This was my very first story idea as a sophomore in HS. Our regular English teacher had to take a leave of absence to care for her sick daughter. She was out for the full year (a blessing in disguise as her and I did not see eye to eye on how I should write). Ms. Lind was our substitute and stayed with us the entire year. She was a blessing.

A couple months into the class, after completing a few writing exercises, she assigned us the task of writing a short story. A fault of mine is being wordy. Not so much from trying to fill pages, but I really like detail. It's hard enough when writers don't give you enough to go on. Some of it is by design and I understand this. But there are those that leave gaps and leaves the story vague...no longer allowing the reader to follow along.

On the due date, I apologized and handed in one chapter. I was pleasantly surprised to get high marks. She pulled me aside as the period ended and told me to keep writing. From that day forth, I spent most of my study halls in the library, writing and jotting notes all the way through senior year.

The setting is Washington D.C. on 4th of July. A ship of enormous size is in high orbit above Earth. Fireworks are going off in the hundreds around the capital. A shuttle is sent down to investigate, and it touches down on the roof of the Museum of Natural History. Guards are killed by high-explosive rounds and data is stolen from the archives. Police surround the building, not knowing who or what they face. Two of the aliens engage the authorities, wrecking vehicles and structures surrounding the museum. A second fight ensues as the aliens try to get back on the rooftop to make their way back to the mother ship. The climb aboard and escape.

When the aliens look at the data they realized, with great joy, that it contains information regarding the animal kingdom. Their primary directive is to seek out food sources and here, they've hit the motherlode. Among the aliens, they have a caste of members that are genetically altered to change shape to suit the environment they hunt in. They begin studying their prey, and hunting parties are coordinated.

Rough draft of what I have so far.