Extraterrestrial Recycling

I gaze up at the dark, gloomy sky, its blackened clouds towering overhead. Suddenly…. BOOM! The clouds break apart, and a mysterious vehicle heads toward the city of New York. Red, thin, lasers shoot out from the wheels, and citizens let out bloodcurdling screams. I scream along, and scramble to the other side of the bridge. A deafening boom rattles my ears, and I see in the distance a factory explode and tumble. A large net cannonballs into the ocean, sending a gigantic wave hurtling our way. When it is lifted, industrial waste and plastic garbage is taken out of the oceans, almost magically, and to me it seems as if our mysterious guests are… cleaning Earth. Only seconds have passed, and the world is in absolute chaos. Men from the army take their guns and fire it at the “aliens”, and Rob, a close friend and a scientist, tries to stop the traumatized men from attacking the “aliens”, but his attempts are futile. I watch as explosions occur, and as officals wrestle men to the ground. Everything turns slow-mo, and all sounds are drowned out. I cannot fathom the society of mankind, their ever-so destructive manner. Perhaps we have watched too many sci-fi movies. Perhaps it is our animal instinct to be on the top of the food chain, to be the predator, not the prey. Perhaps we are afraid, afraid of predators,  afraid of people higher than us. I look around, at all the destruction, all the chaos. A tear rolls down my cheek. Why, WHY is the human race so horrible and so belligerent. A woman holds her newborn tight to her chest, her face full of fear. A man charges into “battle”, with a look of hatred to hide his fear. A man yells for control, for everyone to stop. A figure, a mere shadow, straggles towards me. Too frozen to move, the figure comes into view, and surprisingly, the “alien” looks similar to a human, with only the exception of their eyes. No, they do not have eight, nor eight million, but their eyes come in rare colors, such as red, purple, and another astonishing color, which is black, but changes to white. A hand grabs me by the  shoulder. The “alien” presses a button on its belt, and when it speaks, it surprisingly speaks in English. “Your kind is to destructive to help. I will bestow upon you our newest technology.” The alien puts a cube with neon lines running along it. “It allows people to convert their waste into energy. Use it wisely.” The alien says. It disappears into thin air.


I grab the microphone. “Put that in the back of your head. That was two weeks ago. Don’t think about the… the attack.” I think. Words pour out of my mouth. “A  couple weeks ago, we were visited by an unknown species. Now, I know what you  are thinking.” I grow sweaty as I say these words. “Aliens! For those of you who are skeptical, I personally saw one, and it talked to me. It’s—It’s unfathomable, unexplainable. But what we do know is they presented us with this gift.” I hold out  the cube for everyone to see. ”It turns waste into energy. Watch.” I grab an old, dirty, McDonald’s burger wrapper and tap the cube, than the wrapper. The cube opens,  engulfs the wrapper, and rings. A motor rises from a hole and runs. People gasp in amazement. Children laugh and clap at the magic trick they just witnessed. “This,” I say, ”will change the world.”

Flash-forward to eight years later, and the world is similar to a utopia. The  oceans are clear as a crystal, and factories no longer produce smoke, but produce chemicals that repair the ozone layer. Children in Australia no longer wear hats, and kids in China no longer wear masks. This, this is what humanity should be like. I  hope we too, will be like that some day.

I am a 16 year old with writing skills and emotions.

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