1 A Strange Light

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CHAPTER ONE A STRANGE LIGHT IT WAS BEDTIME on Tuesday. But I wasn't in bed. "Mom! Dad!" I called from the top of the stairs. "Yes, Molly?" Mom called back. "There's a strange light outside!" I spoke loud enough to reach all the way to the living room. Mom and Dad like to read down there at night. "What's strange about it?" Dad said loudly. "It's like a long, straight beam of light," I answered.

"What color is it?" Mom asked.

"Just white," I said. "It's pretty far away. It's not like blue or red or anything." "What else is strange?" asked Dad. "It shoots across the sky every six seconds," I yelled. "Well, it's an even number, anyway," Mom called. "That's good, right?" "Right," I called back. My parents know I like even numbers way more than odd numbers. Because with odd numbers, there's always something left over. And what are you supposed to do with something that's left over? That just doesn't make sense to me. Dad called, "We're on the way!" When they got to my room, Mom, Dad, and I watched the light move across the sky from my window. "What is it?" I asked.

"Looks like a searchlight," Dad said.

"What's a searchlight?" "It's a real powerful beam of light," Dad started to explain. "You know the spotlight the school uses for the holiday play every year?" "The one up in the balcony?" I asked. "Yes," Dad said and nodded. "A searchlight is like that, only a hundred times—maybe a thousand times —more powerful." "How come it moves in a circle like that?" I asked. "How come it goes around once every six seconds?" "It must be on a rotating platform," Mom answered. She pointed her index finger up in the air and turned it slowly. "Why is it there?" "I'm not sure," Dad answered and shrugged his