The news stopped being local before the small town even understood what was happening.
First came the regional newspapers.
Then the national ones.
Within hours, images of Aurora were being broadcast on television screens around the world.
An albino girl.
An ordinary teenager.
Floating a few inches above the ground.
Without injuries.
Without speaking.
Without showing fear.
Without touching the ground.
The first images had been taken from a distance, back in the forest. Then came footage of the police officers, doctors, soldiers, and equipment set up around her.
The small town began receiving visitors.
Journalists.
Onlookers.
Researchers.
Religious believers.
Tourists.
People who simply wanted to see her.
Some called Aurora an alien.
Others said she was a saint.
On social media, people began calling her Our Lady of the Apparition.
Others preferred an even simpler name:
The Immaculate Child.
Religious images began appearing in the streets.
People prayed in front of the military barricades.
Some wept.
Others simply stood in silence, watching from a distance.
Some brought flowers.
Some brought candles.
Some pleaded for miracles.
And some shouted that she was not human.
Meanwhile, newspapers began investigating who Aurora had been before that night.
They discovered her school.
Her home.
Her family.
Old photographs began to surface.
Aurora as a child.
Aurora at school.
Aurora with her white hair.
Aurora smiling.
Aurora living an utterly ordinary life.
The reports also uncovered another part of the story.
She had been bullied by other students.
She had been ridiculed for being an albino.
There were accounts of humiliation, cruel pranks, and harassment.
Some of the teenagers involved were still in town.
Now they did not want to be seen.
Some would not even leave their homes.
They had seen Aurora that night.
They had seen the girl they used to corner in the forest.
Except now she was floating.
And they could not forget that image.
Meanwhile, a massive structure had been erected around the site.
A military tent covered part of the area.
Screens shielded the equipment.
Generators ran continuously.
Cameras monitored Aurora twenty-four hours a day.
Police officers gave interviews from behind the barricades.
— Aurora has shown no aggressive behavior.
— She has not attempted to attack anyone.
— She remains conscious.
— We have been unable to determine the cause of the phenomenon.
The same questions were being repeated by journalists around the world.
Is she alive?
Is she human?
What happened to her?
Could she be dangerous?
No one knew the answers.
More soldiers arrived.
More vehicles.
More equipment.
More doctors.
More researchers.
Then something different arrived.
A capsule.
Large enough to accommodate Aurora.
Transparent in some sections, surrounded by equipment and monitoring systems.
The intention was simple.
To create a completely controlled environment.
The capsule was positioned near the area where Aurora remained.
The military personnel tried to bring it closer to her.
Aurora did not react.
They tried to guide her.
She did not resist.
But she did not cooperate either.
When they tried to get her inside, she simply remained where she was.
Floating.
The soldiers backed away.
The capsule remained beside her.
Aurora looked at the structure.
Then she looked at the people.
And remained there.
Without saying a word.
Outside the barricades, hundreds of people watched.
Some prayed.
Some filmed.
Some shouted her name.
Others shouted that she should be left alone.
Amid all of it, Aurora seemed to be the only person in no hurry.
She simply watched.
As though she were watching the entire world come to her.
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