The Space Ship on the Roof

Wordsworth opened the trap door that led onto the flat room of the Polar Bear Library, and climbed up and out onto the roof. She'd never been up there before, and for a few seconds she took some time to look around at the earth below her.

Then she looked down on the roof. It was covered in scorch marks. The roof had been painted, long ago, with a special type of paint that reflected heat upward...similar to what was used on the space shuttle. This had happened during the global warming scare when everyone was supposed to reduce their usage of fossil fuels. It had been hoped that by deflecting the heat of the sun from the library's roof, it would cost less to air-condition the interior of the library.

Wordsworth wondered, now, if that special paint had actually saved her life. Because those scorch marks were pretty severe, and if the roof had not been protected by it, perhaps it...whatever it was, Wordsworth reminded herself...might have actually burned through the roof, the ceiling, and the entire library!

Gripping the hammer firmly with one hand, and holding her other hand outstretched, Wordsworth crept toward the center of the roof.

And stopped, for her hand had indeed connected with something solid. Smooth, sleek, solid...and invisible. A space ship!



Vocabulary
scorch - to parch or shrivel with heat
reflecting - to cast back (light, heat, sound) from a surface
deflecting - To turn aside or cause to turn aside
severe - harsh; unnecessarily extreme, grave; critical
sleek - trim and graceful; finely contoured; streamlined