Introduction

He saw the beautiful lights if the spaceship-above him, in the dark night sky. It flew up and up. He looked sadly at it. His friends were in that spaceship, and he was a long, long way from home. One night, E.T. comes to Earth with his friends on a spaceship. The visitors have to leave again quickly, but E.T. is too late. The spaceship goes without him. E.T. likes Earth, but it is a dangerous place for him. He meets an Earth boy, Elliott, and goes to his home. Elliott loves ET and wants to help him. But there are scientists in the streets of the little town. They are looking for ET E.T has to get away. He wants to go home. But how? Steven Spielberg's movie, E.T. The Extra- 'Terrestrial (1982), is one of the most famous movies of all time. Millions of children, and their parents, know and love Melissa Mathison's beautiful story of the little visitor from the stars and his new Earth friend. Now, after twenty years, this great movie is in our theaters again. More families can see the movie-and they can also read E.T.'s exciting story.

The spaceship came slowly down to Earth. It was round and beautiful, and its lights shone warmly in the night. The door opened and the extra-terrestrials walked out. They were small and fat so they couldn't walk fast. They looked around them at the plants. The extra-terrestrials often came to Earth. They loved plants. They talked quietly to them, and then they took them home. The night was dark. The spaceship stood in a forest and the visitors worked quietly. But some men heard the spaceship come to Earth. They were scientists and they wanted to find it. They got in their vans and drove to the forest. One extra-terrestrial spoke some kind words to a small tree, and then pulled it from the ground. He loved Earth. He was millions of years old and he knew the plants well. He wanted to know the people, too. But that was difficult. Earth people didn't really understand extra-terrestrials. The old visitor walked away from the spaceship. When he walked past a friend, warm red lights shone from their hearts. The extra-terrestrial walked to the end of the forest. The yellow lights of a small town shone through the trees. Who was inside the houses? What did Earth people do in them? This was the extra-terrestrial's last night on Earth and he wanted to know. On the trip back through space, he could tell his friends about Earth people. He found a road and walked across it. It felt strangely hard under his feet and he couldn't walk fast. Then, he heard his friends in the spaceship. "We're leaving. Come back," they called. 1 The extra-terrestrial listened. No, he had more time. He was near the town now and his heart-light shone again. He felt excited. He could talk to the Earth people. He could teach them. Then, his friends called again from the spaceship. "They know we're here. It's dangerous! It's dangerous! Come back! We're leaving now!" The old visitor felt it, too-he had to go. He couldn't run fast. He turned back, but there were a lot of cars on the road. They went very fast and their lights shone in his eyes. He couldn't see. He ran into the forest, through the trees. "This way, this way ... ", the plants told him. There was the spaceship. A friend stood in the open door. The extra-terrestrial ran as fast as he could. He could see his friend's heart-light. "Where are you?" it called. ''I'm coming, I'm coming ... ", he answered, and he ran out of the trees. Then, the little extra-terrestrial felt something in his heart. He was afraid. He ran quickly. He saw the beautiful lights of the spaceship-above him, in the dark night sky. It flew up and up. He looked sadly at it. His friends were in that spaceship, and he was a long, long way from home. Mary sat in her bedroom. She read her newspaper, and she listened to her two sous, Elliott and Michael. They were in the kitchen with some friends. The boys sat at the table and played a game. They made a lot of noise. "I run down the road," Elliott said excitedly. "They come after me, and they're really near ... " Mary felt unhappy. "No husband," she thought, "and I can't understand my children. What are they talking about? But they're excited and happy. When am I excited? When am I in love?" 2 He saw the beautiful lights of the spaceship-above him, in the dark night sky.