Sylvie Willows jumped on her bed and picked up a book to read. She switched on her reading lamp and began reading. The book was about a boy who found out that he was a wizard and started going to a magic school. In other words, she was reading ‘Harry Potter’

‘There’s nothing better than a stormy night and a good book’, she said, happily. Suddenly, lightning lit up her room. Her bedroom’s windows burst open and the sound of rain roared into the room. She jumped up in surprise and kicked off her blanket. She ran to the window and struggled to close it. Out of nowhere, a flash of golden light exploded everywhere, causing Sylvie to fall flat on her face.

As the light dimmed, Sylvie gathered up the courage to look up. What she saw made her stifle a scream. A six-foot tall alien was looking down at her with a wide eye. Yes, a wide eye. The creature had only one eye, but that was enough. It was the size of a handball, even bigger than Sylvie’s face!

‘W-Who a-a-are you, a-alien?’, Sylvie stammered, after a few seconds. The creature scoffed. ‘Who are you calling alien, girl?’, it said in a feminine voice. ‘I am Queen Iris, ruler of the Bobble-Eyes. And I have come to your planet in search of a very specific item. To you, it is called….. a book’. Sylvie was so relieved that she almost laughed. This alien… uhh, Bobble-Eye… hadn’t come to eat her after all!

‘Oh, you want a book?’, she asked, completely forgetting her fear. ‘Then you’ve come to the right place. I’ve got plenty of those.’ She went to her shelf and picked up a thick book. ‘This one is my favourite’, Sylvie told her, holding up ‘The Hobbit’. Queen Iris took the book from Sylvie and started reading. (Before you say anything, I’m going to say it; even I don’t know how a Bobble-Eye can read, but Queen Iris seemed to be enjoying) Sylvie watched as she flipped from page to page. In an hour, she had finished the book that had taken Sylvie days to read.

‘Thank you, tiny human’, said the Queen, standing up tall and straight. ‘You have quenched my thirst for stories. Unfortunately, I must return to my planet. I will come back for more books as soon as I can. Farewell for now, kind friend.’ With these words, she disappeared in a flash of light.

Sylvie went back to bed and thought about her queer new friend. “That was the weirdest, most unbelievable and exotic thing that has ever happened to me in my whole eleven years of existence’, she said to herself, yawning. ‘But I hope she returns…. someday’. She dozed off to sleep.