Lena's Strange Adventure

Once upon a time, a spirited 16-year-old girl named Lila was stargazing in the quiet town of Ottersville when she spotted an unusual, pulsating light in the night sky. As the light grew closer, a techno-buzz filled the air, and before she could comprehend, she was suddenly surrounded by a brilliant array of colours and then everything went dark. When she awoke, Lila was in disarray. Instead of laying on her soft bed, she was suspended in a strange, neon goo floating inside a jar. Looking out at her surroundings, she was horrified to find her body-- headless-- standing across the room. "This can't be real," she muttered, her thoughts echoing through the jar. To her surprise, her body responded, moving its hands in panic. Lila had no idea how but, her body seemed to understand her and she, in turn, was able to read its silent gestures. "No time for panic," she said to herself and her body, "we need to figure out what’s happening and fast." Working together, through a combination of spoken commands and non-verbal cues, her head and her body began to learn to work in sync. "I don’t suppose you see any type of exit or something?" Her disembodied head asked her mobile torso. Responding with a shrug, her body wordlessly gestured towards a large, metallic door with odd-shaped markings. However, it was clear that reaching the door would be practically impossible because of the alien soldiers guarding it. "Do you think...we can take them?” Lila asked her body, understanding its silent nod of determination. Pooling all their courage together, Lila and her body devised a plan. When one of the alien guards shifted their patrol route, Lila watched as her body flawlessly performed a series of complex gymnastics that she had been training for since the age of five. With the aid of gravity, Lila's body swung a kick to the alien, catching him off guard. To the alien’s surprise, the body managed to steal the keycard, while all eyes were still on the tumbling guard. Lila watched as her body darted to the workstation where her jar was located and swiped the keycard. With a swoosh, the jar was open, and Lila felt a wave of fresh air hit her face. Without wasting a second, she instructed her body to pick her up and head towards the door. Just as they were about to exit, alarms began to sound and more guards started showing up. But, to both of their reliefs, the room started transforming, revealing an escape pod. The alien ship seemed built for unusual contingencies. With Lila's keen eye guiding her body, they managed to activate the escape pod just in time, leaving the pursuing aliens behind. They shot through the cosmos, landing gently in the quiet town of Ottersville. They’d made it. Unknown to everyone else, Lila and her body had gone on the most incredible, otherworldly adventure, only to return back whole and undamaged. "Okay, we really need to stick together from now on," Lila told her body once they were safely back in their room. The body responded with a thumbs-up. Palpable was their newfound friendship and the bond that the stars themselves couldn't break.