Sebastian had woken up from a dream and couldn’t get back to sleep. Alex and Laura had brought sleeping bags of their own to sleep next to him. The kettle shut off, and they put the fire under it out. Empty bowls and cups lingered around the room.

Sebastian couldn’t remember much of what happened before sleeping, only that they talked and laughed at corny jokes they told around the living room. Whatever they had talked about seemed lovely; still, something wasn’t right. He couldn’t put his finger on it.

Sebastian sighed and looked out the window. Perhaps a walk outside and getting some fresh air can help him feel sleepy again? He got up from the seat, tiptoed past the two siblings, and headed for the door.

Sebastian rubbed his eyes and took a long look around the junkyard. He tried his best to watch where he walked and avoid knocking anything over, tripping on anything, or wake the two back inside up.

Barely lit, he could only see a few feet in front of him as the lamps above didn’t burn very far, not to mention there were only a few of them. As he swatted some bugs that buzzed around him, he glanced over to find one of his arms bandaged up. They had to wrap up his arm while he slept.

Sebastian looked up at the sky. The clouds cleared up, giving way to bright, shining stars. He stood there for a while, watching them glisten, wanting to capture the sight in his memory.

It was nothing like he had seen back home, at least as far as he could remember. He thought it was so mesmerizing; he could watch it forever until they disappeared, and the sun came again.

Sebastian figured he would take a short walk around the place and then head back inside so Alex and Laura wouldn’t worry too much at his brief absence, but a loud voice caught him by surprise.

“Hey, Sebastian!”

“Whoa! What?” Sebastian jumped and turned around, only to find Alex walk over and yawn. “Oh, Alex, it’s you.”

“Yeah, the one and only.” He replied.

“Did I wake you up on accident?” Sebastian asked.

“Maybe...” Alex pouted.

“I’m sorry, my apologies.”

“Nah, it’s all right... but that’ll be 100 dollars.”

“What?!”

“I’m just kidding.” Alex laughed as he raised his head. “So, what are you doing out here?”

“Well, um, I wanted to explore the place on my own for a bit. This planet sure is odd.” Sebastian replied.

“It is. There are bad and good things all over the place that happen all the time. Earth is far from perfect, but there are still so many amazing things, you’ll want to remember them forever.”

“Hey, is that one of the good things you talked about?” Sebastian asked as he pointed up at a shooting star.

“Yeah, it is!” Alex clasped her hands together and closed his eyes as Sebastian watched in confusion.

“May I ask what you are doing?” Sebastian whispered, not wanting to break his concentration.

“Oh, just wishing upon a shooting star. You can’t say what you wished for out loud, or chances are it won’t come true.”

“Ah, I see...”

“So, are you feeling any better?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, I think so.” Sebastian nodded. “Perhaps, I—” He reached over to pull the bandages off his arm, but Alex stopped him.

“No. Don’t do that until you’re fully recovered, understand?”

“All right, all right.”

“Hey, speaking of which, we should go back inside the trailer before Laura gets worried again.”

“Yeah, you’re right; let’s go.”

As Sebastian and Alex walked back to the trailer, they heard a faint noise. As it got louder and louder, a yellow-orange light streaked across the sky, contrasting to the white stars, and shot down at the ground like a comet. The Earth shook, leaving the two boys struggling to keep their balance.

“Are you ok?” Sebastian asked.

“Yeah, I'm all right,” Alex replied, while brushing the dust off.

“What was that?”

“I don't know...” Alex gasped. “Oh no, I have to go check up on my sister and see if she’s all right!”

“You do that; I’ll explore the crash site!” Sebastian added as he ran off in the opposite direction.