The day of the court hearing arrived. Keys entered the courtroom with the Taylor family close behind him along with a throng of spectators. They all took their seats and sat quietly for a while until the judge entered.

"All rise!" said the bailiff. "You may sit," he said a moment later as the judge took his place behind his desk.

"The court is now in session!" the bailiff said loudly. "The case of the Keys Space Agency for Extra-Terrestrial Life Forms versus Ed Meisner on charges of attempting to harm a real extra-terrestrial. The honorable Judge Harper presiding!"

Just then Meisner was brought into the room in between two officers, his hands were cuffed in front of him, his face held a petulant scowl as he was brought in front of the bailiff.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you?" the bailiff asked him.

"I do," he replied with a slight smirk on his face. He took his seat in the witness box.

The judge banged lightly onto his desk with his gavel. "You, Ed Meisner, have been accused of harming an extra-terrestrial life form. Is this true?"

"Well, that all depends on what you mean," Meisner said pervasively. "I wouldn't have actually been harming the thing."

"Answer the question, yes or no!" the judge demanded sternly.

"Well, then yes," Meisner replied irritably.

"Can you tell us what your intention was?" inquired the judge.

"To get to its brain for it was highly unusually intelligent brain of colossal proportions. It would have made me a world- renowned researcher." Meisner stated plainly.

"But why would you want to kill the creature in the first is I'm sure what we would all like to know," the judge continued. "I mean after all, what did it ever do to you?"

"Well, nothing to me, per se?" Meisner admitted grudgingly. "But haven't extra-terrestrials been known to abduct innocent humans from their beds and to experiment on them against their will also, and manipulate their brains so that they lose most of their sanity for the rest of their miserable lives?"

"There have been reports of such things occurring, but there hasn't been enough evidence yet to prove such things have actually happened," the judge stated matter-of-factly.

"But they have happened!" Meisner insisted, turning very red in the face. "For I have known them to happen in my own family and among my friends and co-workers!"

"Regardless of whether it is true or not," said the judge. "It doesn't prove the extra-terrestrial in question here to be one of them as reports from the Keys Agency have shown otherwise, or perhaps you would like to hear from them again. I call Mr. Tedrow Garrison, also known as 'Keys' to the stand!"

Keys now stood and walked to the head of the room where he took his place in the witness box after being sworn in by the bailiff.

"Mr. Garrison," addressed the judge. "You met with the extra-terrestrial in question first, true?"

"Yes, Your Honor," replied Keys.

"Can you tell us what actually took place at that time?" asked the judge.

"Yes, Your Honor," began Keys. "Me and my colleagues of the time were investigating a UFO sighting three years ago on the night of October twenty-seventh, 1982. We encountered a glowing red light and we saw the shape of an unknown creature which we soon knew was the extra-terrestrial life-form we had all been looking for."

"And did this creature show any sign of wanting to harm you or your colleagues in any way?" inquired the judge.

"No, Your Honor," replied Keys honestly. "None whatsoever. It just let a very unearthly scream and ran away from us with a strange lumbering gait. We followed after it but it was too fast for us to catch. And then we suddenly looked up and watched as the Spaceship lifted off of the ground and disappeared into the sky. We searched all through the woods for the creature for days but we could find no trace of it."

"But you did eventually track its whereabouts into the home of a family by the name of Taylor, correct?" inquired the judge further.

"Yes, we did, Your Honer," asserted Keys. "We set up a homing device around the neighborhood just beyond the woods and found signs of unusual activity in the Taylor home and as soon as we had the chance we invaded the house and set up a quaraintine unit around it for he didn't know of what effect the extra-terrestrial's existence could have on a human's health. I admit most of this was my colleagues idea and not nine for I realize now we should have spoken to the family personally before we entered and we were also probably being overly cautious with our procedures."

"And I heard you found the extra-terrestrial in the house and it was at that time terminally ill?" inquired the judge.

"Yes, correct, Your Honor," said Keys. "We didn't know what to do for the creature and so we just looked him over in every place, and we found some startling finds as we did so, for instance he has DNA in much the same manner as a human-being does and also all his senses function in the same manner as ours do too."

"Very interesting," said the judge. "And I heard, and correct me if I am wrong, that the creature actually died and was then resurrected?"

"Yes, you heard right, Your Honor," replied Keys. "I don't much understand it myself, and perhaps I will never understand it, but I did hear from a reliable source it may well have been the boy, Elliot Taylor's love for the being that brought it back."

After a long pause in thought the judge said, "Well, I have to admit I have never heard of such a thing before, but then this is a very unusual case in itself."

"I understand your confusion, Your Honor," said Keys. "I think perhaps you should hear Elliot's side of the story, it really enlightened me when I first heard it."

"Very well then," said the judge. "I call Elliot Taylor to the stand.

Elliot stood and walked nervously up to the witness box where he was immediately sworn in.

"Tell me, young man, is this extra-terrestrial a friend of yours?" asked the judge.

"Yes, he is, Your Honor," replied Elliot. "He is and always will be my best friend in all the universe."

"Tell me about how you met him?" inquired the judge.

"I heard some noises coming from outside one night, I thought it might just be my dog, but when I went to investigate I found E.T., that is what I call the creature, and I was terrified of him but he was even more scared of me and he ran away before I could. The next day a laid out some of my favorite candy, Reese's Pieces for him on my front lawn and backyard and he found them and he came to me. And he seemed so gentle that I just treated him the way my mom always told me to treat someone in need, and I fed him and clothed him and bathed him, and I even let him sleep in my robe in my closet. I admit I lied about being sick to skip school the next day so I could learn more about him, and then when I told my brother and sister about him I made them promise to not tell our mom about him, you see at the time I wasn't sure if I could trust her with him or not."

"I understand," said the judge. "I might have acted the same way if it had been me in your place at your age. Tell me more."

"I wanted to keep E.T. for a pet at first," admitted Elliot. "But then he began to make it clear to us he wanted to go back to his own planet, his own home. And so we helped him to build a transmitter out of old things around the house which would be of use, and on Halloween night we put it out in the woods and tried to call his people to come get him. The next day was when E.T. became very sick and Keys and his colleagues came into our house, I'd never been more scared in my life then, partly because I was as sick as E.T. was."

"But how could that be?" asked the Judge curiously.

"Well, I can't really explain it exactly," admitted Elliot. "But it's like me and have have our souls connected and everything that he feels I feel too. I don't think what is going on his mind, you understand, I feel whatever is going on in his heart like joy and sadness. I can feel them just as if they're my own. And when E.T. seemed to die I stopped feeling them, then I suddenly felt a spark inside of me and that was when he came back to life."

"Hmm... Very interesting indeed," said the judge thoughtfully. "Tell me, has E.T. ever exhibited any other wondrous abilities besides telekinesis?"

"He can levitate objects, and he took me flying on my bicycle once," recalled Elliot. "And he can talk to plants and help them to grow as he is a botanist on his home planet, and he can also heal wounds. Both physical and mental, I believe. Because he healed a cut on my finger when I nicked it on a circular saw blade we used to build the transmitter, and when I was sad about him leaving me he made me feel better when he touched his finger to my head and promised to be right here for me, and since I've met him I've been more happier than I've ever been, especially after my parents divorced and I thought the world had just ended for me and my family."

"I know how you feel," said the judge somberly. "My parents also divorced when I was just about your age and I sure could have used a friend like E.T.."

"Speaking of which," said Elliot. "I think you should hear E.T.'s side of the story."

"Is he here then?" asked the judge in surprise.

"Yes, he is right outside waiting," said Elliot.

"Alright then. Bring in the Extra-Terrestrial," the judge commanded.

At once the doors were opened and in waddled E.T.. Everyone turned to stare and gasp as he stepped up to the witness box, and E.T. merely smiled sweetly at them all.

E.T. was sworn in. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you?"

"E.T. does," he replied, raising his long left hand with the glowing fingertip, which got a few awed gasps from the court.

"I object Your Honor!" Mesiner said defiantly.

"On what grounds, may I ask?" inquired the judge.

"E.T., as the court knows, is an alien. Therefore he has no right to speak here!"

"Aliens are aliens only because we alienate them, and after all I've already heard I do think E.T. has as much a right to speak on his behalf as you and Mr. Tedrow and young Mr. Taylor have. Objection overruled!" declared the judge with positivity.

"Alright, E.T., what have you to say for yourself?" asked the judge politely.

"E.T. has been visiting Earth since it was in a young age, my people have watched the rise and fall of mankind, but our main interest has always been in Earth's vegetation which humans are so careless of. And we have collected specimens of all kinds over millions of years and we bring them back to our home to study gently and to preserve for all time."

"So you say your main interest in visiting Earth is plant life and not human life?" asked the judge.

"It was up until three years ago when I met Elliot by pure chance," E.T. said, smiling with fond memories. "I was scared of him at first because he was a human and I had been told of how terribly destructive humans could be, but Elliot was kind to me and he took care of me when I had nowhere to go, and I was even able to get through to him telepathically as I do with my own kind and some others who can receive well. Elliot is a very special person. He is so special I wanted him to come home with me, but he couldn't because his home is here, but I have come back to visit him. I came because he needed me just like needed him before."

"So then I trust you would never harm a living soul, plant or human, is that correct?" inquired the judge.

"Yes, Your Honor," replied E.T with certainty. "My race is of a peaceful nature, it always has been and always will be. If you're looking for destructive aliens look elsewhere in the universe. Some like to have wars among the stars, and some like to mess with humans in the way I was messed with," here he gave a severe look towards Meisner. "But they do so only because they are curious and they don't know they are causing harm because they don't understand how the human mind operates. Though most other species of life are most peaceful and caring and would do anything to aid a fellow planet, if they only knew where to go to."

"Well, we at Earth have a lot of problems here," said the judge. "Like disease, war, famine, and drought, and not to mention social injustice. It is hard for us to keep track of it all as we strive to make it better little by little so do you think maybe you could find an alien race that would know how to act fast to rid the world of these thing?"

E.T. smiled very sweetly. "I will do my best," he replied humbly.

The judge smiled gratefully and then banged his gavel onto his desk again. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he said, addressing the court. "In light of what I have heard today, I declare Ed Meisner to be found guilty of all charges and sentenced to twenty years in state prison. And I grant the Keys Agency funding for finding real extra-terrestrial life and I give our friend E.T. the permission to come back and visit us anytime he wishes. Case Dismissed!"

Everyone in the room cheered loudly as Mary and Keys embraced and kissed passionately, and Elliot ran up to E.T. and picked him up in a big hug, while at the same time a scowling Meisner was hauled away in cuffs by the same officers who had brought him in.