The Message In The Stars

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. But Ginny had been hearing voices from the great expanse for a long time now – entire conversations from a world not her own.

The voices came from the stars, she was certain of it. These were the same stars that she looked at now, perched atop the large boulder at the highest point in the woods. Her home wasn’t far, but she couldn’t see it through the branches. This privacy was the great gift of living in the woods. Ginny came out to this exact spot every night after dinner. It was how she entertained herself, listening to the conversations of other worlds the way one might listen to the radio.

She had been doing this ever since her brother – protector and best friend – went off to fight in the war. At first, she came to the boulder because she was scared. But that was a year ago, when she was only six, and now she was no longer scared. She was just curious to hear more stories.

There was a good story going on this night, about a being (she couldn’t help but to think of them as aliens) wishing for courage. The voice was deep, but shaky, and the being was speaking to someone Ginny could not see. The being longed to be brave enough to speak to someone very pretty. “Every time I try to talk to her I get all sweaty, and I think I’m going to pass out. Please, God, grant me the courage to ask her out.”

Ginny laughed as she listened, twirling a finger through her long, rust-coloured hair.

Then the night air shifted, the branches around her boulder rustled. Some of the higher trees blotted out parts of the sky, but she could still see more stars than she could count, glistening against the black canvas. Now the conversation about wishing for courage had faded away. In its place were new voices that made Ginny’s skin crawl.

On other nights, she had heard whispered admissions, panicked questions, even songs. Groups of voices came together singing about hope and happiness and an old man she did not know.

When she first started tuning in, the voices spoke about all sorts of things, many too grown up for her to understand. But she had gotten better at interpreting what they meant. And she was old enough to know when they were asking for help. “Please help my brother,” one of them had said. “He’s sick and there’s no more medicine. Please. I will do anything.” Ginny thought of her own brother and thought that she’d do anything to keep him safe as well.

Because the conversations Ginny heard were one-sided, it was all intriguing and mysterious. Piecing it together was part of the fun, though. And she would imagine the alien faces of those who were talking as she tried to make their sentences into full stories.

Tonight, however, things were different. The voices she heard now were panicked. They were crying and screaming. They spoke of things that brought terrible images into Ginny’s head, and were sure to give her nightmares.

Ginny held her breath.

These weren’t conversations; they were cries for help.

Heart-racing, Ginny leapt off her boulder and began sprinting back home. She had to duck under the branches that reached out for her face. She took long strides down the hillside, careful not to trip on any stumps. The voices in the sky faded away behind Ginny; she could never hear them when she wasn’t looking at the stars. But the fear in their voices carried on with her.

As Ginny approached the creek that divided her family property from the wild lands she now occupied, she decided that she had to jump. Otherwise, she would need to run the long way around, and there simply wasn’t time.

Ginny sped up, moving her little legs as fast as they would go, and tried to time her jump across the creek bed and a steep six-foot drop into boggy water. Ginny was plenty of things – bold, spirited, and outgoing – but she was not tall. Despite her efforts, her jump came up short, and she felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. She was going to fall into the creek.

Ginny flung her hands out to the side, palms down, as she had been instructed. The beads embedded in her palm glowed and trembled, making her hands feel warm. She gritted her teeth and scrunched up her face. With enough concentration, she felt her body stall. She now hung suspended above the inky waters.

Carefully guiding herself with palms outstretched, she floated safely over to the far side of the creek bed. When her feet settled back on the ground, the beads in her hands deactivated and their light disappeared. Her brother would be so proud; she had finally done it right. She couldn’t wait to tell him.

But first there was more important business.

Ginny burst through the door of their cabin. Her mother was inside, folding the tarps they had used during the storm. A gentle fire was glowing in the fireplace, casting happy shadows across the living room. The space was cozy, though her parents often called it crammed.

“Ma … the voices… in the sky…” Ginny said in between deep breaths. “They’re in trouble.”

Her mother had long tolerated Ginny’s imagination, even humoured it. But tonight her mother seemed impatient, and barely looked up from her task.

“Is that so dear? Why don’t you tell me all about it as we get you into bed.”

Ginny’s mother started herding her towards the bedroom, stripping off her jacket and sweater as they went. Ginny didn’t resist, but spoke a mile-a-minute as she stomped into her room.

“They’re in trouble. I heard them screaming. They’re trying to leave. They talked about how their home was too hot. There were fires. People want to leave. Some of them are flying away, but most of them can’t.”

Ginny’s mother nodded absently as she pulled back the covers of Ginny’s bed. Maybe she’ll dream of these space people, Ginny’s mother thought as she coaxed Ginny along. At the edge of the bed, however, the girl resisted.

“Ma, don’t you believe me?”

“I believe you, but it’s time for bed. Your father will come read to you if you can get in like a good girl.”

“But Ma, they said they’re dying!” Ginny’s eyes were serious. “They’re stuck and they have nowhere to go. Their world is ending.”

“That sounds terrible honey,” Her mother said, voice flat. “And what world is this?”

“They said they’re from a place called Earth.”