Aliens

Let something be clear: Lily had a great deal of respect for her friend Rebecca. Who wouldn't? Rebecca was smart - the smartest person Lily knew by far. They had met in the first class at school and forged a friendship that under normal circumstances would've seen them both through primary school. But there was no such thing as normal when it came to Rebecca. By half way through that first year Rebecca had jumped two classes and now, three years on, she had almost finished high school. She had won multiple prizes for science, often using the lab she'd constructed in her bedroom to conduct her research. Lily was immensely proud of her friend. But she had recently come to realise that, despite her indisputable intelligence Rebecca did sometimes get some very strange ideas.

At the moment for instance she was fixated on parallel universes, speaking about them with such authority that it was almost as if she'd seen them with her own eyes. 'There's another solar system that in some ways is very much like our own,' she told Lily excitedly one day, 'except that instead of a orangey-red sun like the one we have, theirs is light blue and quite small.' 'But how do you know that?' asked Lily. 'It's just statistically very likely,' replied Rebecca. 'I can show you the maths on my computer if you like. It's pretty mind-blowing.' 'No thanks,' said Lily politely. She knew she wouldn't understand it anyway. Besides, it was a nice day and they were supposed to be going for ice cream. The last thing she wanted was to be trapped inside in front of a screen full of maths.

'But the most exciting thing is that I've also worked out that, statistically, there is definitely aliens on this planet too,' continued Rebecca. When she got excited she had a habit of invading Lily's personal space, waving her arms - her right one in particular - in Lily's face. Lily sighed, but said nothing. When Rebecca was like this the best thing to do was just hear her out. 'I know a lot of people don't believe in aliens,' said Rebecca, 'but I know they're there. I just need to get to that parallel solar system and I can prove it.'

It was then that Lily noticed something nearby on the ground. 'Rebecca,' she said nervously, 'what's in your backpack?' 'Just a few supplies,' said Rebecca. 'I'm going to try and hitch a ride on a space ship. It won't get me all the way to the parallel universe, of course, but it'll get me a bit closer at least. Do you want to come?' Lily thought quickly. There was no point in trying to talk her out of this - she knew that from experience. Her best chance was distraction. 'Of course, I'd love to come,' she said brightly. 'Let's go for ice-cream first though. Who knows how long it will be before we get to do that again, right?'