The sky was as dark as shadows, but the city below it was alive with lights.  There were no stars in the sky; the city was too bright to be able to see them.  How would we ever see the signal from the rescue ship like this?
I turned to the injured alien, who was also looking at the empty sky.  They couldn’t speak, or even understand English, but I tried my best to comfort them.  They’re humanoid in shape, but that’s where the similarities pretty much stop.  They had three eyes, feather-like hair on their head, four-fingered hands, orange skin with reddish patterns all over, and a broken leg.  That last one isn’t normal for their species, I’m sure.
We’ve spent the past few weeks together, waiting for their rescue ship.  I’ve been teaching them to read and write.  They pick up languages extremely quickly, despite not being able to verbally use them.  They could write very well, and reading seemed like a breeze to them.
They picked up the pen and notepad I gave them about 2 weeks ago, when they first started writing to communicate.
‘I’m hungry.’
I wrote a message back: ‘What can I get for you?’
The answer didn’t surprise me: ‘Chicken, please.’
I stood to go to the grocery store and gave them a peace sign.  It was a little sign of understanding between us, kind of like a made up sign language.
Usually, buying an entire chicken every other day would seem like a huge waste of money.  Some might even say it’s some strange behavior.  When you live in a big city like this one, though, you get used to the oddness of humanity after a while.  People will pretty much just ignore what you’re doing if they can get you through quicker that way.
When I returned to the balcony of my apartment, where the alien prefered to sleep, I grabbed a pair of scissors and attempted to tear the plastic wrapping off the chicken.  They watched my movements carefully.  I was never sure if they did it because they’re worried I’ll hurt myself, or if they did it because they’re worried I’ll hurt them.  I hope it’s the first.  I want them to trust me.
While they ate the chicken, I took the notepad.  It was filled with doodles.  They remind me of when I used to babysit.
‘I know your culture doesn’t use names, but I’d really like to call you something.’
They read the message and held the pen thoughtfully.
‘Jasper.  I like Jasper.’
‘Like from the TV show?’  They nodded.  We watched TV together sometimes, usually with subtitles on.  Jasper was a villain character with burn scars all over their body.  They actually kind of resembled the patterns on the alien’s skin. ‘Jasper it is, then.’  They grinned and devoured the rest of the chicken.
I fetched Jasper a couple blankets.  It was getting cold out.  They drew while I watched the empty sky for any sign of a star or a signal.  At some point I fell asleep.

When I woke up, Jasper was poking me with the end of their pen.  They showed me the notepad, clearly excited.
‘I have an idea about how to see the signal!’
‘What’s the idea?’  I was still tired, so my handwriting was sloppy.
‘We need to turn off the city lights!  Then the stars won’t hide anymore!’
‘How are we supposed to do that?’
Jasper wrote the words ‘power plant’, then doodled what appeared to be an explosion.
‘Let’s not blow anything up.  Someone could get hurt.  I might be able to shut it down, though…’
Jasper seemed very excited.  I didn’t want to get their hopes too high.  Even if this did work, there was no guarantee that we’d even see the signal on that night.
‘Just so you know, there’s a chance this might fail.  I don’t want you to get too excited about this.  It’s a great idea, and we’ll try it.’
Jasper looked slightly discouraged, but still very happy about their idea.  It was a good one, too.  A city-wide blackout might make the stars visible for a few hours.  The only problem was that this city has multiple power plants.  We discussed a bit further, and decided that I would use computer viruses to temporarily shut down all the plants simultaneously.  We tried to keep the plan simple; the more complicated this got, the higher the chance of failure.

Over the course of a week, I programmed a virus.  I had some difficulty, and pulled a few all-nighters, but it was finished.
Jasper and I sat out on the balcony, overlooking the rest of the city.  With my laptop, I sent out the viruses to the power plants.  For a few minutes, nothing happened, and we worried that we had failed.  Suddenly, though, everything went dark.  It was as if I had blinked and then didn’t open my eyes again.  The skyscrapers cast dark outlines against the deep night sky.  The stars started to emerge.
Jasper audibly breathed a sigh of relief, then stared up at the stars they hadn’t been able to see for weeks.  Amazingly, the rest of the city seemed still, despite the traffic moving below us.  We waited for a signal from the sky.
I looked at Jasper and suddenly realized that I didn’t want them to leave.  We had only spent a while with each other, but we had grown so close.  They had to leave soon.  I would never see them again.  I would never consider keeping them here against their will, but…  I wished they would stay with me.
Something new flashed in the sky.  Jasper gasped, then fumbled with the notepad.  They sloppily scribbled some unfamiliar language down.  I looked up and saw shooting stars all around.  Hundreds of them burned across the sky.  They moved so quickly that when I caught sight of one, it would disappear almost instantly.  I sat still and waited while Jasper panicked, trying to write everything down.  I was paralyzed; I knew what was coming next.
Almost as instantly as it began, the shooting stars stopped.  Jasper finally relaxed a bit.  They stared at the information that they had managed to write down.
‘What’s it say?’
They hesitate before writing back.  ‘It says: Day 56.  Waiting for reply.  Go to highest point over city.  Send our friend and no one else.  We do not want to attack.  We will wait four more Earth days before we invade to find them.’
‘The biggest building in the city is Liberty Tower.  I’d be able to get there easily, because it’s not far from here, but what about you?’
‘If we go slow, I could walk.  It doesn’t matter if others see me anymore, right?  I’m going to leave anyway-’  They stopped sharply and turned to me, horrified by what they had wrote.
‘No, I understand.  You can’t stay here forever.  You need to go home.  You need to leave.  Are you sure your leg is better?’
‘Yeah, I’m sure.’
‘Someone might try to hurt you.’
‘You can talk to them, right?  We don’t have many options.’
‘Okay.  Take the notebook and try to stand up.’
Slowly, Jasper rose and grasped the railing of the balcony tightly.  When they let go, they took a few clumsy and unsure steps.  They looked up to me and took my hand. The notepad was in my other.  We made our way to the elevator.
The power came back on just as we were leaving the apartment.  Some neighbors were going around asking what was happening when they noticed Jasper and myself.  They stared.  Some froze in place, others questioned what was going on.  I didn’t say a word to them except for asking if the elevator was safe to use.  No one was quite sure; nobody had used it since the blackout.
None of them followed us into the elevator.  I could tell they were confused.  They should be; a random city-wide blackout happens, then a strange meteor shower shows up, and finally, your neighbor has been hiding an alien for the past who knows how long.  I would be confused too.  I just wasn’t looking forward to explaining it later.
I let Jasper push the button to go to the ground floor.  For some reason, that was the part where I started to tear up.  I wiped it away before Jasper could see, but I think they knew how I felt.  It was a silent ride down.
The doors opened and we swiftly made our way through the crowd of people stuck outside of their apartments.  When Jasper squeezed my hand, I slowed down.  They were hurting.  We walked calmly outside, where the thousands of people would be.
“Just a few more blocks,” I told myself, and realized I was surprised by the sound of my voice.  I hadn’t spoken in a while; I’d just been writing to Jasper.
It took us an hour or so to reach the building.  Jasper was small and kept having to stop.  I was patient; I wanted all the time I could get with them before they left.  So many people stopped and asked me why my kid was dressed like an alien.  They didn’t know any better, but I still met them with a glare and a sharp frown.  That usually made them back off a bit.
We pushed past security.  They said that it was too dangerous to go to the top of the building while the blackout was being fixed.  I told them it was an emergency.  They didn’t believe me, so I had to sneak past them. 
We took the stairs.  I carried Jasper, because they still weren’t healed enough to go on stairs yet.  When we reached the top, we looked out on the city.  Many of the lights were still out; one of the power plants must have turned back on.
We sat down for a bit.  Neither of us were ready to say goodbye.  Maybe Jasper was ready to leave, but not ready to leave me.  At least, I like to think that.  We must had been there for an hour, just reflecting on what had just happened for the both of us.  I remembered when I found them, lying out behind the apartment building.  They were horrified of me, and I was scared of them, too.  I took care of them, gave them food, shelter, and wrapped their leg.  It felt like caring for a child.  I wasn’t ready to let my child leave yet. 
But they had to go.  I didn’t want them here forever; they had family and friends and a future back home.  I couldn’t be selfish.  They deserved better than what I could give.
Jasper picked up the pen one last time.
‘I need to send a signal out to them before they come get me.  Once the signal’s out, I bet they’ll be here in less than 2 minutes.’
I simply nodded.
‘Thank you so much for everything.  I love you.’  Jasper set down the notepad and stood up.
Any chance of me not crying was gone now.  Tears I had been fighting back all night poured out all at once.  Jasper hugged me.  I think they were crying, too.

On Jasper’s wristwatch they had always worn, they pressed a few buttons.  A light blinked.  Two minutes.
What was I going to do without them?  All alone in an empty apartment… I stared down at the notepad.  Jasper had crudely scribbled their name on it when they first learned how to write.
One minute, thirty seconds.  I saw tears hit the surface of the book.  Jasper leaned against me.  I tried to stop shaking.
One minute.  I felt Jasper holding my hand.  I squeezed it, and they squeezed back.
Thirty seconds.  A piercing light appeared.  The ship was close.
Fifteen seconds.  Jasper stood up and let go of my hand.
Five seconds.  They smiled sadly and held up their hands in a peace sign.
I returned the sign.  Suddenly, a bright flash covered my vision, and they were gone.