The Janitor Alien Secret

Chapter 1

The Janitor’s Weird Glow Mop

“Do not forget the crackers,” I whispered, writing in my diary.

It was the first week of school, and I had stayed late to finish my math poster. The hallway smelled cleaner. Most classroom doors were shut. The lights buzzed above me like tiny, tired bees.

I tucked my pencil behind my ear and wrote one last line: After-school notes: math is still rude.

Then something green flashed near the supply closet.

I looked up.

A mop stood in a yellow bucket beside the door. Its strings glowed softly, like a glow stick at a birthday party. Green light shone across the floor.

I blinked. The mop was still glowing.

“That is not normal,” I whispered.

The school janitor, Mr. Vale, usually pushed a plain gray cart. He was quiet and carried peppermints in his pocket. But right now, his cart was parked beside the closet, and he was not there.

I took one careful step closer. The mop made a tiny humming sound.

My stomach gave a flip. Not a scared flip. More like the flip from finding an extra cookie in the lunch bag.

I opened my diary again and wrote:

Alien clue one: glowing mop.

The closet door creaked. I froze.

A silver card lay on the cart. It had black letters on it:

Maintenance code: Moonlight Seven. Repeat: Moonlight Seven.

I copied the words into my diary. My pencil slipped, and it rolled under the cart.

I bent down to get it. The mop’s glow lit the bottom shelf. There were three bottles, a roll of paper towels, and a tiny blue button shaped like a star.

“Maybe it controls the mop,” I whispered.