Free Camp Alien by Pamela F. Service Page B

weight.”
    I’d rather have walked—if my wobbly legs could have held me. Anyway, the sizzling explosions behind us made speed seem like a good idea.
    â€œOff!” Vraj ordered when we’d finally reached the main camp building. Gratefully I slipped off, but I almost collapsed and had to grab a log pillar for support. Slowly my legs began doing their job again. I turned to thank Vraj, but she was gone.
    So was everybody else. Then I rememberedit was after dinner now, and they must be at the session’s last campfire. I stumbled toward the fire circle.
    At the crest of the hill, I gasped. The sky over the lake was lit up like the Fourth of July. Crisscrossing beams of light, red and blue, were highlighted with brilliant white bursts. The kids below me squealed and pointed excitedly.
    Then came a massive explosion. Sky and earth shook with noise, and light blossomed over the lake like a fierce red flower. Chunks of flame and a curtain of sparks dropped to the water below. The remaining cluster of blue lights skimmed over the distant trees and disappeared.
    Everyone cheered and clapped. “Best fireworks ever!” somebody yelled. “What a way to end camp!”
    As I stumbled through the crowd, someone tugged my jacket. “Wasn’t that show just wonderful?” Melanie cooed. “I hope you didn’t miss it, sulking at the nurse’s with a stupid headache.”
    Beside her, Scott grinned. “Nah, Zack knew all about it, I bet. His special effects stars started the show. That headache was just an excuse so he could help set it up. Great job, Zack!” He slapped me on the back, nearly toppling me over.
    As those two swept off, there was Opal looking up at me, eyes wide and worried in her plump face. “What was that bit with the stars?”
    â€œWhat bit?”
    Her eyes widened further. “You really missed it? Just as the fireworks began, a swarm of those orange stars swept in from over the lake. They dove right into the campfire and completely burned up. The fire flared up in a big shower of sparks. Then there was a huge explosion across the lake, and the fireworks in the sky got bigger.”
    She grabbed my arm. “I’ve figured it out, though. Those stars weren’t special effects. They were real—just like the dinosaur. They hatched out of those eggs, and then flew off somewhere and evolved into baby dinosaurs.I bet what flew back and got burned up were really just empty shells. The babies are still out there, I bet. They’re all right, aren’t they?
    Her eyes pleaded with me, wanting to believe this crazy explanation. I wanted to believe it too. But I didn’t.
    â€œSure, you’ve figured it out,” I said forcing a smile. “You’ll make a great scientist.”
    Relief seemed to shower over her. “Will I get to see our dinosaur again?”
    I shook my head. Some part of my brain still seemed able to churn out stories. “No, she’s going back into hiding. But she sends her thanks. And you’ll keep all this secret, right?”
    â€œTotally! But when I’m a grown-up scientist, maybe I’ll get to work with them.”
    â€œMaybe,” I muttered as Opal skipped off to join her friends. And maybe when the Galactic Union decides Earth is ready to join them, everyone will accept aliens the way this kid accepted an “evolved dinosaur.” I guess helping that happen is part of my job.
    But the other part! My heart ached as I looked down at the smoldering campfire. The Duthwi must have felt that burning themselves up like moths was better than falling to greedy hunters. But it shouldn’t have ended like that.
    No one would call me Mama ever again.
    I returned to the cabin in an exhausted daze, and nothing, not even my aching hand or my jabbering cabinmates, kept me awake.
    The next morning we were to get on our buses right after breakfast. But as I halfheartedly speared my last canned