by Avell Kro
serving American food.
“Are you sure about this place? Isn’t it pricey?” Alayna asked. She’d never been to a restaurant
like that before. The nicest place she was ever taken to was a Denny’s.
“I have funds,” C said. “I was given enough to live comfortably for six months.”
“What happens after six months?”
“Oh, I’ll be gone long before then.”
He said it in a such a warm, reminiscent tone, she could only conclude he wasn’t from DC. “So
where do you call home?”
“My planet isn’t in your solar system. I doubt you would have heard of it.”
Oh great, a whack job. Okay, I’ll play along.After all, he is buying me this nice dinner. “Oh yeah?
They say the universe is a vast, infinite space. Not surprised we don’t know all there is to know.”
The sincere grin that appeared on C’s face was contagious—she felt good for throwing him
that bone. “I knew it. I knew you would understand.” He continued to stare at her, but it was more a
look of admiration, of unexpected delight.
The hostess led them to a booth in the corner of the restaurant. Alayna had never seen so
much old memorabilia in her life, nailed to the walls or suspended from the ceiling. She giggled,
wondering why someone would choose to decorate a space with a bunch of crap that looked like it
was from some old guy’s attic. The place was only mildly crowded, but there were enough people
for Alayna to feel comfortable, if C’s eccentric nature turned out to be something more sinister.
Alayna let out a long sigh, as if to push the thought from her mind and just relax. There was
something about him, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, that put her at ease. Even if
he was bat-shit crazy, at the very least he was entertaining. And genuine.
It was nice.
The hostess handed them menus and left.
Alayna bounced a couple of times on the cushion after she sat down. “Thanks again, this place
is really nice.”
“Order anything you like.” C browsed his menu briefly, and then put it down.
Alayna smiled as she leafed through the pages. “Seriously? I could order the filet mignon?”
“Why not?” C said. “Anything.”
“Wow.” She fidgeted in her seat, and then looked off to the side. “And you’re not expecting
anything in return?”
C’s brow wrinkled. “I don’t understand.”
Alayna had enough experiences with men not to assume anything, no matter how innocent
they appeared to be. She continued to avoid his eyes. “People always have an agenda.”
He gazed at her, and his expression grew sad. “I don’t.”
She looked up at his somber response, and he somehow appeared younger, like he was more
in his thirties than his fifties. His face seemed slimmer, his body more muscular. And his eyes—
they turned from a shade of dirt brown only moments before, to a golden brown.
“What is going on with you?” she whispered.
A waitress arrived at the table and took their drink order. Alayna couldn’t keep her eyes off
him. Did I imagine an old man before? She shook her head, wondering if she were losing it.
“What’s wrong?” C asked.
“Your appearance. You look like a different person from when I first met you in the store.” She
picked at the sleeve of her shirt. Confrontation wasn’t something she enjoyed. It never ended well
for her in the past.
The waitress returned with their drinks, and then took their order. Alayna didn’t hold back,
ordering an appetizer and the biggest combination platter they had.
“People see what they want to see,” was his cryptic response. He smiled at his drink, playing
with the ice cubes with his straw. “This soda stuff is just amazing! So bubbly.”
“You don’t have soda where you’re from?” she said, then recalled his earlier comment. “Oh
that’s right, you’re from a distant galaxy.”
“It’s not that far away.” He took a sip from his drink and let out a satisfied exhale. “But it is the
most incredible place. So peaceful.”
Alayna considered it for a moment, that the man who sat across from her was actually an
extraterrestrial. Though it was a ridiculous notion, one question just begged to be asked. “So why
are you here then, why this planet?”
“A song I heard. Made me think there was hope for it.” He rested his hands on the table. “But
enough about me, I want to know about you.”
Alayna let out a nervous laugh. “Not much to tell.”
“I doubt that. Maybe there’s not much you want to tell?” His eyes were kind but curious. He
waited patiently for her to respond.
“I hardly know you, C. Besides, you really want to hear my life history? It’s not that—”
A thought occurred to her, one that stopped her mid-sentence. “Wait a minute. Are you a
social worker?”
“No,” he answered. “I told you, I’m from–”
“Right, right, another planet.” Could it be one of their ploys, to get me to talk, so they can put me
back in the system? “Are you from CPS?”
“CPS?” The blank look on his face was comical.
“Guess that’s a no.”
“Deception is not something I actively try to do.”
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Alayna looked at C, but he wasn’t wearing a wise-ass
smirk or anything. She got the feeling he meant exactly what he said, however bizarre it was.
“You intrigue me, Alayna. Please tell me about yourself.” The gold in his eyes seemed to shine
brighter, and Alayna found herself smiling along with him.
“Well,” she began, and then paused to take a sip from her drink, “like I said, it’s pretty simple. I
never knew my father, my mother bailed when I was four, and I was stuck in the foster system for
most of my life.”
“And you’re living with that family now, the one I saw you with earlier?”
Alayna cringed. She had run away from there a couple of days ago. The last thing in the world
she wanted was to be returned to them. Not after what happened.
“Uh…no.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s a long story.”
The waitress came back with their appetizer order. Alayna reveled in the greasy wonder of the
enormous deep-fried onion.
“So, what is the food like where you’re from?” Alayna asked.
“It’s not this flavorful or elaborate,” he said. “But it’s of little importance to us.”
“What is important to you?” Alayna asked, now curious.
C smiled and placed a finger on his lips pensively. “Knowledge. Experiencing life to its ful est—
seeing, hearing, feeling everything.”
The answer kinda threw her off for a moment; she didn’t expect it. Though really, what was
she supposed to expect from a man who claimed to be an alien?
“What’s important to you?” he asked.
She half-smiled. “That’s a bit of a moving target. A week ago, it would’ve been timing my
arrival from school so I wouldn’t be alone with Darius. Now, it’s more figuring out where I’m going
to sleep.”
Sometimes when she closed her eyes, glimpses replayed in her mind. Darius’ bloodshot eyes
and his rage, Rosa leaving in a huff.Trying to lock the door and him breaking it down, and then…
The pain was unbearable.
Every time it happened.
Rosa foun
d out and lost her mind, beating Alayna until she passed out.
A pregnancy. Then a miscarriage.
She figured it had to be a sign, for her to get out and start over. Even if it meant she would be
homeless.
C was silent for a while, and Alayna wondered if it was a mistake to say that.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said quickly. “I’m doing fine on my own, it’s just—”
“Life has not been kind to you. I can see that in your eyes, and sense it from your emotions.”
He stated it as fact, not opinion or speculation, as if he already knew all about her.
“What do you mean?” Alayna pushed back an errant clump of frizz from her face. She knew by
all counts she should be freaked out, but his kind eyes calmed her. And the crazy stuff he kept
saying was nothing if not interesting.
“My people, we can sense emotions in each other, even thoughts. Communication is effortless.
In this way, I feel sorry for humans, you seem to have some great difficulty with this.”
“Yes, we do.” Alayna couldn’t help but laugh. “How is it that you do that? Say stuff that would get
me put in an asylum, and I’m like, totally believing you.”
“You sense that I’m speaking the truth,” he said. “You seem more perceptive than most.”
“Thank you.” She valued the compliment. Not every day an alien calls you perceptive.
The waitress returned with their main meal and cleared the scant remains of the appetizer.
Alayna excused herself and went to the restroom. She splashed some water on her face,
wondering if she was the biggest idiot on the planet. How can I possibly believe this dude? No
matter how insane he sounded, she couldn’t shake the feeling he was genuine.
How screwed up am I, that the most genuine person in my life believes he’s an alien from outer
space?
She patted her face with a paper towel, and then smoothed down her wild black locks. Hard
for any boys to be interested with crazy, frizzy hair. But he was different—he wasn’t a boy. And he
was refreshingly unique.
What am I even thinking? Why do I care what this odd,possibly certifiable guy thinks? Though
she didn’t want to admit it, C had her feeling something she hadn’t dared to feel, for fear it would
vanish and never surface again.
Happiness. It wasn’t from infatuation or anything physical, but from a different place. A place
of friendship, maybe even hope. She’d never met anyone like him before.
Thinking about everything they’d discussed, she wasn’t paying much attention to her
surroundings, as she returned from the bathroom. She slipped back into the booth she had shared
with C and was about to dive into her meal, when she looked up. The person who sat across from
her was a young, handsome boy, scarcely older than she. His eyes, more golden now than before,
were the only thing familiar to her.
She looked around, startled. Am I in the wrong booth? That can’t be him…
“Alayna, what’s wrong?” C’s familiar voice seemed foreign coming from that person’s mouth.
“No,” she said, as she stood and staggered back. “You’re not C, he…he’s…”
Alayna frantically scanned the restaurant, wondering if he’d left. If someone was playing a
cruel joke on her. But the middle-aged man she was talking with was gone.
The handsome stranger approached her. “You see me that differently?” He muttered to
himself, “That’s never happened before.” He looked back up at Alayna. “It’s still me. C.” He reached
for her hand, but she just shook her head, retreating. And then she ran out of the restaurant.
Outside, night had fallen. Alayna didn’t have any place to go—the shelter was overcrowded and
disgusting, even by homeless standards. So, she ran to the only other place she could think of:the
park.
How could he turn into a different person?Is he a shapeshifter or something? His claim about
being from another planet suddenly seemed plausible.
No, there must be a logical explanation. The only other thing she could come up with was that
it was her—she was the one who was crazy. Great, that’s just what I need. Darius is after me, I’ve
got nowhere to sleep, and now I’m mental, too.
Alayna found a spot by the lake, away from the main roads where police would be patrolling. It
was so quiet. She could just make out a duck or two swimming in the distance.
She settled on the ground and wrapped her arms around her legs. It’s going to be all right. I’ll
figure out what to do.
“I can help you with that.”
The sound of C’s voice startled her, and she jumped up to her feet. The last incarnation of him
at the restaurant, the handsome boy, stood in front of her.
“Help with what?”
“I mentioned how I communicate. It’s never happened with a human before, but I can
understand your thoughts, just as easily as if you spoke them.”
The gold in his eyes burned brighter, pushing out all the brown that was there. The calm she
sensed from him spread to her, and she relaxed.
“Who are you, really?” She reached for his hands, but then stopped, afraid of what would
happen if she touched him.
“There’s no reason to be afraid. I appear as people would imagine me to be. No human has
ever seen our true form before.”
Alayna gulped. There was no rationalizing it now. The being before her was an alien. “What do
you look like?”
“I guess the best way to explain it would be light. I am…a being of energy.”
She closed her eyes and placed her hands in his. Her mind spun, a dizzying array of colors and
thoughts. Finally, the dizziness dissolved and settled into a picture of a room, where men and
women in robes were having a discussion. They were all similar looking, with a generic beige skin
tone and short brown hair, as if they were all siblings from the same parent. C was one of them.
What am I seeing? Is this something in C’s mind?
“You have to give me another chance,” C said to the others. “The place you sent me was filled
with poverty, despair and distrust. There are other locations on this planet where we may find
someone more suitable.”
“Do you have any suggestions?” one of the females said.
C nodded. “America.”
The robed figures talked back and forth amongst each other.
“Very well,” one of the males finally said. “You shall go to the Capitol and meet with their
leader.”
“Yes,” another said, “what better way to assess their readiness, than to review the person
elected to be their representative?”
C shook his head. “You don’t understand. Politicians… they are…”
“It is done.Go now,” another female said.
The scene dissolved as C withdrew his hands.
Alayna shook off the fog from that experience. Her head felt full, but she was unharmed. “So
that’s how you got to DC?”
C looked at her curiously. “I… I didn’t think I could do that. With you, I mean.”
She knew she should be totally freaked out, but seeing his thoughts felt natural, like an ability she should’ve had all her life, but through the tragic happenstance of being human, she was denied
this wondrous gift. “Did you really try to go see the president?”
“No.” A sheepish smile appeared. “I had heard some of the political news, when I visited the
&nb
sp; first time. I knew he wasn’t who I was looking for.”
“Why did they appear human, your people?” Alayna asked.
“It still must be easier for you to process us in this way,” C said. She detected a twinge of
disappointment in his voice.
Alayna remembered what he said before, why he’d chosen Earth. “That song you mentioned,
the reason you wanted to come here, what was it?”
C managed a small, simple smile. “An older one, I don’t know that you’d be familiar with it.”
“Just because I’m young, doesn’t mean I listen to only Taylor Swift,” she said, laughing. “Try
me.”
“It’s called Imagine.”
Alayna smiled. She always loved that song. Sometimes it even made her cry, to think about a
place like that. If only that were real.
It is real.
She heard the words as plain as could be, but C’s lips didn’t move an inch. Did I just hear his
thoughts?
C’s eyes grew large. “I knew it! From the moment I first met you, I sensed it… I was right
about you.”
“Right about what?” Alayna had never felt more comfortable with anyone in her entire life. It
was like she could anticipate what he would say next.
“That you were perceptive. Open to possibility.”
Alayna felt a warmth surrounding her. She closed her eyes and basked in the heat. “That’s
amazing.”
“There you are!”
Alayna jumped at the voice from out of the shadows, a voice all too familiar. She felt a chill run the length of her spine.
Darius strode up in an overconfident swagger. “I thought you might be sneaking around here.”
He motioned to C. “Who’s your girlfriend?”
Alayna chuckled. “Of course that’s what he would see. Probably looks like a supermodel.” She
turned to C. “Why did he see a cop the first time he saw you?”
“Because you said I was a policeman. The suggestion planted that image in his mind.”
Darius looked painfully confused. “What the hell are you two rattling on about?”
Dismissive. Superior. Abusive. He was like the perfect representation of the worst of
humanity.
“This doesn’t concern you,” C said to him. “Please leave us.”
Alayna was shocked at C’s words, and genuinely afraid for his safety. She positioned herself in
between Darius and C.
“Who does this bitch think she is, telling me my business?” He shoved Alayna out of the way,