A Piece of a Star
Frank watched the falling star. It was a beautiful wonderous thing, arcing across the night sky. Its frosty blue light stood out stark against the blackness. The sight of it made Frank feel insignificant in comparison. Especially as the star seemed to be increasing in size. With a start, Frank watched the star plummet downwards, landing in a fiery blaze right outside of his farmhouse.
Frank was in a state of shock, such that he didn’t leave his position by the window for several minutes after the thing landed on his property. Once he had left, he poured himself something to drink. Frank sat there, eyes locked onto the window. Even against the night sky, he could see the vestiges of curling smoke.
It was morning and Frank went outside to look at the thing that had fallen in his yard. The meteorite was sizable, a pearly white with hints of rose gold. It was pretty enough to look at. But, encased within the meteorite was what drew Frank’s eye. Revealed by a crack in the rock was a soft blue light. Frank could hear a soft mechanical whir. Large hands ripped into the rock, ripping the crack wider. Frank reached into the meteorite and withdrew a strange device. He held it aloft for a few seconds before cradling it within his arms and heading into his house.
Frank sat the device on his kitchen table and stared at it. It was a metal disk, ringed in some alien script, much of which was obscured by dust and grime. For some reason, Frank had little doubt that the artifact originated from somewhere beyond the stars. The center of the disk was what was glowing, almost as if it was waiting for some form of identification, a key card, or a handprint.
With some trepidation, Frank pressed his open palm onto the disc, his fingers splayed. There was a series of mechanical chirps before the disc turned red. Frank removed his hand from the disc, unsurprised. It had not seemed as if the object was calling him. And yet, it spoke to him.
Frank traced his finger across the alien script along the disc’s edge. There was something there. And, though he knew that he had no hope of ever reading it, he got the impression of what the disc was transmitting. The disc was searching for a champion, and it wanted Frank to protect it in the time between.
Certain as he was about the disc’s message, and his role, Frank was unsure of where he should begin. He was unprepared to be a Guardian and found himself quite nonplussed. At first, he placed the disc on top of his kitchen table. But, staring at it, he found the scene almost disrespectful. The disc, surely, was burdened with glory, and simply discarding it on the nearest tabletop did not feel right. It looked wholly out of place. Frank scratched his arms out of nervousness as he stood in front of the incongruous scene, feeling slightly out of his depth…
…For a time, Frank locked the device within his safe. But, that seemed a wholly unfit place for a relic such as it to be kept. For one thing, it would not do for such a pristine item to be kept within the dark recesses of a safe. It was too grand for such a place. And, additionally, worming its way into Frank’s mind was the allure of the object. It was tantalizing. Seeing it made Frank feel important as if he had some purpose. He decided that the disc would need to be seen, and adored.
Frank could stand the disc being hidden away no longer. He put on some gloves and then removed the disc from the safe before cradling it in its arms. As he did so, he felt something swelling up inside him. He was the guardian of this relic- it was in his charge. The warm glow of pride filled him, and he set out to make a display for him to showcase the disc in his house…
… The disc was placed on the mantel and loudly proclaimed that Frank was a guardian. Frank had placed it on its pedestal with tender gloved hands. He slept with his head right under the artifact, so that he could always be ready to defend it. And, before he left his house every morning he would inspect it to make sure it was untouched. Frank had decided not to fail in his guardianship. Then, he would salute it and exit, although his mind would always be contemplating the disc…
…The disc made Frank feel important. He tilled the field, had drinks with friends, and talked to strangers on the street. All the while there was a little whisper in his mind telling him that he was important. He smiled at the thought of friends and family not knowing that they were talking to Frank, a Guardian. His knowledge of his own vital position gave him a permanent spring in his step…
…It had been three years, five months, and eight days since Frank had received his disc. He knew this because he had fashioned himself a calendar, which had that one glorious day at its center point. And, this new day would be a momentous one indeed. For the previous seven months, Frank had been painstakingly cleaning the disc.
When he had found it, cradled inside of a meteorite, it was dirty and disheveled, cloaked in dirt and caged in grime. Frank had wished to clean it, to fully realize the grandeur that was apparent even in its dirtied state. But, it would not due to clean a relic as if it were a dinner plate. Instead, Frank had purchased a set of highly expensive archeologist tools. He worked on the disc every day, slowly and systematically revolving what may have been millennia’s worth of grime.
And now it was ready. Frank wept.
Once again, like before, there was a streak of blue across the sky. Frank knew that it was the champion. A glass slipped from his hands and fell to the floor. It shattered. Frank stood there, tracking the streak as it alighted in front of the barn. It was a starship and whatever was inside had come for his disc.
Something exited the starship. And, as it did so, Frankregained animation. Slowly, he made his way to where he kept the relic. He stood before it, not locked in place as he had been when he first saw the starship. Instead, he was pensive, restless. With shaking hands he reached for the disc, and then raised it up to the heavens before him. A moonbeam glinted off of his disc. Tears began to fall, marring the disc slightly.
All at once, Frank became aware of another presence inside his house. It was the alien, who had come to take the disc away. When Frank looked back on these events, he would not be able to remember any shape or feature of the alien. It had been strange, to be sure. But, whatever form it took was not so momentous to Frank as what it had come to do.
Frank held the disco flat before the alien with shaking fingers. The alien placed an appendage on the device, and it shone green as Frank knew that it would. This alien was the champion. Frank held the disc out to its rightful champion. The alien had to pull hard, as Frank’s fingers had seized tightly around the disc. Eventually, it was pried from his grasp. The Alien bowed, and then it left.
Frank collapsed to the floor and lay there for a very long time. He would have rathered the alien ripped out his heart.
