“Miss Emma, in an effort to expeditiously alter your disbelief, I hope you will allow me to show you this brief montage. Please bear in mind that X7gTH5 is a funny place with strange rules of physics, or so it would seem to the uninitiated.”
One by one images of bizarre inhabitants from distant planets appeared on her screen. They materialized with such speed and spellbinding definition that Emma instinctively knew that no movie studio on earth was even a thousand years away from the capability of creating such a galactic spectacle. Emma Hayes had just witnessed what no other human on earth had ever seen, and it was a spectacularly bizarre world that she was permitted to see.
“That was amazing! Okay Srenyi, I think you said your name was Srenyi right? Emma took a deep breath. “Let’s say this is all real. How is any of this possible? You and I talking…I mean… any of this?”
“Well, my dear friend, it’s possible because your existence and intelligence are more than just possible, it’s reality. And it all stemmed from a most implausible set of circumstances I might add, wouldn’t you agree?”
Emma shook her head slowly and tucked her chin-length brown hair behind her ears. “You mean, like the fact that somehow a single dumb atom was fed the ingredients for life that were delivered from another galaxy, and then it somehow replicated itself and eventually grew a brain? And then it eventually figured out that it was once just a single dumb atom?”
“Precisely! That’s panspermia 101 my dear. I should like to add that earth and its inhabitants have been remarkably resilient, considering the rather debilitating effects from the preponderance of dark matter. Though to be fair, it principally appears on your planet only every few million years.”
“Wow Srenyi, you’re so advanced. It’s mind-blowing.”
The diminutive Quittu looked around at the tricolored sky that surrounded him, before adjusting his tiny derby. He made a few clicks on his yote before carefully placing it back into his pocket. “Emma, it’s actually you that’s quite advanced.”
“Ha, what are you talking about?! We’re like the Flintstones with Instagram addictions down here! Besides, I’m sure you have every gadget and app we have, and then some to say the least.”
“I suppose there is a smattering of technology in process here, though we don’t have the one with the quickly disappearing images.”
Emma laughed out loud, “Oh you mean Snapchat! Wait, technology exists there for everything but Snapchat? Wow, I’m surprised you couldn’t figure out how that works.”
“They indeed know how it works Emma, but the Quittu would have no reason for it.”
“Oh snap! Ha–ha, get it?
“But seriously. How are you communicating with me exactly? Is this iPhone 11 billion or something?”
“You’re very much the budding futurist aren’t you? But for our purposes today I’d direct your attention to an earthly capability known as modulation frequency, as well as to your spherical gravitational wave detector called the MiniGRAIL. It’s located in a small but fascinating country on your earth that I believe you now commonly refer to as the Netherlands.”
“Oh, cool! Yes, my mom still calls it Holland! She even has a pair of real clogs from when she was little. You can’t really wear them though because they’re wood...crap I’m babbling because I’m freaked out!”
Srenyi wasn’t as adept at quickly translating colloquialisms as he was at with traditional prose. He quickly referred to his yote which was emitting strange kaleidoscope waves that would occasionally produce a mini-fireworks display around Emma’s image.
“Yes, I can certainly understand your consternation. I will say that a team from the department of theoretical physics at a certain earthly university is no doubt absolutely giddy at the waves being detected at the moment, thanks in no small part to our conversation.”
“Wow can they hear us right now?”
“No, not to worry…they’re centuries away from being on our wavelength. That was a good pun was it not?”
“Ha-ha, yeah, that was awesome!”
“Why thank you, Miss Emma.”
“Srenyi, are there animals or anything like that up there?”
“We are not fortunate to have such a thing as what you may call ‘Quittu’s best friend’. Though, I should point out that there does exist here another race that you would consider to be quite tall. They’re called the Allanze and you may also find them to be an interesting sight because they attain some perceived humanite similarities.”
“Wow cool! Okay, I’d really like to see what they look like!”
“Then that shall be arranged, Miss Emma.”
“Um hey Srenyi one more thing...”
“Yes, Miss Emma?”
Emma paused and looked down the hill towards her weather-beaten purple house before asking her question. “Why me?”
“Ah yes a fair question indeed. Let’s just say an intuitive orbit survey has found your mind…and I dare say your heart. Therefore, I’d pose a similar question that I’d also like for you to ponder yourself – if I may, Miss Emma?”
“Yes, of course Mister Srenyi.”
“Okay very well, here goes. Why not you?”
CHAPTER 4
THE FLEDGLINGS
One particularly hot night during the height of summer, Srenyi and his friend Karooch were traveling south to their ancestral homelands when the pair stumbled upon the ritual of a few very young Allanze called fledglings. They were only about a foot tall and had ultra-pink fur that would remain on their bodies until they had grown slightly taller than an adult Quittu.
After the third and final daily sunset, the fledglings would begin to waddle with unbridled excitement through the pitch and towards the distant hills. They were instinctively seeking a mysterious orange glow. Throughout this strange courtship they were viewed by judging lights that would flame brighter and then again dim without a set cadence.
“Karooch, they seem to be extra incentivized this evening, these little ones, do they not?”
“It certainly would appear that way, Srenyi. Word has it that there’s an especially important light observing these rather dark festivities on this moon-misted night. The Allanze consider its glow to be most high, and not surprisingly they seem to worship its approving glow like a deity.”
Any dimming of the faraway incandescence would signal that interest was being lost swiftly, so even the most temporal intensity from the lights in the dark hills would serve as fresh energy for exhausted fledglings. On this night the two young Quittu were observing a particularly awkward female fledgling who was clearly clamoring for the orange lights by way of her pageantry.
“Look, Srenyi, Do you see that particular fledgling over there?”
“Ahh yes Karooch, I do see her. She’s quite small, though she’s nonetheless most pleasing to this abhorrent herd. As evidence, I’d point to the fact that she’s already attracting an inordinate number of orange lights.”
Srenyi had a look of disbelief. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a plethora of glow. The hills are practically salivating with light! I can’t help but wonder how this orange poison came to be the dream of the collective Allanze soul?”
Allanze procreators would rub oil on the fledglings, desperately looking for areas on their small bodies where their shedding pink fur had begun to give way to smooth patches of skin that felt like the belly of a pig. The oil was a byproduct of stems from the reeds and was considered to have immense value; the Quittu deemed it to be devoid of any minerals. Use of the oil was also believed by the Allanze to create an aura around a fledgling that would help them stand out to the coveted glow.
“Karooch, if I may, the fledglings don’t seem to know who this irresistible light belongs to.”
“Srenyi I dare say that you are correct. They just instinctively know that it is somehow important to be pleasing to it – this no matter how ephemeral the adulation.”
If the lights in the distant darkness found a fledgling engaging, a stream of oran
ge could be drawn into their still small but hungry eyes—eyes that with evolution were expanding slightly larger with each new generation of Allanze.
Karooch and Srenyi were already concerned that the small fledgling was receiving an inordinate amount of orange flow.
“Clearly that little one has already absorbed far too much light. Look! Her fur is already singed. Oh no, I do fear she’s going to catch fire! Do something, Srenyi!”
“Karooch you know we aren’t permitted to intervene. They will surely kill us if we do!”
Srenyi screamed out into the night. “Please, I implore you: STOP!”
The tiny fledgling began to burn. First the flames engulfed the pink fur, then the rest of her small frame. The fire was first orange and then turned a demon blue like that of a welding torch. Mercifully, her shrieks only lasted a few seconds before she was completely charred, the oils acting as an added incendiary. Her remains would later be glanced over by her Allanze procreators. They were at this moment a few hundred feet away at the reeds, preoccupied with receiving visions of debauchery from other life forms on faraway planets.
Srenyi and Karooch could only look away in shock, unable to absorb the senseless horror.
CHAPTER 5
SPACE GHOST
Emma wished that she could simply bring up Srenyi on her tablet to prove to Darci and Ranger once and for all that she was really communicating with a being from another galaxy. Convincing her friends about her conversation with an alien from Centaurus A via a transmission through time and space wasn’t exactly going to be easy. However, Srenyi had asked that, for the time being, she would be the only human to communicate directly with the Quittu.
Emma had summoned an emergency meeting in the fort and she was pacing in front of Darci and Ranger while deciding how to explain the extraordinary event.
“Okay here goes…I’ve known you both for a long time, since like what? Third grade? You’re my two best friends in the whole world. Wait, does the world mean the entire universe or just earth? Anyway, what I have to tell you is going to require a complete suspension of disbelief and a lot of trust. I mean, tell me I’ve earned your trust?”
Emma sensed that Darci and Ranger were already losing interest.
“Hey listen up! Seriously you guys really need to check this out. Something contacted me, like I actually talked to some…thing from another galaxy!”
Ranger had already eased back onto Emma’s bean bag chair and had his eyes closed while Darci stood with her arms folded, clearly annoyed that they had missed the opening round of performances at the national talent search at the King of Montgomery Mall.
“Emma, do you realize that at this very second in the middle of the mall, Brayden Kelly is about to do an impersonation of Justin Bieber singing Metallica? I’m not even kidding you. I saw six seconds of it on Vine. And instead of getting to observe pure, once-in-a-lifetime entertainment, you decide you need to tell us about some crazy space junk?”
“Yeah you got junk in the space trunk Emma! Let’s go to the mall,” said Ranger.
“Honest you guys, his name’s Srenyi and he sort of looks like a standing rabbit with a smiling dog’s face. Oh, and he wears the cutest little hat. He’s a Quittu. They’re smart and nice and they don’t pollute. Stop looking at me like that! Listen, he said that sometimes there’s too much noise in the low frequencies of the antennas and the relativistic jets, but we’re going to talk again very soon.”
Ranger and Darci were making faces at one another suggesting that they thought Emma was crazy.
“Ugh! I can tell you both think I’m freaking crazy sauce.”
“Emma, are you just practicing for your Toastmasters class? Usually you’re pretty good with your speeches, but I think you should just stick to all of that good government stuff you know about. You could really go somewhere with that–like maybe run for student council or something.”
“Thanks, but I’m not practicing right now. Look, I know this all sounds totally nutzoid. But is it any crazier than believing in ghosts? Darci, you always said your nana was convinced that her first house was totally crawling with ghosts, right?”
Darci thought for a few seconds then volleyed back, “Yeah, well at least ghosts come from people that definitely once existed. That supposed furry little friend of yours is like a billion light years away, yet you don’t even as much as own a telescope…or a pair of binoculars for that matter. Were you watching Alice in Wonderland and eating too much sugar or something?”
“Emma’s got a point though, Darce. I mean think about it, millions of people on earth believe that when Jesus left the cave he traveled up through the stratosphere.”
“Good point Ranger. And don’t forget he did so without the assistance of a rocket or even a jetpack,” said Emma.
“Listen I’m not sure why, but Srenyi said that he has a message for me to relay to the most important people in the world when the time is right.”
Darci stood up and clapped her hands onto her jeans. “Okay well that rules me out and definitely Ranger too.”
Ranger was still thinking about Jesus. “I wonder what Jesus thinks of the Spacex program? Hey wait, why didn’t he ever mention rockets or even smart phones anyway? The people at the loaves and fishes event would have loved to have heard about that.”
Darci chimed in. “Yes, because there were like 5,000 people there so they could have texted each other about where the sections with the shortest food stand lines were. Wait, does Srenyi know Jesus?”
“I don’t know I’ll ask him!” Emma was clearly exasperated.
“Well at least you’ve answered the fundamental question that has plagued mankind for 200,000 years. You know, that there’s really something besides us and all.”
“Yeah, do we get extra-credit for class?” said Ranger.
“Ye of little faith—you’re like a two-person Fermi Paradox parade!”
The door to the fort opened. “Emma, may I see you for a moment?”
“Um, sure mom…one sec.” Emma looked at Darci and Ranger with wide eyes and whispered, “Holy crap.”
Her mother was waiting downstairs in the living room with her arms folded. “Not only am I extremely disappointed that you’d be speaking like that, but you’re also cussing and speaking blasphemously. I will not stand for such talk in my house. And just why are you insisting on inventing stories like that?”
“But mom you don’t understand…”
“I understand plenty young lady. Now tell your friends it’s time to go and start working on your term paper.”
“I’m sorry mom, but with all due respect, you’re the one that doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
“Emma, you get back upstairs NOW!”
Darci and Ranger left immediately and walked across the field on their usual way home.
“Dude.What’s up with Emma? I mean none of this is like her,” said Darci.
“Yeah well maybe she’s telling the truth. I mean she always tells the truth. She even tells me to tell the truth to myself. That’s a lot of truth.”
Darci looked up to the dark sky and drew pensive for a moment as she crossed her arms to stay warm as they walked through the cold night.
“You wanna go to the mall?”
“Nah, I don’t feel like it now. That was all a little messed up.”
“You’re right Ranger. Either Emma’s completely lost it, or something’s rotten in Denmark.”
“Yeah, and every place else.”
“Yup, and everywhere else too.”
CHAPTER 6
MEGA-FREAK
Emma told Darci and Ranger that she was beginning to feel like Linus waiting for Great Pumpkin. For fourteen consecutive nights, she paced the field with her tablet waiting for the next contact from Srenyi. On the nights when an unrelenting wind blew cold, she’d turn her back to the gusts and tuck her chin into her jacket. If it wasn’t too blustery, she’d sit on her bean bag and practice her cello. On the tenth night Emma yelled to the n
ight sky, “Srenyi! Come find me!!”
Wednesday evening brought air fragrant with the promise of spring. Emma was watching YouTube videos of cellists from France on her bean bag and temporarily forgot what she was doing up in the field. Without warning, the screen of her tablet went blank and quickly turned to snow. Emma was startled, but she instantly knew that Srenyi had returned.
“Hello again Miss Emma.”
“Hi Srenyi!!! I was beginning to get really worried about you…figured I might need to send up a search party or something.”
“Miss Emma, one must always remember that the true astronomer points the telescope inward, towards the infinite possibilities of inner space.”
“Wow, love that!”
“Why thank you my dear. Though something funny happened on my way to the show tonight as I passed through the radio jets of Centauras A...”
“Something funny happened on your way to the show? Ha, I get it! My dad says that too!”
“I’ll be here all week Miss Emma. But you know how those space-time warps can be. Now, when we last spoke, you asked about our dear brothers and sisters on the planet also commonly referred to as the Allanze. Am I correct?”
“Yes I remember that, Srenyi, and I’m very curious to see what an Allanze looks like. You mentioned that they’re vaguely human-like, and I’ve been trying to picture that. Can you get one of them to do some FaceTime? Wait, what the heck are those scary metal things behind you? They’re moving! That’s total creepiness!”
Srenyi looked perplexed for a few seconds and then seemed to realize that the gravitational wave was picking up images in the shadow biosphere that were caught in a time warp. Caught in the transmission were ghost-like images of giant silicon-based life forms with fifty or more long black arms. They waved unnaturally like air-filled rubber pitchman at the mercy of gusts of wind in front of a tire store. Emma could see them fade in and out of view, not realizing that they preceded Srenyi – and all carbon based life on earth – by countless millennia. The distant silicon life forms appeared in brief, yet unprovable flashes in time, like ghostly images in old black and white photographs.
The Million Day Forecast Page 2