Bleep, Bleep, Blip, Bleep. Bleep, Bleep, Blip, Bleep.

An alarming noise woke Evan from his favorite recurring Galaxy Hero dream.

He had been battling Dark Hawk (the evil lord and ruler of the Galaxy of Drune) with his trusty double-ended laser wand.

Evan rubbed his tired eyes and sat upright in bed. He tried to focus in the dark room. He rustled his sheets, and felt around frantically for his double-ended, spring activated laser wand.

PHEW! It was still lying next to him. He felt safer with the steadfast laser wand by his side, protecting him from things that go bump in the night. Evan lay back down and pulled his fleece blanket high above his eyes, leaving a tiny air hole for his nose.

Bleep, Bleep, Blip, Bleep. Bleep, Bleep, Blip, Bleep.

"I'm just imagining that noise," Evan whispered to himself.

He trembled beneath the covers and clutched the laser wand's titanium handle firmly in his left hand.

BLEEP, BLEEP, BLIP, BLEEP. BLEEP, BLEEP, BLIP, BLEEP.

The noise grew louder. An eerie green light glowed through the window and penetrated the covers. Evan curled his knees to his chest and clutched his double-ended, spring activated laser wand even tighter. Whatever that thing was outside, Evan was sure it was angry.

BLEEP, BLEEP, BLEEP, BLIP, BLEEP, BLIP, BLEEP. The noise drew nearer. It was shrill and frightening. Evan opened his mouth to scream for help. But as he strained his voice box…

BUZZZZZZ, SWISH

A powerful magnetic force sucked the fleece blanket off the bed. Evan was heaved out of his top bunk by the energy's great vacuum strength. A beam of neon light suctioned Evan through his open bedroom window into the frigid night air. He was zapped onto a vast alien starship. Its green and silver strobe lights blinked violently, lighting up the dark sky.

Evan was stunned. His mouth was dry. He wanted to cry, but his tear ducts were dehydrated. He wanted to scream, but his voice was paralyzed. He was placed in a trance-like daze. A force field surrounded him. His feet did not touch the floor of the alien starship. He was kept afloat six inches from the ground. Several double-headed blue creatures surrounded Evan. They each had four antennae on top of their heads with beady blood-shot eyeballs attached. Their skin was scaly and ancient looking. They walked without feet. Instead, they balanced on three stumpy stubs with two toe-like tentacles attached to each. They were various sizes. The tallest was shorter than Evan.

The smallest of the creatures screeched, "WHAT IS YOUR WEAPON, YOUNG HUMAN?"

Its voice was as shrill as the starship's beeping echo.

Evan was speechless.

"OUT OF YOUR TRANCE, YOUNG HUMAN!" the tallest alien screeched. It's voice echoed in a piercing tone, bouncing off the walls of the starship.

Evan snapped out of his trance.

"I REPEAT, YOUNG HUMAN, WHAT IS YOUR WEAPON?" shrieked the smallest of the aliens.

Evan looked down at his trembling left hand. He still clutched his double-ended spring activated laser wand.

"Uh Uh," Evan stuttered. "A-a laser wand."

"HOW DO YOU USE IT?" the small alien screeched.

"I'll show you," Evan answered.

Evan flipped the button. The spring activation ejected the double-ended blades. Lights and sound were triggered by the motion.

All the aliens screeched an earsplitting chorus, "EEEEEEK, EEEEEEK, EEEEEEK, EEEEEEK, EEEEEEK, EEEEEEK."

The aliens' eyeballs bulged and spun around in their sockets.

Evan plugged his ears and screamed, "It's just a toy!"

"It's just a toy!" Evan repeated hysterically. "Please stop!"

The aliens' screeches ended.

"A TOY?" the smallest alien's eyeballs shrunk back to normal size. It looked around at its colleagues.

"Yes, er, um, Mr. Alien, Sir," Evan stuttered, "a-a toy is something you p-play with. It's just p-pretend. A p-pretend weapon can't."

The small alien interrupted, "WE KNOW WHAT A TOY IS, YOUNG HUMAN. NO NEED TO EXPLAIN."

The small alien continued, "THE ONLY TOYS WE HAVE ON OUR PLANET ARE
EFFERVESCENT ORBS. WHERE DO YOU GET SUCH A WAND TOY ON YOUR PLANET EARTH, YOUNG HUMAN?" the alien inquired.

"At the toy store," Evan answered.

All the blue aliens squealed in high-pitched unison, "A TOY STORE!"

"DO THEY SELL EFFERVESCENT ORBS AT THE EARTHLING TOY STORE?" the small alien inquired.

"Er, um, I-I don't think so," Evan trembled.

"OOOH, WE ARE SORRY FOR YOU, YOUNG HUMAN," the aliens chimed together. "AN EFFERVESCENT ORB IS THE FUNNEST OF ALL TOYS IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE!"

Evan wasn't about to disagree.

"SHOW US HOW YOUR TOY WORKS AGAIN," the small blue alien squeaked.

Evan pushed the blades back into the titanium handle. He flicked the button on his laser wand again. The spring activation instantly ejected the double-ended blades. Lights blinked and sound filled the starship as Evan demonstrated his laser wand's light and sound motion activation.

"OOOOH," The aliens chimed.

"PRE-TEND TOY WEAPON, OOOOH," they screeched together.

"OUR KING WILL BE VERY PLEASED," the largest alien squeaked.

Then it squealed an eardrum popping chant, "ZEEEEEEEEEEEEP, ZEEEEEEEEEEEEP,
ZEEEEEEEEEEEEP, ZEEEEEEEEEEEEP, ZEEEEEEEEEEEEP,ZEEEEEEEEEEEEP."

Evan covered his ears and closed his eyes until the harsh noise ended.

When the alien's ear wrenching shriek ceased, Evan opened his eyes.

A large red illuminated button ascended out of the middle of the starship's floor.

The largest of the aliens pressed the button. The button inverted. Out of it arose a small silvery chrome cradle. Lying in the center was a tinier version of the two-headed aliens. It wore a miniature bejeweled crown and squealed a piercing song of delight, "SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK!"

Then with a great BUZZZZZZ, SWISH, a vacuum force as fierce as the one that dragged Evan out of his bed, sucked the laser wand out of Evan's hand and into the tiny king's cradle.

"Hey, that's my." but before Evan could finish his sentence.

BUZZZZZZ, SWISH

The magnetic force that transported Evan onto the great starship, spit him out again like a piece of bad tasting food. He crashed through his bedroom window and landed on top of his soft mattress. The eerie glow outside his window was gone. He rustled his sheets anxiously, searching for his laser wand. It wasn't in his bed. Evan jumped off the top bunk and switched on the light. He looked on the floor. It wasn't there. He looked under his bed. Nothing was under there but a dirty pair of socks. His fleece blanket lay in a ball on the floor. He picked it up and shook it. The laser wand wasn't there either. A dozen bouncy balls dropped from the blanket as he waved it. They bounced on the floor and ricocheted off the walls. One hit Evan on the nose. He caught it in his hand and rolled it around. The ball was etched with these teeny words: "EFFERVESCENT ORB, MANUFACTURED ON THE PLANET OF THE BLUE ALIENS"

"This is an Effervescent Orb?" Evan chuckled. "It's just a stupid rubber bouncy ball!"

Evan flicked his light off and climbed up the ladder to his bunk bed. As he buried his head in his pillow, a flash of neon light shot past his window with a loud BUZZZZZZ, SWISH. Evan flinched and gripped the Effervescent Orb tightly in his hand. Somewhere in the distance Evan could hear a faint cry, "SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, SQUEAK, FUN NEW TOY!"

Evan smiled and drifted off to sleep. He still clutched the Effervescent Orb in his hand. The warmth of his hand made the small orb glow. The tighter he clutched, the more brightly it shined. It began to crackle. It began to quake. Then the orb began to hatch. A tiny double-headed, four-eyed blue alien emerged. It's eyeballs bulged as it looked at Evan.

It squeaked "EEEEEEK, EEEEEEK, EEEEEEK, EEEEEEK YOUNG HUMAN!"

The newborn alien scampered on top of Evan's pillow, it rolled itself into a tiny ball, and bounced on top of Evan's hairy head.

"COMFY NEST!" squealed the newborn alien.

It burrowed itself into Evan's soft, silky hair and fell fast asleep.

"Whistle, Whistle," the newborn alien snored. "WHISTLE, WHISTLE," it snored more loudly.

Evan opened one sleepy eyeball and then the next. He sat upright in bed and rubbed his tired eyes. He rustled his sheets and searched for the Effervescent Orb. It was gone.

He lay back down and pulled his fleece blanket above his eyes. He left one tiny air hole for his nose.

"WHISTLE, WHISTLE," snored the newborn alien.

"I am just imagining that noise," Evan whispered to himself.

"WHISTLE, WHISTLE," the baby alien droned.

"Oh no, not again!" Evan cried.

He curled his knees to his chest and hugged his pillow.

The baby alien rolled over and stopped snoring.

Evan lay quietly. The whistling ceased. He knew it. He had just been imagining the eerie whistling noise all along.

"Thank goodness," Evan whispered to himself.

Evan fluffed his pillow, rolled onto his side, and fell back to sleep.

The End

Shelly Nicholson is a children's writer and stay at home mom. Besides Story Station, Shelly has stories published in Fandangle magazine and stories forthcoming in Fun For Kidz, Highlights for Children, Kid Zone, Stories For Children and WhittleTykes. Shelly lives in a resort community in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania with her husband John and her 4 children. Besides writing, she enjoys skiing, running, cooking and spending time with her family.

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