by Floyd Looney
All of South Korea was abuzz with the news the next day and soon the news had estimated the time of the “impact” with the atmosphere as 8 PM, just it was getting dark. All over Twitter and other social media sites people were planning to host watch parties and a large flash party was to be thrown at the Namsan Tower.
Tae Ga-Ku didn't pay much attention to it, he was too busy with all of his side jobs. He noted the silly things people did but he didn't care to participate- even if a friend dragged him along.
At the predicted time he saw the same thing everyone else did. Something streaked from southwest to the east across the sky. It was brighter than anyone had thought it would be and it apparently didn't burn up or explode but with that angle it could have reached the sea again before hitting the ground, he thought.
….
Baek Man-Ji was collected loose sticks for firewood. He was too old and weak to chop wood for the house. He had his old plow horses and the wagon and he would get as much as he thought he needed from the wooded areas of Durobong mountain where he lived in a small cabin. Hikers who came across him thought he might be a monk “out of uniform”.
It had scared him for just a moment when the world went bright and then he heard a crash. That was hours ago and he was relieved to see there was no wildfire. He had just went on collecting loose sticks. He did stop to dig up some yucca root though.
He was walking in front pulling the reigns on the old horse when he saw a strange light in the woods and he squinted he saw a girl sitting on a stump. Her face was in her hands as if she were crying and she wasn't wearing clothes even though there was a slight chill.
“Are you alright?” Man-Ji asked, concerned.
The girl did not look afraid but she didn't answer, she just looked up at him. Man-Ji pulled a blanket from the wagon and wrapped her in it and guided her to the wagon.
“I'll get you some food at home and then I will call the authorities and we'll find your family” he told her.
….
By morning the news was everywhere that the object had landed in the vicinity of Durobong mountain in the province of Gangwon-do. In the afternoon the internet had fueled reports that a child had been found on Durobong mountain and the speculation went nuts.
“Alien Girl Found” websites announced
From a local clinic in Pyeongchang County, population 44,000, the girl was helicoptered to a hospital n Seoul. She was soon interviewed by police authorities with a crowd of reporters huddled outside the room. With the door barely opened a photograph of the girl in the bed was taken and it was soon shown on television.
….
Tae Ga-Ku dropped his bowl of noodles when the picture of the girl was shown on the news. It was her. It was the girl in his dreams. He had laughed at the idea of an alien girl being found, he thought it was all ridiculous. Now he wasn't so sure. She was real?
“I'm Korean” the girl said in a video later released by the authorities, showing her eating a Choco-pie “My name is Jang Mi-Soo”. This helped to stifle the alien craze that had temporarily taken hold of South Korea.
….
After finishing his shift, Tae Ga-Ku did not return to the house where he lived. Instead he took a train and then a bus to the hospital where the girl was reportedly kept. Only a small group of people were holding their “Alien Girl” vigil.
He stood there staring at the hospital, wondering why he was there.
“Tae Ga-Ku” he heard a girls voice followed by a very familiar giggle. He turned to see the girl standing behind him. It was her. In the flesh. She was real.
“You are real” he said, feeling stupid for saying it.
“I am” she answered “So are you”
She took his hand and led him away.
“Where are we going? Were you discharged?”
She smiled “It is time to go home. Our home”
“Our home?”
She nodded. “They will be waiting for us. You don't remember?”
He closed his eyes. “I don't remember”
“Let me show you” she said and she kissed him.
….
He wasn't really called Tae Ga-Ku. He wasn't really from Earth, he wasn't really human. He was an Ambassador of sorts, he was to learn about the human race and report his findings. This girl wasn't human either, she was his mate. They were married and she had been waiting for him all this time.
He remembered everything now.
“I'm sorry I took so long” he told her “Do we leave soon?”
“We have to go now”
He looked around the darkened park. There were a few people around but nobody seemed to notice the glowing red pecan-shaped orb hovering and then landing. His life-long mate then resumed her normal shape and color, and so did he. They were luminescent blue and they climbed into the ship for the journey home.
….
Korean news program: “No-one has been able to explain the object that some observatories reported leaving Earth last night. Governments around the world have denied that these reports are real, saying all reports of alien activity have turned out to be false.”
END
You can also find my short stories in “10 More Stories” and my short “Reward: Stolen Planet”.
I am also the author of New Arrivals! A story about a low-tech colony world called Montoya being invaded. Brad Black, 12, and his friends are determined to save their world from the invaders!
The Fourth is my second longer novel with a more space-opera type story.
https://flscifi.blogspot.com/ is my blog site.