It happened on a Saturday morning.

Saturdays used to be for games, for muck flicking up and staining our clothes, as we raced each other back and forth until mum's scolding voice was long forgotten. It was on one of these days, just as my pudgy fingers had almost grasped onto the back of my brother's shirt, that it came. We watched it diving down, a speck of silver against an azure sky, landing straight in the broad meadows out back beyond the woods, colliding against mounds of dirt with a terrible smash.

Luke was older than me – eight at the time, whilst I was six and short for my age – and he told me with a slightly haughty tone to run back home and fetch dad. "Tell him I found a meteorite," he said, "… Go on then!"

I wasn't sure what a meatorite was, but I did know that I wanted to go exploring too. At the time, it was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me, and I'd have none of my brother's attempts to drive me away. When fake-crying did not have the desired effect, resorting to blackmail was not something that I had qualms with.

"I'll tell mummy that you broke Lily and Sarah," I said, crossing my arms, "You know she hates it when you're mean to me." Lily and Sarah were two of my most loved dolls, with pretty spotted dresses, that didn't look so pretty anymore after Luke had strapped them to a miniature rocket and sent them exploding in the air.

He glared. Protested. "I didn't break them! They were astronauts! I was sending them on a space project."

"Well, you didn't ask me first," I whined, "And they don't like flying. They're scared of heights."

"Don't be a baby," he snapped, "They're just toys." But, sighing with exasperation, he finally relented. "Fine. You can come with. Just keep up with me. You're such a slow poke."

I frowned, but my fumbling steps quickly turned into a skip, as I trailed behind him, humming. It was a lovely summer day with a cool breeze blowing whispering between the leaves, and I couldn't wait to see the looks of incredulity on my friend's faces when I showed them whatever a meatorite was.

"Luke," I said, after a while, when we had passed the billionth tree, "Are we lost? Luke? Luke, I need to pee!"

"Shush. We're almost there."

Gradually, the tall trunks dwindled away into chubby shrubs with plots of daisies sprouting here and there. "I see it!" I cried as we finally left the gloomy expanse of forest, "Wow! It's so big. It's so shiny."

Luke cocked his head, taking in the silver, dome like shape on the ground. We were too far away to discern what it really was, but the gleaming rays of sun reflecting out were unmistakable. "Meteorites aren't supposed to be shiny."

I was already racing forward, converses kicking up dust, Luke chasing after me this time. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. As I ran closer to it, it seemed to grow in size. I was sure that it'd been as big as a car one minute, and then a few steps later it towered over me, as long and wide as a house. I gaped. I was too young to understand that I should have been frightened, and much too curious to run away for my parents. I loved exploring, and I wanted to know what the thing was.

"Don't touch it!" Luke warned, breathless, eyes wide with stunned agitation. "You don't know if it's safe."

I pressed my cheek against the hard metal. It was icy cold. I wriggled about my ear, searching for any sound coming from within. "Hello?" I pounded a hand against the surface. "Is anyone there?"

"What're you doing?"

"I'm saying hi to the aliens." It was after all, the polite thing to do.

He rolled his eyes, ever the condescending older brother. "Aliens? Don't be ridiculous. Everyone knows that they don't exist."

"But …" I paused, confused. "What's that then?"

Luke was stumped too. He shrugged. "I should find dad." He furrowed his brow, and seemed to be internally weighing out the options. Curiosity got the better of him in the end. He pushed me aside, and took my place by the wall of the object. With a scrunched fist he rapped the side.

There was a pregnant pause. I waited, impatient. It was all too magical for nothing to happen, and my overactive imagination was already racing.

For a long moment, I thought I was going to be disappointed. Then, a slow creak came from inside. There was a rattle, a faint stomp of something moving closer and closer to the edge of the metal. I heard a hiss, and a murmur, and a harsh, grating drawl, as the object began to move.

Something was materialising. A door. At first, it was merely a rectangle of brilliant white light, until it dimmed, and seemed to cut out an exit.

Two figures stepped out. They were of average height, decked out in two silver suits, the same shade as their capsule. I couldn't help gaping.

But, my wonder quickly turned to shock. An arm reached out and a jet of light hit my brother on the forehead. I screamed in alarm as he crumpled to the floor.

One of the two finally saw me and cursed. It turned to the other. "Didn't know there'd be a girl," a coarse voice grunted. "What'll we do?"

So they were human then.

"Dunno," the stockier one replied, "Mission report was just to come for the boy. He's a code red."

"We leave her then? Seems kinda wrong -"

"W-what are you doing to Luke?" I interjected, anxiously, finally finding my courage, "He-he …" I bit my lip and made to run to him, but was blocked by one of the bodies. He raised his gun-like weapon at me.

"Take him, Neil," the second said, "Let's just go."

I was scared, trembling like a bud in the wind. They were all so tall, and so foreign in their masks and puffy outfits, and I wanted to know what was happening, why Luke was lying unconscious on the floor, and how things could have changed so fast in mere minutes, with what had seemed like magic becoming so dark and terrifying. I didn't know what to do, so I did the only thing I could. I burst into tears.

"Oh shut her up, Caz! She'll get more of them coming soon."

There was some soft of strange smelling concoction that was sprayed in my face, and I felt my mind growing fuzzy. Fatigue replaced fear.

It would be two hours before I woke up, my dress dusty from the wind that had whipped around when the spaceship had taken off, and hair knotted and sticky upon my brow.

My mother was first amused when I told her what had happened. That swiftly gave way to anger when I kept insisting that Luke had been kidnapped by astronauts, and later frantic worry when even the police officers couldn't find a trace of where he had disappeared to. Finally, I remember watching her head in hands on the couch, body racking with sobs, after the Federation had launched its first attack, and the truth of what had happened to millions of children worldwide came blazing out.

Honestly, I should have tried harder to drive them away from Luke. Sometimes, I wonder if he liked it up there - on a new planet, with new people, and a new purpose. I've forgotten so much about how what he looked like, how he spoke, and the tone of his voice. Yet, I could never forget the glimmer in his eyes when he gazed out of his window, in complete awe at the iridescent stars above. I suppose he would've been a good flyer if he were here now.

Of course, none of that mattered, because the Federation stole him. He's one of them now. And even if I saw him again - an all too unlikely scenario - I know that he could never be the brother that I loved.

They took him away. They murdered my parents. They are evil.