3
Kiara cruised down the road in her dad's old Explorer. She was headed to a great spot to watch the meteor shower, and no one else would be there. Except for one other person. Between Kiara's Explorer and Bruce's black truck, where Heather also rode, was a yellow Camaro with black racing stripes. Nice ride, she thought as she adjusted her mirror for a better look. He must know this spot too. Kiara shrugged and kept driving.
She parked on top of a hill and got out of the car. Bruce parked next to her and the Camaro guy parked a little ways away. Heather stepped out of the car, "Is this where the meteor shower is going to be?"
Kiara covered her eyes and looked at the sky, "Yep, this is it. Just a few more minutes before it is dark and we can see them." All three of them went to the front side of the hill and lay back in the soft grass.
"So what's so exciting about this?" Heather blew a leaf away from her face.
"Meteors streaking across the sky? What's better than that?"
Heather shrugged. "Music?"
"Just wait; it'll be great." Heather half-smiled and they turned their eyes back to the sky. The soft gold and pink in the sky started to fade to a dark blue, and finally to black. The soft white glowing sliver of moon started to rise, and stars started to blink into the blanket of nighttime. The air cooled off, but not to an uncomfortable level. Kiara put binoculars to her eyes and studied the stars. After a little while, white stars started streaking across the sky.
"Wow," Heather's mouth fell open, and Bruce's eyes widened. Kiara smiled and took the binoculars from her eyes. She heard the purring of the engine as the Camaro's engine ran. Kiara sighed. This was as close to paradise as she might get.
"What's that?" Bruce pointed into the sky.
"Where?" Kiara and Heather said in unison.
"There." He thrust his finger emphatically into the night.
"Hold on." Kiara held up the binoculars to her eyes.
"To the left," Bruce directed.
"I don't-"
"Now up."
"This is ridiculous."
"A little to the right…"
Suddenly, something caught her eye. "Wait a minute…"
"Do you see that? What is it?" Bruce sounded exhilarated.
"It looks like…" Kiara broke off. It was a meteor, but it was much closer than any others she had seen that night. In fact, it kind of looked like it was coming towards them. It looked really close with the binoculars.
"Ummm, Kiara," Heather shook her shoulder. "It's coming right towards us."
Kiara removed the binoculars from her eyes and saw the meteor headed right for them. The Camaro's engine revved up a couple times.
"Run!" Bruce hollered. They stood up and scrambled up the hill in a panic. Kiara ran to the Camaro and pounded on the window. "Look out!" she screamed, but it was choked back when she saw no one was inside. The engine revved again.
Heather grabbed her hand, "Get behind the truck!" Kiara was dragged along and shoved to the ground behind Bruce's big truck. Everyone, not caring for personal boundaries, was huddled together. The Camaro drove up to them and opened its doors.
Bruce shivered, "There's no-"
"Driver?" Kiara finished. A boom echoed as the meteor hit the ground. "I think it, whatever it is, wants us to get in."
Heather tightened her grip, "Should we get in?"
Bruce stood up, "I think we should. Maybe it will give us answers. Do you have a better option?"
The girls didn't say anything, and he slid into the passenger seat. The girls slid into the back. The doors slammed and the car drove off. Nobody cared where they were going; only that they got there soon. Soon, luckily, they ended up in a small forest. The car opened its doors, and they scrambled out. Then, something amazing happened.
The car started to shift, to morph, to change. It looked like someone doing origami at high speed with a battered toy car. Then, where the car had been, stood a huge, bipedal robot. The kids' mouths and eyes opened wide at the same time. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Because they had never seen anything like it.