It all started June 1, 2021. It was finally summer break and I was playing outside with my family. My two younger siblings dragged me into the middle of a water balloon fight. My family versus the neighbor’s family. As we dodged and watched the colorful balloons zoom past us, the alarms of every car in sight began blaring. People stepped out of their cars in utter confusion, trying to find some way to shut it off, but failed. The noise was deafening, causing my little brother and sister to cover their ears and cry. Then out of nowhere, it simply stopped.
       The odd phenomenon with the car alarms didn’t only happen in my city of Saint Louis, it occurred in many big cities. Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and more faced this as well. Scientists, along with the rest of the world were completely baffled by what happened, what caused it, but most importantly, how it all stopped. However, the scientists at NASA said that there was some sort of strange object in space coming our way. They assured us that the object will fly past us, but the thought still left me and others in America uneasy.
      On June 8, 2021, I was riding back home with a few friends after a long day of shopping at the mall and going to the theatre. It was about 9pm and the street lights were dazzling and vivid, creating a beautiful scenery. Suddenly, every single light, electronic, and power source was shut off. The darkness was terrifying. We were able to see the stars in the sky lit up like never before. It was shocking. Then a huge bright light came from the sky. We all looked away, as its brightness was the equivalent of looking straight into the sun.
         The light dimmed down and revealed one ginormous, triangular spaceship. It was jet black with bright lights on the roof of the spaceship. Then the ship started to shake, producing a rumbling sound that only made the night even more terrifying than it already was. Then in one blink, The one spaceship turned into thousands of smaller spaceships, all with the same design and bright lights. The U.S, scared by the unusual, fired a few missiles that hit some of their spaceships and the war began.
         My friends and I ran in seperate ways eagerly trying to find our way back to our houses and families. The sky lit up briefly due to the missiles and gunfire between the ships, our military, and even a few civilian weapons. These short glimpses of light were crucial in finding my way through the dark.
         As I was running, a sharp piece of metal from one of the spaceships struck me in the arm. I ducked off into a small area of tall grass, so I could look at the cut. The piece of metal was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. To the touch, it was ice cold, but when I pressed it together between my fingers, it began to melt. I melted off the pieces of it until we reached the part that was in my arm. I didn’t want to cause any further damage, so I tightly tied a scarf right below the puncture, which caused the bleeding to slow down.
       I was now just down the street from my house. As I reached my block many houses were already destroyed, in flames, or inashes. I ran faster towards my house, hoping and praying that it was still standing, until a spaceship came crashing down right in front of me. I ran behind a nearby car, occasionally peeking out to see what was happening.
         The door of the spaceship flew open, revealing a tall, slender figure. The creature was about 8 feet tall, and pale gray. It’s skin was reflective and light bounced off of it in every direction. Then, the alien looked over in my direction. It began to run towards me at a shocking speed. It took about 2 seconds for the alien to reach me, even though I was yards away. The creature took a deep breath and opened its glowing, purple eyes, looking straight at me. It was like he could smell the blood from my cut. The alien grabbed me and I screamed, trying to release myself from its grasp.
         I looked around and saw a crowbar within my reach. I picked it up and jammed it into the alien’s leg since he was so tall. The alien shrieked in pain and raised up its other hand, releasing some sort of shock wave that caused me to fly back.
         As I tried to stand back up, I couldn’t move. The shock wave was still emerging from his hand. He pulled the crowbar out of his leg, walked towards me and placed his hand on my cut. The wave shook out the remaining piece of metal and closed the gash. Before I could even process what happened, the alien zoomed back off in the other direction.
        I continued on my journey to my house, which was surprisingly still standing. I knocked vigorously on the door, screaming “Let me in! Let me in!” My mom looked through the peephole and quickly opened the door. I rushed inside and my family hugged me tightly. I looked around and saw small duffle bags packed. She said that we were going to stay in our bunker for a while until we knew what's going on. I grabbed my bag and the radio as we headed off to the bunker.
         My dad had this bunker installed a few years ago, since he was always paranoid about some sort of apocalypse. My mom always made fun of him for that, but turns out he was right. There were non perishable food items down here, along with beds, and a bathroom. It was like a miniature home, but none of us knew that this would be our home for the next couple of months.
        On August 21, 2021, the war finally ended. The U.S surrendered, as the alien’s technology and army were way more advanced than we could ever imagine. Surprisingly, the alien group, who’s name was Nova, said that their intent was never to fight us, and they only started because we fired first. They also said the strange phenomenons occured because the force from their ships and technology was so overpowering that many of our systems gave out and failed. Nova said that they came here to warn us about the changes in our galaxy, which could potentially destroy the Earth. With the use of their technology, they came to save us.
         On every 21st of August, we celebrate the war ending and gaining new allies. The U.S. changed completely with the technological advancements. We had the “futuristic” look to almost everything in sight. Some people in the U.S. also got a chance to go to Nova’s planet to see what it’s like there. I’ve heard that it’s absolutely breathtaking. Ultimately, the war changed everyone’s lives completely, and showed that communication should be the first option, rather than violence.