saw the beautiful lights 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 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.
The extra-terrestrial walked slowly back down the road to the town. There was a wall in front of him so he climbed over it. He fell heavily on the ground and then looked up. He was in the yard of one of the houses. "What am I doing?" he thought. There were some plants in the yard. He went to one and put his arms around it. "What can I do?" he asked. "Go to the window," the plant said. "Look inside." "That's a bad idea," E.T. thought. He was on Earth now because he wanted to look in windows. "Go," said the plant. The extra-terrestrial walked to the window and looked into the kitchen. Five Earth people sat around a table in the middle of the room. They had some small cards in their hands. They shouted, and then they moved things across the table. This was a very strange place. He understood nothing! Tired and sad, the extra-terrestrial went back to the plants and sat down. "Tomorrow they will find me," he thought, "and that will be the end." Suddenly a van drove into the yard, and the extra-terrestrial felt afraid again. "It's OK," a plant told him. "It's only bringing food for the people inside." The van stopped in front of the house. A door opened and one of the Earth people took the food. "Look, that's Elliott," the plant said. "He lives here." Elliott looked into the yard and saw-something ... Quickly, the little visitor put his hand over his heart-light and hid in the dark. 4 Elliott looked into the yard and saw----something ... He waited. What now? Then an orange flew at him and hit him near the heart. Him-millions of years old, and a great extra¬terrestrial ... Angrily, he threw the orange back into the night. The Earth person cried out, and ran into the house. "Help! Mom! Help!" Elliott shouted. Mary felt afraid. "There's something out there! It threw an orange at me!" Elliott said. "Ooooo!", said Tyler, a friend of Elliott. "An orange! Very dangerous!" Elliott's mom, Mary, took a light, and then she and the boys went into the yard. "What did you see?" Mary asked Elliott. "Something there," he answered. He pointed to the end of the yard. 5 Elliott's brother, Michael, said, "Look, something walked across the ground here!" The extra-terrestrial looked at them from the dark. There were five Earth children, and a tall, beautiful person. Strange sounds came from her mouth. He couldn't understand them. Was she their mother? His heart-light started to shine, so he put his hand over it. She was the most beautiful of Earth people. The extra-terrestrial looked and looked. "Stupid heart-light," he said-but it shone more and more. The Earth people went back into the kitchen. Later in the night, three of the children left the house. They were Elliott's friends, Greg, Tyler, and Steve. Then, the lights went out and the house was quiet. The extra-terrestrial walked across the yard to the plants. It was very dark now, so he couldn't see. He hit his head and fell back on the ground. He cried out loudly. Suddenly, the kitchen door opened and Elliott ran out into the yard with his dog, Harvey. He shone a light into the plants and saw the extra-terrestrial. Elliott shouted-and fell over. The extra-terrestrial started to run. "Don't go!" Elliott said. The boy spoke very quietly and the old visitor stopped. He turned and looked at the boy. Their eyes met. "Don't go!" Elliott said again. But the extra-terrestrial ran into the night