The Shadow sat perched in a tree at the edge of the woods. It had been sitting perfectly still for the past twenty-four hours, waiting for any kind of sign that could lead it home. This strange new place was tiring, with its bright lights and heat. At home, the air was cool and the sky dark all the time, but here the sky would turn bright without warning. The light burned its skin and hurt its eyes before thankfully turning dark again. The Shadow didn’t know how it had arrived here or why. But it ached for home.
Then a sound cut through the silence—a sound only it could hear. The Shadow turned its head to the sky and saw a flash of light. Anyone else who’d looked up at that moment would have thought it was a meteor or an unusually bright star, but the Shadow’s vision was far sharper, especially at night.
The first thing the Shadow saw was the light and a stream of dust, then a small figure falling from a hole far up in the sky. The falling figure was limp and its arms and legs unresponsive as it plummeted toward the ground. The Shadow could tell it was hurt. It also knew that the falling object emerged from the same kind of hole that had brought the Shadow itself to this world. Maybe this was the way home.
The Shadow leaped from the top of the tree to land silently on the ground below. It took off in the direction of the falling body, leaping over fallen trees and ravines and dashing across empty fields. All the while, it kept its focus on the falling object. Maybe it was too focused on the object—or it was unfamiliar with this strange new world—but the Shadow didn’t see the two bright lights barreling toward it as it ran. When the Shadow did notice, it was too late. It turned and was blinded immediately. Pain seared through its head and it stood frozen in its tracks.
A thin, protective lens rolled down across its eyes, which allowed it to see in the bright light but did little to lessen the pain. When its vision cleared, the Shadow could make out a figure just behind the two lights. The strange figure opposite the Shadow was sitting in what looked like a yellow shell or a box. The creature’s eyes were small. Its skin pale and pink. The two stared at each other for what seemed like minutes. The Shadow tilted its head and took a cautious step forward, then another. Suddenly, strange sounds floated out from inside the yellow box, and the Shadow panicked. The muscles in its legs coiled like springs and it leaped over the two lights, bounced off the top of the hard shell, and disappeared into the night.