I restlessly moved from left to right on my bed. The room was pitch dark and the bedside clock struck one. I could hear the leaves ruffled outside, followed by a screeching of a faraway cat.

Restlessly, I sat up on my bed and switched on the bedside lamp. “This is totally ridiculous! Why can’t I sleep?” I thought, and instantly got an idea.

I got up from the bed, went to my study table, took the novel I just began the day earlier and started reading it.

“Now, this sure will make me sleepy,” I thought.

My genius trick somehow worked and after a while my eyelids started to feel heavy. I yawned and tried to concentrate on the text. Soon, I had to give in and closed my eyes with the book still in my hands.

After an hour or so, my sleep was disturbed by a loud wheezing noise, coming from our backyard. I rubbed my eyes and checked the time. It was 2:30am. I stood up, went to the window and looked outside. What I saw made my eyes wide open in utter astonishment!

There was a spaceship, shaped as saucer, perched in my backyard. I still could not believe my eyes. I wasn’t scared; in fact, I felt the urge to go out and check it. The spaceship was glowing in the dark, creating an enchanting scenario. I wore my slippers and went outside the house. I walked through the grassy backyard towards the spaceship.

All of a sudden, a door opened and very gracefully an alien appeared in the doorway. The alien was like the ones we typically see in movies, all green with almond-shaped eyes, a round small nose and peachy lips. He was as thin as a pencil.

He extended his hand towards me and, in a hoarse voice, spoke in human language (which I didn’t expect). He invited me to come with him and explore his planet, which was called Blueberry Land, near Neptune.

I was reluctant at first but, because the alien seemed friendly, I climbed the short stairs of the spaceship while holding the soft scaly hand of that alien. Together, we stepped into the square opening of the spaceship.

I thought the interior of the spaceship would be more or less the same as that of an aeroplane, or maybe those rocket pictures displayed by Nasa, but it wasn’t anything like that. There were no typical seats, buttons, screens or even windows, but it was still so fabulous that I would say it was funky. For instance, small hearts, stars and shimmering lights hung from the roof. There was a small and stylish table by a large, blue-stained crystal window on which another alien, identical to the previous one, was seated.

He gestured to me to sit on the opposite side of the table with him. I hesitantly took a seat. Meanwhile the spaceship took off. The alien went inside to a small adjoining room and returned with a mug and platter of cookies. He put those in front of me on the table and quietly sat down on his seat. The mug was foaming with hot choco-coffee which was their ‘specialty’ as he later stated.

I took a sip of it and it was absolutely delicious. I was at the lavish treatment I was receiving.

The spaceship was moving towards their planet and, interestingly, the ride was so smooth that I didn’t even feel a small jerk. In a few minutes, we reached the Blueberry Land. One of the aliens told me to go and have fun on their land, no one would stop me. I got so excited listening to this, so I immediately stood up and stepped outside the spaceship.

I was completely awestruck to see the Blueberry Land. Everywhere blue lights were shining and glimmering, making the atmosphere luminous. I came across a lake and was amazed to see a blue ray of light corresponding to a rainbow, dancing over the waves.

Interestingly, there were no plants except blueberry trees, blue and green bushes, blue flowers and sweets in blueberry shape and colour hanging from the trees. As I walked on the beautiful land, one of the aliens from the planet came to me and put a beautiful blue flower in my hair. I smiled and thanked him.

I kept walking and watched the beautiful land and the aliens here and there, busy doing their chores. Everyone seemed welcoming, then I saw a beautiful lake with so many blue-coloured flowers surrounding it. The water of the lake was shimmering. After walking and exploring more, I felt tired and returned to the spaceship.

The spaceship then took off from the Blueberry Land and reached planet Earth, to my backyard. Before departing, I hugged both the aliens with watery eyes, thanking them for such a memorable space trip to their planet. I watched as the spaceship flew away in the blink of an eye.

“Trrrrrnnn!” The alarm was ringing, trying its best to drag me back to the real world. I yawned and opened my eyes. I smiled as I thought about my wonderful dream. As I held my hair and wanted to tie them, I felt something in my hair, soft and delicate, I was dumbstruck to see the same blue flower which the alien from Blueberry Land put in my hair!

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 6th, 2021