Ann thought about the implications of what she was doing, her chances of making an interesting discovery, the likelihood of her disappearance being noticed, and the nature of the punishment that she would be expected to undergo. None of these matters would be likely to arise, at least not on the balance of probabilities.

She continued using the occasional spray of light from the torch in order to see a pathway and then remember it. The moon shone coldly above her. Ann could almost hear it saying, "Well don't expect me to help you. You're the one who wanted to do this."

"No, I won't," thought Ann, "but you will be gone by morning, and I shall not be out here by that time either."

Talking to the moon could not be considered as unusual as the things that happened next. Ann noticed a clearing where some branches of trees had been broken away, and then she saw a huge metal object, the width of a car's length and apparently shaped like the flying saucers she had seen on television. The structure was coloured in a shiny tint of grey. Ann Walked around the object, feeling its strength as she hit it with loose pieces of fallen branches.

"It's not a toy. It doesn't break," she thought, as she hammered at it with a club made of wood. The object had no foot holes or protruding extremities for climbing, and yet Ann knew she could sit or even lie on top of the device, if she could manage to climb up onto it. She shone the torch into the trees and located a branch, which would probably suit her desires perfectly.

"Now if you could climb up there, then it would be easy to jump down on top of it,” said Wendell.

“Well here goes my best effort," said Ann, as she pulled herself up onto a low branch.

The torch dangled from her neck. She had strapped it around her neck again, in order to leave it switched on while she climbed the tree. She reached the branch towards which she had endeavoured to climb, gripped it with her hands and maneuvered herself out to the end of the branch.

"Still not far enough," she thought, impatiently curious to know what the top of the object would feel like. If it made a resonating noise when she landed on it, she would know that the insides were hollow. Otherwise it would be a lump.

"That's right," thought Ann, "a solid, useless boring lump. Well I can't hold on here forever. So I will just have to swing my way over."

She kicked forward with her legs and then swung them backwards, kicking outwards again, forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards, forwards, and -

Ann let go, her hands arching over her head and down to her sides as her feet landed on the top of the object with a jarring effect. She felt the impact, but she had done no damage to herself.

"Oh, flying frozen fruitcakes," she said aloud, "It is just a boring piece of metal after all, and - wild, this is wild!"

A circular portion of the roof of the object upon which she stood lowered itself downwards into the object's center, activating a series of inner lights.

"It was hollow. It was just made of such tough metal that I thought it was solid. My standing on the panel must be the way to activate the opening sequence. I am inside it now. It looks like a spaceship," thought Ann.

The inner walls and the floor were all of the darkest shade of red. There was a compartment the size of a small cubicle. It appeared to be locked. Ann examined the ship's control panels and discovered a screen with buttons, flashing blue lights, words in a language she had never seen before. The symbols must have been completely alien. They were neither alphabetic nor numerical. Ann wandered around the main room.

"Prowling pixies! This is the grooviest thing I've ever seen. Hey, wait!"

The circular platform rose back to its original position, pushed upwards by a cylindrical mechanism from the floor, as Ann O’Malley could now observe. It was again a part of the roof, leaving a grey metal cylinder in the center of the main room.

"Bouncing buttercakes! I could be stuck in here!" said Ann.

"No you are not. This unit can open the platform to exit at any time. I am the computer of this craft."

Ann turned back to the computer. It was the screen with the flashing blue lights. More had appeared on the screen, this time in English, merely the words that the device had just spoken.

"You can speak!" said Ann.