From up there

Usually when someone speaks of these things, it happens in the dead of

night, when everyone else is sleeping and the moon is hiding in the
shadows. But this happened in the middle of the day which was why there
was no chance of keeping it a secret from the very beginning.
I was resting when that thing came from the sky; I should have been
working, but after farming from sunrise till mid-day, I thought I deserved a
break. Its funny, if I had been working I would have been indoors, storing
the crop, and I might not have even seen the damn thing, and I would
have been part of the crowd that came later saying what in the world is
that and where did come from or is that a new government prototype, and
the whole thing would have been someone elses problem. But nope, it
had to be bored and tired old me, and I had to be curious enough to want
to know what it was that fell from the sky.
You see, astronomy is a hobby of mine (I have a telescope I bought after
saving for months); so when I saw the thing land, I thought it was probably
a meteorite. It must have been pretty big to have been able to go through
the atmosphere and still come down to the ground; I was hoping to get a
piece of it for myself to keep as a memento. I was walking towards the
crash site when I noticed them: animals, little critters all running away.
They were scared; you couldn't blame them, something that big, crashing
down from the sky.
I knew I was getting close when everything became silent; there wasn't
even the buzzing of an insect. I walked up the path and climbed over a
giant root, and when I reached the top of the root I saw it: a long black
rock, as big as a young tree but as thick as an old one. The rock was
surrounded and covered with dirt and debris, which was impossible.
Normally when a meteorite that big, travelling that fast, hits the ground, it
would create a crater and everything around it would explode outward and
away from it; yet here was evidence to the contrary. I decided to look
around for clues that might tell me why and how this had happened.
Most of the area seemed fine except for the tops of some of the trees;
they were partially destroyed or disturbed. The destruction formed a
straight line, ending on the cliff face behind the meteorite; there were
cracks and a huge impact crater on it. By the looks of it, the meteorite
came crashing down through the tree tops and then was stopped by the
cliff; it then fell down to the ground taking a good portion of the cliff along
with it, like a thrown ball hitting a wall and then falling down.
I climbed down the root and walked to the meteorite to get a better look. I
had to move some of the debris away (great! more work, wasn't this
supposed to be my break?) and now I could finally get a good look at it.
Huh!? How odd, it was rather smooth; I was expecting it to be rougher.
And it didn't really feel like stone either, I knocked on it twice, PING - PING
was the noise it made. Whatever this thing was, it was metal. A smooth
metallic meteorite? Was that possible? I examined it some more, I must
have touched something or pressed a button, because suddenly the entire
thing started humming and lines started lighting up; then a part of the
meteorite, well, opened up.

What I did next, some will understand and some will ask why. I ran and hid
behind the tree root. I had seen a lot of sci-fi films and most of them had
the curious group or guy who went to the alien space craft and got killed
by what came out and thats what it had to be, no meteorite glows and
hums and they definitely do not open up.
I dont know how or why, but I had stumbled upon an alien space ship.
I stayed where I was for a while; when nothing happened, curiosity got the
better of me and I stuck my head up to see what was going on. Everything
was still, nothing had happened.
From where I was, I could see inside the ship; it was empty but padded
and it looked comfortable like it was made for someone who was planning
to have a long nap. The sides and the part that was sticking out had all
kinds of lights, buttons, switches and screens. Then, suddenly it closed
itself and all the humming and noise died down. I stayed where I was,
staring at it, ready to run away as soon anything moved. Again nothing
happened, the alien was probably long gone, I reasoned, so I went back up
to it again.
Oh! This was a find that trumped any meteorite! A spaceship, a real live
alien spaceship!
Unfortunately, I had no way to record this historic moment, the
government was sure to take it away as soon as word of this spread (and
word would spread) and that would be that. I needed a piece of the ship, I
had come for a piece of it anyway; sure, I had first thought it was a
meteorite, but so what? I rushed towards it and looked for anything
sticking out, something I could get my hands on and pull. Nothing, it was
all smooth; now what? I had opened it before (somehow); if I could open it
again I could take something from the inside. I began combing the entire
thing, caressing it up and down to find whatever button I had pushed, but
this time nothing, it stayed absolutely still. Maybe I could break a piece
off? Oh yeah, a sophisticated piece of machinery which survived crashing
to the ground from space and I was going to just break off a piece with a
rock, what was I, an Idiot? I paced around the rock, trying to think about
what I could do; thats how I happened upon the trail. It was clearly visible,
and it moved away from the space ship and into the forest; was it the
alien? Was it nearby? I decided to follow it, it was moving along the cliff
face. By the looks of it, it was weak, maybe disoriented; it couldnt have
gotten far.
I was well into the trail when common sense caught up and made me
realise what I was doing. Was I mad? Had all those movies thought me
nothing? So what if it was weak and disoriented, it was an alien, it could
be dangerous. I was pondering giving up and going back to trying to get a
piece off the ship when I heard a noise. It sounded like breathing, but very
odd, like someone was breathing through a mask. It was coming from
behind a large bush a few feet away from me. Once again curiosity got the
better of me and I went to investigate. Slowly and carefully so as not to
alarm whatever it was, I made my way through the bush, and there, lying
between the bush and a large root of a tree, I saw it, the alien.
It was wearing a suit and helmet, and it had some more equipment
attached to the suit, some glowing. The helmet was opaque and black, so I

couldnt see its face. It had two arms and two legs like us, it even had five
fingers although the shape was odd, I cant really describe it properly. I
bent down to get a closer look. Its chest was rising up and down so it was
alive and breathing, I think it was unconscious. It must have staggered out
of its ship after the crash and fainted here. Well, I had found the alien but
what was I going to do now?
Hey, how much farther is it?
It cant be that far.
I think it went this way.
Are you certain?
Will you stop asking questions and hurry up?
Well whatever I was going to do, I would have to do it fast. A lot of things
went through my mind in those moments: I could expose it to the world
and become famous, or, on the other hand, if the government wanted
their hands on it, they would at best take it away and discredit me as a
simple farmer and call me crazy, or even kill or lock up anyone that had
made contact with it. This last thought is what really scared me, and it is
what made me do what I did next: I hid it. It was already pretty much
hidden, all I had to do was move it a bit more to the side and cover it with
leaves.
There now, it was practically invisible! All I needed now was a little luck. I
went back to the place where the space ship was. The scenery was still the
same, only now there were a lot more people lurking about and examining
the thing (like I had, a few minutes ago).
Whats going on here? I said.
One of the lurkers, who was further away from the ship, looked around to
see who had spoken.
Oh, its you. Well, cant you see with your own eyes? Its a meteorite. I
thought it would be obvious to you, what with you and your interest in the
stars.
A meteorite? Seriously? I saw something fly past back at the fields but I
thought it was an aircraft that crashed.
An aircraft!? HA! Does that look like a bloody aircraft to you? he said,
pointing at the meteorite.
More people were coming over, some of them were examining the ship
like I had, and I was hoping beyond hope that no one accidently opened it
like I did. One of the people examining the ship looked like she was getting
ready to kick it; that was not good.
What do you think youre doing? I said moving closer.
She stopped and looked at me instead. Im kicking the meteorite.
Why?
I want a piece to keep as a souvenir, and theres no better way to break
of a piece of rock than giving it a nice hardy kick.
She has a point, Id like a piece of that rite too!
Ai, so would I!
This wasnt good, they were going to find out about the ship, didnt they
realize the danger they were in? No of course they didnt, I had to stop
them.
WAIT! I shouted, you dont want to damage the meteorite.
We dont?
Why?

Because. good question, why shouldnt they? I hadnt thought this

through; because well, look at it, this is most likely the most unusual
meteorite ever, its completely smooth, it doesnt even have a wavy
pattern. Now thats odd and that makes it valuable; do you really want to
spoil that? Dont you want to be remembered as one of those people who
found not just a meteorite but one of the most unique ones ever? Or do
you want to destroy this unique meteorite for a piece of stone you can
keep on your shelf?
The people who were listening went silent and thought about it; and those
who werent listening just went about their business. Thankfully they were
just admiring from a distance so it didnt really matter.
I still want a piece of the rite, said the woman.
Now hold on maam, the man has a point.
Yeah, the rite is pretty unusual. I say we keep it as it is.
I agree.
I dont. So what if its a little broken, its still a meteorite.
Cant you appreciate the strangeness of it you dolt?
Who are you calling a dolt?
I say we vote for it.
You can take your vote and shove it up your
NO ONE IS TOUCHING THE METEORITE!
Everyone stopped talking and we all turned to see who the one shouting
was.
It was a military man, an important one by the looks of his uniform; and he
had ten other soldiers behind him, as well two scientists (at least they
looked like scientists, they were the only ones carrying machinery).
Please make way , excuse me sir, excuse me maam, please make way,
said the important military man as he walked towards the meteorite/ship
(but he didnt know that) followed by the soldiers and the scientists.
When he was close to the meteorite, he turned around to face all of us,
and one of the soldiers handed him a megaphone.
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the space program, we are here to
examine and take this meteorite back with us to our base for further
study.
What?
Already? That was fast.
We ask you to please cooperate and leave the area immediately.
Wait, can we at least take a picture of the rite?
I will only say this one more time, please leave the area immediately.
He then barked some orders to the other soldiers and they began to push
everyone slowly away.
Nothing to see here.
Please step away, step away!
Oi, you cant do this, I have rights!
Please step away and let us do our job, maam.
Well that was the end of that; eventually everyone left the immediate
area, myself included (not that we had any other choice). Truth be told, I
wasnt that upset about the entire thing. I knew the military and space
program would be here sooner or later to take the thing (although they did
arrive much quicker than I expected). Soon they would realize that the
meteorite was actually a spaceship and then they would take it far away,
where no one could ever get their hands on it again; that was how the

government worked after all. If they were nice they might set up a fake
meteorite somewhere in a museum with a sign saying it was found here,
but I doubted that. But, like I said, I wasnt upset, I had a juicy little secret
of my own to see to, and I was walking to it right now.
It took me a while to get there, the soldiers from before were keeping a
close eye on everyone to make sure they were all leaving. I didn't want
any of the soldiers to know where I was going in case I was followed (call it
a healthy amount of paranoia). So I went along with everyone else; once
we were out of the forest, I left the group and doubled back. I'd lived here
all my life so I knew the forest pretty well and I was sure I could find the
place where I had kept the alien again.
It took me half an hour to find. I got there pretty quickly, that wasnt the
problem, the problem was the bush, there were too many bushes near too
many trees, and they all looked alike. And even worse, the military had set
up a perimeter and I was in it. The only reason for them to set up such a
wide perimeter that I could think of was that they had found out that the
meteorite was a spaceship. They were probably waiting for adequate
transport; that, or they were looking for the alien. Not if I found him first, I
just needed to make sure I wasnt caught.
Some of you might be wondering, why take the risk? Well there were two
reasons:
1. It was an alien! Who wouldnt be excited?
2. I was thinking about the excitement of letting the world know we
are not alone.
3. And yes the fame I wold get, as the person who discovered it, that
was an exciting thought as well.
If none of that satisfies you, then just put it down to my character and my
desire to pull one over on the government arses, who would just bury the
entire thing if they got their hands on it.
Between searching all the bushes in the area and hiding from any soldier
who passed by, it was no wonder It took me half an hour to find it. It was
by accident actually. I was walking around after searching through my 15 th
bush, cursing the fact that I didnt mark the place.
Damn it, me, after all this time hiking, climbing and playing around in the
woods you should know better.
So, any idea why those scientists got so excited?
What, am I clairvoyant? How am I supposed to know?
Relax I just wanted to know what you thought.
Uh oh, more soldiers, and they were pretty close too; time to hide again.
I quickly looked around for a place to hide; the only thing I could see was
the next bush I was going to search. I thank you bush number 16 for
providing this service to me.
I hid myself just in time; I could hear them getting closer.
Why are you so interested in what those bloody scientists got excited
about?
All I know is that the lady scientist suddenly called the major over to the
meteorite, said something to him and the next thing you know we have to
extend the perimeter. Arent you a little curious about that?
Yeah those bloody scientists, increasing the work for us. And the major is
dumb for listening to them if you ask me.

Are you even listening to what Im saying?

"I hear you, I hear you, I'm just letting of some steam. And no, I'm not
curious, I don't give a damn, I just hope this gets over with soon, I've got
my own plans for tonight."
"You mean that girl you met at the bar last night?"
"No, I mean the bartender. Of course I mean the girl, who else do you think
I mean?"
Their voices were beginning to fade away, it was probably safe to get out
but I stayed a while longer just in case. While I was waiting, I decided to
check whether this bush was THE bush.
Lets see, green and leafy- check, a tree behind it -check, not bad so far
but that wasnt enough, I looked down, and found what I was looking for.
Leaves, broken leaves, trampled leaves, leaves which had recently been
disturbed, and what looked like an impression on the ground. I stood up to
get a better look, there was no mistaking it, yes, there it was, staring me
in the face, the impression of a body lying down on the ground. This was
it, this was where I had kept the alien, but it wasnt here anymore, it was
gone.
OI, YOU THERE!
Oh shit, I knew that voice, I looked up to confirm it. There they were, two
soldiers, both running towards me. I thought about running away but that
would probably seem suspicious, besides which, right now I was in one of
those even if I wanted to I couldnt move moments. I think the term is
frozen in fear.
They stopped running a few steps away from me, close enough to jump
me if I decided to run; they were pretty fit, they werent even panting.
Sir, what are you doing here? Dont you know this area is off limits?
Think fast, me, think very fast! Oh, Im sorry, actually I came here earlier
with all those other people to see the meteorite and when I left I realized I
lost something of mine. So I came back here to find it.
Just plausible to pass off (I hope).
What did you lose sir? asked one of them.
What did I lose?
Yes
Ummm faster, me, faster! I, uhhh lost my keys.
They looked at me suspiciously; I didnt think they bought it.
Sir, you need to come with us.
Well, this wasn't what I was hoping for. One of them grabbed me and held
on tight, then they forced me to follow them to the ship. I decided to
cooperate, no point in getting hurt by resisting.
As we got closer to the site I could see that already things had changed.
Five soldiers had formed a ring around the ship and a taped boundary had
already been set up. The two scientists and the main military man were
inside this boundary, the scientists were studying the ship and the military
man was watching them. The scientists were the first to see the soldiers
and me; they stopped as soon as they saw me. The military man gestured
to the scientists; my guess is he was asking them why they had stopped.
One of the scientists pointed at me and the military man turned around.
He looked me up and down and then he walked towards us. The two
soldiers dragged me to the edge of the boundary and stopped, military
man walked up to his side of the edge and stopped too. The soldier who
wasn't holding on me saluted, "Sir!"

Military man saluted back, "at ease, soldier."

The soldier stood at ease. "Sir, we found this individual trespassing within
the perimeter."
"I wasn't trespassing; I didn't even know there was a perimeter."
Military man glared at me like I had cut him off mid-sentence, I stopped
talking. He glared at me for a while longer, it was really uncomfortable; I
avoided eye contact.
You can let go of him soldier, he said.
The soldier let go of me but they both stayed close.
Sir, if I recall you were here earlier looking at the meteorite.
Yes I was.
Then you should remember that we asked all civilians to leave this area
immediately.
Yes I remember you did.
Then why have you come back?
Well like I was telling these two earlier, I was leaving with the rest of em
when I realized that I had lost my keys. I thought I would just quickly come
back and look for them.
I see. What kind of keys are they?
Ummm the regular put in and turn kind?
Form the look of contempt he was giving me, I guessed he didnt like my
joke. I meant, what are the keys for, Sir?
I already had an explanation ready. Theyre for my tool shed.
Do you have a spare?
Yes I do.
Then I suggest you forget about your keys sir. In this forest you would
never be able to find them.
Well, I just thought Id give it a.
I must ask you to leave now sir, and not to return to this area for the rest
of the day. Soldiers please escort him out.
Yes sir, said the two of them together.
And so I was forced to leave the area under the watchful eyes of the two
soldiers.
They escorted me all the way to the edge of the forest, I told them they
could leave earlier but they ignored me. Even when I left the forest they
stubbornly kept their eyes on me from a distance, making sure I was
walking away. They neednt have worried; with the alien gone I wasnt
planning on going back any time soon. But that begged the question,
where did it go?
I kept thinking about that all the way home. One thing was certain; there
was an alien, possibly a dangerous one, out there on the loose. Well, the
military would probably find it, they already knew about the ship and they
were being hyper vigilant. Yeah, they would definitely find it. Plus, when I
saw it, it didn't looked armed, but then again this was an alien with alien
technology we were talking about, who knew what that suit had.
I decided to stop thinking about it, I had other things to worry about; like
the grain I had left outside, not to mention the animals. I didnt have a big
farm, but I still needed to look after the place. Speaking of which, the
animals were making a lot of noise, they must be hungry.
Alright you lot, Im coming, no need for a ruckus!
I spent most of the day doing all my chores, putting the grains in, feeding
the animals, ploughing the field (I only have one field and its a small one),

cleaning the barn and shed, just a typical day. Night came and I was pretty
tired, not exhausted but tired. It was time to make my dinner, relax for a
while and then go to bed.
I went to the animal shed first. Alright everyone, have a good night, Ill
see you tomorrow. Shout if you need anything! I always do this before I
end my day, its a habit I picked up from my father.
I went to the house, reached for the door and opened it. It was as I walked
inside that I got this feeling, something was not right, I didnt know what it
was, but something was off. I quickly looked to see what was off. There
was my table, my shoes, pictures on the wall, then I realized it: the lights
they were on. I had been outside all day, and none of the lights were on
when I left. Someone else had turned them on, someone was in here.
I stayed where I was and listened carefully; if they were still in here,
maybe I would hear them and figure out where they were. Noises, like
gurgling, came from the kitchen; I walked in slowly, I peeked at the edge
of the door.
Sitting on my chair, drinking water from one of my bottles was the alien. It
had taken its helmet off and kept it on the kitchen table. I quickly drew
back; the alien was in my house, what was I going to do? It looked
unarmed and it wasnt very frightening, maybe I could take it on? I dont
know what came over me but I decided to risk it.
I stretched my hand out to grab something to use as a weapon (I didnt
even see what it was) and I charged in there, screaming.
I can hear you thinking now: what do you think youre doing?
I know, I know, but heres the funny thing, it worked. The thing actually
held its arms up in surrender and started blubbering. I had no idea what it
was saying but it wasnt killing me. It started to reach for something on its
wrist, I lunged towards it with my. picture frame? Of all the things I
grabbed, I had grabbed a frame! Anyway, I lunged. It raised its hands up
again and started blubbering and gesturing, it was waving its hands down
slowly, was it asking me to calm down? It motioned towards its wrist and
then moved its fingers up and down, it just wanted to press some buttons
on its device. This could be a trick, but if it really wanted to kill me, I think
it probably would have, long ago. I nodded my head; it pressed some
buttons on its wrist and brought the device close to its mouth and started
talking again. Some weird noises came out from the device. It looked at
my face, shook its head, and then pressed some more buttons, and then it
spoke to me again.
Can you understand me? came a monotone voice from the device. It
was talking to me through the device, it must be a translator.
I moved my own head close to the device and spoke into it, Yes I can I
said.
It shook its head and spoke. You dont need to do that, I have a device in
my ear that translates for me, it said and pointed towards a little
protrusion on its head. I think we need to talk.
----Our conversation lasted well into the night, but that was because I kept
interrupting and asking him (he was a male apparently) to explain some
things; sometimes hed forget I wasnt one of his type, and make
references I didnt understand. Also, he had a habit of going on in circles.

Boiled down to the bare essentials, this was the situation. He was part of a
team of scientists who were conducting experiments within a nebula far
away from here on a space station, but there had been an accident which
caused all of them to evacuate immediately. His emergency life pod (the
space ship he had arrived in) was supposed to have taken him to safety
but something had gone wrong and he ended up here instead; he was just
as surprised to see this world as I was to see him. He was dizzy and
disoriented from the crash so when he got out of his pod he just walked
around with no idea where he was going. He tripped at some point and
couldnt get up so he closed his eyes (those small things on his face sure
didnt look like eyes, but whatever); he woke up later and saw me but he
was still too weak to move. He heard voices and he told me I surprised him
when I hid him.
Thank you for that by the way. In the condition I was in there was nothing
I could have done. The weakness took over him again and he fainted.
Later when he woke up there were aliens crawling all over the place (That
was the soldiers, Im speaking from his perspective). They seemed hostile
so he hid himself. Later he saw me again, he thought I was friendly and
may help, so he followed me home (like a lost little animal).
Later you went and started working; I was still feeling weak so I let
myself in and recuperated. I am sorry for coming in without your
permission but I was desperate.
I just sat there opposite him, my hand to my forehead; it was a lot to take
in after all.
You are a farmer, arent you? You have some very interesting animals, I
have never seen such creatures before, he said suddenly. I think he
noticed my distress and was changing the subject.
Well, you are on an alien planet, so it stands to reason that you will see
creatures you have never seen before.
That is true. If you think about it, you would probably have said the same
thing if you were on my planet.
Ha, I probably would at that.
Call me crazy, but I was starting to like this alien man. Apart from the fact
that he had broken into my house, I thought he was a pretty nice guy. All
thoughts of the fame and fortune were completely gone; I realized
exposing him would mean ruining his life, and now that I had gotten to
know him, there was no way I could do that. If he wasnt from another
planet I would have thought of him as a normal guy, we mightve even
been friends.
Can I ask you a question?
You just did. But you can ask another.
Well, my military has your space ship now, how are you going to get back
home?
You dont have to worry about that, both the escape pod and my suit
have a tracking device. I expect my friends will come and pick me up as
soon as possible.
"Oh! Well thats good. Do you know when they might be coming?"
"That will depend on how far I am."

I took out some water and poured it into two glasses (I would have poured
something stronger, but for all I knew, that would be poison for him). "Do
your people toast?"
"We do."
"Well then, here is to your safe return home!" I said, handing him the
glass. We had just finished drinking the water when a yellow light started
blinking on his suit from the device on his wrist. He pressed some buttons
and symbols started racing through the little screen.
He said something but the device wasn't close to his mouth.
"What'd you say?"
He put the device near his mouth, "Someone is tracking me."
Well thats good. Isnt it?
"No it is not; according to this, someone other than my own is tracking
me."
"What? Who else would want to...." I didn't need an answer to that
question, I already knew it.
And from the look on his face, the alien did too. "I need to leave." He put
down the glass and put his helmet bank on.
"Youre right," I said, getting up too. "WE need to leave."
"Your hospitality is greatly appreciated but I cannot ask this of you."
"Good, because you haven't asked me, I'm doing this because I want to."
He hesitated.
"Look, this is my planet, and I know this area. Who better to help you hide
than me?"
He still hesitated, but then, "Very well. If you don't mind doing so, then
please lead the way."
As soon as we got out of the house we knew they were close. We could
hear their voices and we could see the lights from their torches. A few
more minutes and they would be here, we had to hurry.
I forced the alien to go through the toughest, most difficult terrain. It was
slow but I knew where we were going and it would be slower for them.
Shit, how did they find you so quickly?
Your scientists must have found the tracer in my pod and recalibrated it.
To have done it so quickly, your scientists are smarter than I thought.
Yeah, a little too smart. Cmon, this way!
We continued our hard trail; they were further away from us now. We
couldnt hear them but when we looked back, we could still see them.
We went on and on for hours, thank goodness it was still night.
That is enough, you can leave now. I can take it from here.
Not a chance. Theyre still behind us and you dont know the area. We
just need to stay hidden till your people find you
Friend, I cannot tell you when my people will find me. It may be months,
perhaps years, perhaps never. I must run, but how long can you? Do you
plan on running beside me forever?
Its true, I hadnt thought of that. I had thought his people would find him
soon, a day max. But now. What was I going to do?
Well worry about that later; right now we just have to worry about
staying ahead of them. When you cant make a decision you postpone it.
We went on. I dont know about him, but by now I was really getting tired,
and they were still after us. This wasnt going to work.
SHIT.

Friend, he said; he sounded out of breath too. But we had to push

forward.
Friend! he said again, with a bit more urgency.
Just a little more.wejust need to.hold them off for..a little bit
more.
Friend!
I AM NOT GOING TO ABANDON YOU DAMN IT!
FRIEND, PLEASE TURN AROUND!
I turned around; ready to fight with him some more if I had to. I didnt
have to.
Look friend, the emergency light, it has changed colour.
It had, now it was blinking blue. What does that mean?
He pressed a few buttons and some symbols popped up on his helmet. It
is my people. They have found me.
Well, how do you like that; turned out I was right after all!
ALL RIGHT! I shouted, then covered my mouth; the military would have
heard me. Sorry!
More symbols came up on his helmet. Whats going on?
Hold on, he said, then he started talking in that weird voice and
language he used when I first talked to him.
My friends are here, I have explained the situation to them. They say not
to worry and that they will retrieve me and the pod.
Really? Thats great. When and where?
Now. More symbols appeared on his helmet, somewhere in that
direction. You should double back and go home since they do not expect
you.
I nodded. So this is good bye, then.
Yes it is.
Youd better hurry, theyre getting closer.
Goodbye my friend, and thank you! he said, and turned to leave.
Hey wait a minute, I wanted to ask: whats your name and where do you
come from?
He turned around. My name is Norman Richardson and I come from a
planet we call Earth.
I see. Im Nas Kan Tunte and we call this place Lanhkol. Goodbye Norman
Richardson of Earth, have a safe journey.
The same to you Nas Kan Tunte of Lanhkol.
That said, he turned again and walked deep into the trees. I ran in the
opposite direction, heading home and trying not to get caught by the
military. A few minutes later I saw a bright light coming from where
Norman Richardson had gone. It shone like a sun on the ground and then
it vanished.
____
I got back home safely and I immediately crashed, it had been an
exciting/exhausting night.
The next day the military came to visit, and surprise, surprise, big shot
military boss was with them.
I was afraid they had somehow found out about Norman Richardson and
me, but thankfully they hadnt. He told me that a dangerous fugitive who
had stolen some experimental military technology was on he lose (that
was the cover story they were going with) and they had reason to believe
that he had passed by here. He asked me if I had seen or heard anything

suspicious, I told him no. He looked me straight in the eye when I

answered. I must have satisfied him this time because he told me I should
be careful. He also told me that I was very lucky and that had this fugitive
felt like it, he would have definitely killed me. I felt like telling him to shove
it where the sun-dont-shine, but I just acted scared and grateful. They left
later on, telling me to keep my eyes open and to call them if I saw
anything strange.
So, with all that, everything pretty much sorted itself out. I dont know
what the military will do with that space pod, I dont even know if they still
have it.
Life goes on as usual, growing the crops, reaping the harvest, feeding the
animals, cleaning the sheds and the barn, selling the produce, coming
back, feeling tired, going to bed, going to sleep. But there is one new thing
I do now, every time I lay my head down, indoors or outdoors: I look to the
sky and wonder about my friend from up there. How is he now? Where is
he now? What is he doing now? And of course, will I ever see him again?
THE END