Barjana Umama
It was past midnight. In the silence of the night, jackals were howling and announcing about the part of night. The wind was blowing gently outside and murmured in the trees next to the window pane. Night guards were whistling sometimes. Most of the families were asleep. Only I was awaken I was making preparations for my exams.
Suddenly, I caught sight of something and it was like a flash of light and that came from somewhere and I flopped on a chair near my window. I got up from the chair and went out of my room to see what was there. I wasn’t afraid at dead of night as my room was protected with wall. I went out and from a far sight I could see that there was something moving beneath my window. Seemingly the more I neared the more the object kept moving away. I was trying to guess that what it would be as I was not sure. I knelt down and was trying to make a guess of it. Keeping me at a safe distance I examined it and stretched my right hand. Hesitant but gathered some courage and I put hand on it. There was nothing – just a machine-like object half-dug in the earth and covered with grime. Then I took it on my left palm and when I left it on my palm the light went off. Then I came back to my room.
I cleaned it with a two plies of toilet paper. The most surprising thing was that it glowed itself and the light went off automatically without switching on and off. I wondered where did it come from and how. While I was there I looked around for some clues but there was nothing. Hundred of thoughts jammed into my brain – from where can it came and it might be a part of a large mechanical thing. I left it on my table aside and went to sleep.
At the dead of the night I dreamt that whenever I held it, I was just flying over the towns and over the trees or floating in open air and going to wherever I wished to.
It was a bit early in the morning, when a very loud and sharp alarm rang, I leapt up but it wasn’t my alarm clock because last night I forgot to set the alarm. Again I fell asleep and after some time the same alarm went off by itself again but I woke as the whole room was lightened. The rest of the night I didn’t sleep.
After breakfast, I again sat to examine it, turned it upside down, moved right to left, left to right to see how does the machine function. While doing this it seemed someone is talking to me. I looked back but there was none in my own room but was really surprised to discover the machine was talking to me – it was telling me to watch TV but I ignored. I cannibalized the parts of it and examined. I talked to my teacher about it with one of my nuclear physics teacher. He told me to repair it as it was and gave me all instructions. My teacher who worked with NASA told everything that I had discovered a robotic memory of a NASA spacecraft which had been lost long ago from space and then he ushered me towards the stage and requested me to give speech.
Next day an unknown letter came to me. In this span of time I might have discovered something that I did not know. At the same time I got two phone calls—one from NASA and another from my university and I was invited there to deliver a lecture on the robotic memory. I went to my university and my teacher was there standing with a bouquet at the gate and the university vice chancellor along with most of the teachers gave me a standing ovation. Just delivering the speech I got down from dais but felt that I have gone down in history of the North Atlantic Space Administration. My name will be remembered by NASA scientists as long as it exists.