by Maia Starr
“The kitchens are this way, Amelia. Everyone pitches in to make the meal when they can. You can learn as much or as little as you want to,” he said, leading the way to an area further back from the beach. There were several huts and in the middle were outdoor hearths. There were large tables where Draqua and human females were cutting fruit, fish, and other sea bounty. It was lively, and there was a happy energy to it. No one seemed to notice or care about my presence. I guess having a new human female on the planet was not an unusual thing. Ephane showed me how to serve myself from the various tables. Then we sat down at a table facing the ocean.
“Tell me about your life on Earth, Amelia,” he said with a polite smile.
“Well. I lived in a big city called New York. I worked as a secretary, which is an administrative position. I went to work every day and came home every day; that is about it,” I said, realizing just how boring it was to say it out loud.
“So you did not have a lover or a husband?” he asked.
"No. I did not,” I said, embarrassed to admit that I was single. But why did I care what this alien thought of me?
“Good,” he said. I looked at him strangely. He seemed to almost to blush in embarrassment. Then he cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“There is plenty of fulfilling work here in the village. If you wish, I can show you around and see if anything interests you. I find work to be very fulfilling; perhaps you will too,” he said.
“Yes, thank you. I would like to see how the village works and how I could be of service. I have to admit lounging on the beach and swimming is a great way to spend my time, but after a while, I think I would start to feel useless,” I said digging into the freshly caught steaming hot fish. It was absolutely delicious with a side of fruit that reminded me of coconut.
“I understand,” Ephane said.
“You are very easy to talk to,” I said complementing him.
“Thank you. Now, why don't I see if any of these human females are free to come sit with you? Are you ready for that?” he asked.
“Yes, I would love that,” I said.
“I will return,” he said as he stood up and walked away from the table.
A few moments later, three human females walked over to me and sat at the table. One of them had an infant hybrid child in her arms. She seemed very happy, with a bright smile.
“Hello, Amelia. My name is Teresa. Ephane has said you just arrived yesterday,” she said to me.
“Arrived? I think you mean taken against my will,” I said as politely as I could. The women are all looked at each other and giggled a bit.
“I am sorry. I don't see what is funny about that,” I said looking at them.
“It is funny to us because we have all been there. We all felt the same way when we first arrived. My name is Jamie. Nice to meet you, Amelia. I totally understand how you feel right now. I felt the same way when I was brought here two years ago,” she said.
“And my name is Rachel,” another woman said as she put her hand out for me to shake it. I shook her hand and then look at the three women, hoping they had all the answers for me.
“I don't understand why the three of you seem so happy. Do you not want to go back to Earth? Do you not hate these phones for taking you and making you create their offspring?” I asked and confusion.
“At first, yes, as could be expected. But after being here for several months, I was appointed to a Draqua warrior, and I fell in love with him. He is now of my husband and the father of the child here in my arms. I could not be happier. If I were to be taken back to Earth, I would be extremely depressed and would beg to come back here. This is my life now. This is my family,” Teresa said.
“Plus, do you not find this alien world and life extremely fascinating? Why would I want to go back to Earth when I already know what Earth is like and I know the people? But here, everything is new to me, and how lucky are we that we know that aliens do exist?” Rachel said.
“I guess you have a point there,” I said.
We spoke for an hour or so as I asked them questions and each of them told me how they arrived and their life story after arriving on the planet Kelon. Each one had a different story to tell, but all of them had happiness and joy once they fell in love. I could not see myself falling in love with an alien dragon shifter. It just was not possible for me. I knew that I would be a fish out of water here and if I could go back to Earth and then I should.
After we were done speaking, Ephane came back to the table.
“Amelia, I can walk you around the village now. Are you ready to do so or would you like to go back to your home and rest a bit?” he asked.
“No, I am well rested. I am ready for the grand tour,” I said with a smile as I stood up from the table and thanked the women for their time. I made sure that I would visit them again in the future. I followed Ephane out of the communal kitchens onto the dense, thick paths. Then I saw something that I was not expecting to see.
“Ephane! What are you doing with this human female? Don't you have your rounds to do today?” Ravinn asked as he came onto the path in front of us. I rolled my eyes at him.
“Ravinn, it is good of you to point that out. Though you have never questioned me when I have accompanied a human female before,” Ephane said smugly.
“Well, this one has been a pain in my ass. I assume that she is now a pain in yours,” Ravinn said with a grin.
I narrowed my eyes at his comment. He was still rude. He was still irritating. He was still as startling attractive as when I first saw him, dammit.
“Actually, she is very pleasant. We are having a good time together. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to show Amelia around the village.”
“You? I think I could probably show her the more exciting things. You're just going to show her systems and structures. That is not exciting stuff for a human female,” Ravinn said.
“Oh, you think you can do better?” Ephane said to him in a teasing way.
“No!” I blurted out without even thinking about it. They both looked at me.
“I would prefer not to spend any time with this thing,” I said looking at Ravinn up-and-down.
Ephane laughed. Ravinn narrowed his eyes at me, his beautiful eyes.
“You heard it straight from the human female’s mouth. Now if you will excuse us,” Ephane said as he put his hand on the small of my back. He pushed me forward down the path and I could hear a slight grown come out of Ravinn's mouth. It pleased me that I made him feel irrelevant and uncomfortable. A slight smile came across my face. That was totally worth the awkward encounter.
Ephane showed me around the village and into the jungle behind it. Everything was absolutely beautiful, and though it wasn't that exciting, just as Ravinn had predicted, I found the fact that it was an alien world extremely exciting. But Ephane’s company was a bit monotone and tame. But even though the day was full of new things, nothing could have prepared me for what waited for me at my new home in the trees.
Ephane had led me to the staircase inside the tree and then left me to my own devices to return home; I had insisted on it.
The next day I was in the kitchen trying to figure out how to clean the fish that were coming in. There was a very nice female Draqua that was teaching me. I spent the entire morning working on it. Then I walked to the ocean and washed the fish smell off of me. I took a long swim. When I walked up onto the beach, there was someone waiting for me. It was my new friend, Ephane.
As I walked up to him, I realized that I was soaking wet. He looked at me up-and-down and smiled.
“Have a nice swim, Amelia?” He asked.
“Yes, I did. I needed a little exercise,” I said to him.
“Well, I was just walking by on my way to the long jungle path. Have you seen it yet? The plants and flowers are so tall, they tower over us. They have blooms that are the size of your entire body,” he said.
“That is fascinating! I did not know that. I cannot see it from my home,” I s
aid to him.
“Come. You want to exercise, so you can accompany me into the jungle. I will show you these flowers. You are going to love them. Then when I teach you the path you can go on your own anytime. You just have to know which turns to take to get to the vast flower pass,” he said.
“All right. I would love to see these flowers. I will come with you,” I said to him. I followed him from the beach and past the village. We made small talk. I asked too many questions about the weather here on this alien planet. I really wanted to know if it was always so sunny and beautiful with rain here and there. His answer was yes, and the rain seemed to be the harshest weather they endured. There were no hurricanes or tornadoes. I thought what a peaceful planet this one was.
“You see this path here? We are on the edge of the village, as you can see. To your left, that will take you to the spaceport. To the right, that will take you to the tree houses that you live in. We are going straight ahead. This is the long path straight into the jungle. Got it? Or do you need me to repeat it?” he said gently.
I looked at the directions that he had given me. I was memorizing them. Then I said, “I got it. We can continue on.” I was grateful that he was taking the time to teach me things. I wanted all the knowledge I could learn.
“Good. Stop me if you have questions. Just follow me this way,” he said as he walked ahead of me. I felt safe with him walking ahead of me. The fact that he was not walking behind me made me feel like he did not have any sort of ulterior motive behind our time together.
“Stop,” he said. “This is where it can get tricky. Pay attention,” he said as we came to a fork in the path.
“Understood,” I said.
“To the right is the direction to the flowers. That is where we are going. If you go to the left that will take you in a circle back to the beach where you were swimming, but it is a very long way around. It takes almost an entire day to walk the entire path all the way back to the beach. I don't recommend going in that direction unless you have taken water with you and other necessities, and only if you have told someone you were going there,” he said.
“That is good to know,” I said.
“If we are going to stay on this long path that goes straight in front of us, we will go to the very edge of the island to the other side. You will hit the ocean eventually, but not the ocean of the village; it is the opposite side of the island. It is very beautiful there, but you should not go alone,” he said.
“I understand,” I said to him.
“Now we are going to the right. Follow me,” he said. I followed him to the right. Then all of a sudden the air grew cooler.
“Oh my God. I cannot believe it,” I said as I looked up. On top of us were giant flowers. There were red ones, pink ones, and blue ones. The petals were the size of my entire body. The green stocks were the size of small trees.
“I knew you would like it,” he said.
“Like it? I love it,” I said as I walked down the path. The flowers were on both sides of us, and the petals were so heavy that they drooped down, creating an arbor over the pass. It was absolutely stunning. Massive butterflies flew from one flower to another. It was so beautiful that I thought I was going to cry. I was very excited that he had shown me this place. Now I could share it with Stephanie and Brenda, and later with Michelle, when she returned.
“Can you smell the fragrance?” he asked with a smile.
I took a very deep breath. Suddenly, it hit me. It smelled like bubblegum. It smelled like Jasmine and lavender. It smelled like cherry. All of these combined to create a fragrance that made me feel so happy.
“I can smell it! Wow! What a beautiful smell!” I said as I stood underneath looking up at them. I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland. It was that fantastical.
“Just call me Alice,” I said to myself.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh nothing; it is just a reference from Earth. A girl gets lost and ends up in a magical world where the flowers are beautiful,” I said to him.
“It sounds very magical. I would like to know more about this reference sometime,” he said.
“It is a story for children, but I would be happy to tell you one day,” I said.
Then there was a rustling in the trees. Ephane stood at attention and his smile faded. I got scared. His reaction made me feel like we were suddenly in danger.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“Oh, I see what it is. It is my friend. He is in the trees. He must've just flown up there. I am going to say hello quickly. Stay here, Amelia. Do not wander off; you will get lost,” he said as he shifted. Then before I could respond, he flew straight up into the trees that towered over us.
I watched as he landed on a very thick branch. Then I saw the other Draqua that he was talking to. I have never seen him before, but then again, there were thousands of Draqua on the island. I definitely had not met even one hundred of them. Especially because most of them lived in the training grounds in the barracks. They were a warrior tribe, after all.
I watched as Ephane talked to him for almost ten to fifteen minutes. It seemed like Ephane was getting angry with him. His gestures were grand with his hands. But I could not hear what they were talking about. I did not want to hear. It was none of my business. I focused on the flowers, once more touching the long green stalk of one of them and enjoying the fragrance.
“Sorry about that. I was not expecting to see him out here,” Ephane said as he landed next to me.
“No problem. I was entertaining myself with the flowers,” I said.
“I am so glad that you like it. I am sorry to cut our journey and lesson short. I was going to tell you the names of all of these flowers, but I do not have the time now. I have to get back suddenly,” he said.
“Oh, I think I can find my way back if you need to fly,” I said to him.
“No, absolutely not. I will not be responsible for you getting lost out here,” he laughed. Then he shifted out of dragon form.
“I am glad for your company, but why don't you let me lead the way so that I can prove to you that I know the way back to the village,” I said, wanting to test my knowledge.
“That sounds fine to me. I am anxious to see if you remember,” he said. He put his hand out for me to lead the way.
I stepped in confidence turning back in the direction we came from. Then we came to the fork in the path. But I was not expecting to be rudely interrupted.
“Amelia?” Ravinn said.
“Ravinn? Are you following me? Why do I always run into you? I do not want to,” I said to him as I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes.
“No, I was not following you. I like to walk through here every now and then,” he said.
“If you say so,” I said.
“Ephane! What are you doing out here?” Ravinn asked.
“Nothing!” Ephane suddenly shouted in anger. It caught me off guard. I turned to look at him. Then he smiled and said, “I mean, can I not simply take a walk in the jungle to enjoy the many beautiful things it has for us?”
“If you say so,” Ravinn said, repeating what I said to him. I looked at him and rolled my eyes.
“Now if you'll excuse us, Ravinn, I was just teaching Amelia about the jungle pathways. Amelia?” he asked me with his eyebrows raised.
I looked at the fork in the path in front of me. Ravinn crossed his arms arrogantly, expecting me to fail this test. I remembered exactly the way to the village.
“It is this way, to the left on this path,” I said walking to the left towards the village.
“Very good, Amelia,” Ephane said clapping his hands.
“This is dumb. Excuse me,” Ravinn said as he walked in the direction of the flower path. It actually astonished me that he was going to go visit the flowers.
“Why are you going in that direction, Ravinn?” Ephane asked uncharacteristically.
“What is it to you? I am just going to the flower path,” he said without even turning around. He just c
ontinued on. I continued walking towards the village. I did not want to get in the middle of this little argument that they were having. But it felt to me like Ephane did not want Ravinn to see the friend that he was talking to only minutes before. He seemed nervous about it, and because of that, it made me nervous. I walked faster.
“Sorry to cut our lesson short. I have to go off in this direction toward the spaceport. That way is the village, as you can see it already,” Ephane said as we got closer.