A Starry Key
SECOND PRIZE
A Starry Key by Freddie Austin
Orville, the astronomer, was gazing at the stars through his trusty, old telescope and, just as he was observing the moon, he saw a flying-saucer shape appear…
The next morning, Orville raised panic within the council office. So much in fact, that it caused the Mayor to run through the Peacocks waving his arms shouting, “FIRE, POLICE, FIRE!!!!” which of course amused everyone!
A week later (which was Friday 13th June, 4:00 pm), when all the commotion had died down, the U.F.O. hovered above the war memorial outside Café Rouge, sucking up anyone unlucky enough to be within the spaceship’s reach. Fortunately for our story, this didn’t include Orville: he was ordering leaflets for his next astronomy workshop at Redeye Print down by the new Fire station.
That night, Orville looked in his mirror and almost jumped out of his skin when his reflection spoke to him! “Orville, you must speak to the stars, tell them to create a key in front of Mercury.”
You will probably be thinking this question: How can Orville talk to the stars? Well to answer that, we will need to go back in time…
A long time ago, Orville discovered that the stars are bits of people who have done good in the past and that you can talk to them.
So, that night, Orville lay in bed and spoke to Them, the stars.
“O stars of the wonderful night sky, please may you form a constellation in the shape of a key in front of Mercury,” murmured Orville, trying desperately to remember what else the mirror had said. “Oh, on the side that faces Earth!” he added hastily.