage.

Step by step, her curiosity overcame her fear as she edged nearer and nearer to the crash site. A faint green glow emanated from the heart of the blaze, and for whatever reason, she simply couldn’t take her eyes off it. The sensible, logical part of her mind told her she should stay away from the thing, that she should report it to the authorities and then run off home. But something about the green light enraptured her.

A slow, quiet hiss of steam filled the air as the disc at the heart of the blaze cracked open like an egg. Rowan halted only a dozen feet away from the edge of the burning wreckage, watching with undisguised awe as a shape emerged from the silver disc.

Though its shape was more or less humanoid, there was no doubt in the young woman’s mind that the tall, green creature wasn’t of her world. There was an unusual beauty in the aesthetic of its form that somehow calmed the fear that might otherwise have consumed her. The creature stood easily ten feet tall and appeared to be made of pure, green light, with great white saucers for eyes. Notably, Rowan saw that the creature appeared to be fading rapidly, the glow diminishing with each awkward step it took.

Immediately, her impulse to help drowned out her impulse to run.

“A-are you okay? Can I help you in some way?”

If the creature understood her, it made no sign. It held out a long, four-fingered hand towards the little lady, its entire body visibly trembling. Cautiously, Rowan reached out and took the creature gently by the hand.

Immediately, her entire body erupted with raw energy, adrenaline surging in her veins as the creature blazed with life. Its saucer-eyes widened in response, the light within growing brighter and brighter until it was almost blinding… and a moment later, with a sound like a whip-crack, the creature was gone.

Rowan’s entire body tingled with heat, her fingertips glowing green as she stared at her palms, mouth hanging open in shock. Before long however, whatever spell had kept her hanging around as long as she did faded from her mind. Common sense at last took over, and without a moment’s thought she turned on her heel and headed for home. Whatever else happened after that, Rowan knew whole-heartedly that 1947 was a year she would never forget.

Chapter End Notes:

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