The story
7/19/08
By Juliana Carter
Young Charlie Williams was a dreamer.
His dreams took him to the stars and beyond. Charlie knew many
things. Like, for instance, that our very own galaxy, the Milky
Way, is just one of billions of other galaxies in the
universe.
Charlie had always been fascinated with the Solar System. When he
was three, he could tell his parents about the planets and the
order in which they revolved around the Sun. Charlie longed to some
day meet an actual extraterrestrial.
Charlie constantly scanned the sky for alien spacecraft. He looked
through high-powered binoculars that his parents gave him, and
through the small wobbly telescope set up in the backyard. Charlie
couldn't get a really good look at the night sky, though, because
the city lights blocked his view. Charlie was fed up with the light
pollution.
When his school let out for the summer, Charlie's family went to
visit his Aunt Mary in the country where the stars were too
numerous to count.
Long after supper, after the sun had set and the sky was dark,
Charlie and his dad pulled up their chairs for some sky
watching.
"Dad, I see a UFO. Look! It's right there."
Charlie pointed excitedly to a far corner of the sky. Yes, there
was an object traveling steadily on its trajectory.
"Sorry, Charlie. That's a satellite. If you watch long enough,
you'll see it come around again. It's so clear out here, we see
things that we'd never see at home. Don't give up though. You never
know what you'll see out here," Dad said, giving Charlie a little
wink.
Hmm, Charlie thought. Not a UFO. But an actual satellite? That was
pretty impressive; something he'd certainly never seen
before.
Charlie and his dad lay back on their lounge chairs until Charlie's
neck felt cramped from looking up for so long.
"Time for bed, Charlie."
"Aw, Dad," Charlie protested, rubbing his eyes. He was really
pretty tired, but he felt he had to complain just a little to keep
his dad on his toes.
The summer night was cool and Charlie kept the bedroom window open
a crack so he could listen to the crickets. He watched as a
beautiful pearlescent-gray dragonfly flew in through the
window.
"What are you doing in here, little guy?"
Charlie loved insects and bugs of every kind. Well, except for
mosquitoes and roaches. He was not fond of them at all. But
everything else, he loved.
"What are you still doing awake I might ask," said a small
voice.
"Who said that?" Charlie demanded, to no one in particular.
Charlie looked around. He was the only person in the room. He could
hear the voices of his parents, aunt and uncle, laughing and
talking in the next room. It couldn't have been them.
"I'm right here. You said hello to me before," said the little
voice again.
"What the..?"
Charlie focused his eyes and looked at the dragonfly perched on the
nightstand next to him. He rubbed his eyes. His dragonfly was
actually a tiny spaceship. The door to what would be the driver's
side was open, and standing on top of this miniscule craft was an
even more miniscule little man. He wasn't dressed like a spaceman
though. He was very small, but Charlie could have sworn that the
little man was wearing logger's boots, tiny bluejeans, a blue and
green flannel shirt, and a red scarf tied around his neck. On the
top of his head was perched a pair of aviator goggles. The little
man looked like he'd be right at home flying a small
airplane.
"Please speak softly or you'll hurt my ears," said the little
man.
"Who are you and how can I hear your voice when you're so tiny?"
Charlie asked.
"I'm Ted, and you're hearing my thoughts. In fact, I can hear yours
too, so let's just talk to each other that way or else I'll lose my
hearing completely."
Now, this was all too much for Charlie to handle and he threw
questions out at Ted as fast as he could think of them. And Charlie
could think of a lot of questions.
"Charlie, you're wearing me out. Remember, I'm a lot smaller than
you," Ted said.
Ted had so much to tell Charlie. Like about his planet, for
instance.
"I come from Planet Tall Trees. We're part of the Bark Galaxy. We
live in a very prime area of real estate, so we have to go on
patrols to keep the interlopers out."
Ted explained to Charlie that he'd been watching him while he was
out doing his patrols.
"I came to see you tonight because you seem like a pretty nice kid.
And I know you really, really want to meet a space guy."
"So you're a space guy?" Asked Charlie.
"Well, sort of, I guess. Our planet isn't too far from here. My
colony lives inside the hollow of a giant redwood tree."
This was too much for Charlie.
"How can an entire colony consist of a hollow tree?" Charlie
asked.
"Come on now, Charlie. Use that giant human brain of yours. You
know about bacteria; right? You've seen how microscopic they are.
How many of them do you think could live on the head of a
pin?"
Charlie considered this.
"I think I know what you're getting at. So if the head of a pin
could hold millions of micro organisms, the inside of a hollow tree
could hold billions."
"Now, you're getting it, Charlie. There are worlds around you,
pretty much everywhere, that you don't even know about. There are
worlds smaller than ours and worlds much larger. Like yours."
Charlie and Ted talked for what seemed like hours. They talked
about Ted's family and friends; about the food Ted liked to eat
(something Charlie had never heard of but thought it sounded like
paste); and what school was like on Planet Tall Trees. Charlie
rubbed his eyes. He was so tired, but he didn't want to let go of
his new friend.
"Gotta go, Charlie. It was great meeting you."
"When can I see you again?"
"Same time next year. Just leave the window open."
Before he knew it, in the blink of an eye, Ted had climbed back
into his craft and flew out the window. Charlie thought he saw Ted
give him a little wave.
This was stupendous. Miraculous. Something Charlie would never
forget. Not ever. Charlie thought of worlds within worlds. He
wondered about the worlds living in his magnolia tree at home and
planned to get his magnifying glass out when he got home. That is,
if he could find it.
In the morning, Charlie woke up and thought about Ted.
"That was the best dream ever," Charlie thought. He looked over at
his nightstand and noticed what he thought might be a very small
pile of redwood dust.
"Until next year," Charlie said, to no one in particular.
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