Eeeeee. This makes me squeal with joy for many reasons, the first of which this character is adorable, hitting the ‘naive alien(non-human, not outer-space) intelligence’ bang on the dot. The second being the wonderful description of her exploration, leading the reader through with her.

In keeping with your style, might I suggest italicising the last word as well as having it bold?

done :)

Nice entry. Like the concept.

cheers. fixed it.

nice mystical/alien feel. Nice character setup and execution.

Aww that’s so sweet! The ending is just lovely. I enjoyed all of the scientific references – hinting a superior intellect perhaps. The middle paragraph could have been split up to make for easier reading at *through.

I love that the inventor waves back. It’s just..! So cute! Very enjoyable and a wonderful entry.
(apologies for the late comment)

Great story! I love the idea of narrating from a developing mind’s point of view. I humbly suggest that such detail about the time (i.e. “exactly a minute”) is perhaps slightly unnecessary.

Congratulations on a well-deserved win!

This is so cute! The fact that the scientist waved back is what made my day! You don’t meet many nice scientists in stories these days.

thanks to all for the comments. I am humbled by the amount of feedback! very pleased that so many people took joy in my work
:)