ET- Manipulating Arcade Cabinet

  He opened their nutrient valve and shuffled back to his porthole.

  “We are approaching the Dragon River of Stars,” he said to the plants. “Within it is the Whirlpool of Time—first gate of dimension. The ship is already preparing for entry.”

  He watched as it began to enter the hole in space by which the universes were bridged. He felt the ship’s entry into the Whirlpool. In another moment they would leave this continuum for another, and he would have lost Elliott forever, which was worse than being in the soup.

  They emerged like a genie from a bottle, their ship appearing from the void, into another universe.

  “Through a series of such whirlpools, we shall eventually reach our home,” said the other old botanist, E.T.’s only friend—for by this time, E.T. had discovered that he’d been screened off from the rest of the crew.

  “Hi, Elliott,” she said, and Elliott felt a very odd sensation run through him, as if his knees had turned to soft ice cream and a bird had flown out of his heart.

  He turned away from the machine, where E.T.’s message still flickered faintly, and he looked at—Julie. Her ponytail was tied with a little ring of rhinestones, which flickered in the light of the arcade.

- E.T. The Book of the Green Planet, chapter 1