I JUMPED BACK AS SOON as his eyes landed on me. They were not normal. Which part of his appearance was normal though? I had to remind myself a few times that the man before me could have been from another planet, as impossible as it seemed. The thought sent chills down my spine and so did the fact that he continued to stare at me, still lying completely motionless on the grass. His eyes were such a light colour of blue that they almost looked white. His frosty gaze made me gulp.

I cleared my throat, about to say something – but what? What exactly could I say? I was beyond confused, after all.

"Um..." I sighed and started again. "H-hello."

He sat up so quick I jumped once again.

"What is this?" he demanded. His voice was croaky, almost like he'd not spoken in a long time. Surprisingly, he sounded local and I grew even more confused - what was going on?

"Are you OK?" I asked as I stood and took a few steps back. 

He seemed disorientated. "I-I am perfectly well."

I nodded slowly.

He observed his surroundings like a lost animal, frowning every now and again when his eyes landed on something nearby. My eyes widened as I watched him: when he blinked, his eyelids closed vertically instead of horizontally.

"Holy shit," I whispered to myself. I took a few more steps backwards, realisation hitting me like a ton of bricks. He was definitely not from around the area – from around the planet, I should have said. Most definitely, he was an extra-terrestrial life-form. It would join the dots, after all - the mysterious light over Hoveton, his wacky complexion and the fact he blinked the opposite way to a normal person.

"You!" he suddenly snapped. I watched as he carefully pushed himself to his full height – which wasn't all that tall, perhaps a little bit taller than myself at five-seven – and pointed a finger at me.

"M-me?" I stuttered, holding up a hand in warning. "Stay where you are."

"How dare you command something of me?!" he said in disgust. His eyes were narrowed. "Do you know to whom you converse?"

"What?" I asked.

"Your insolence will be your downfall, being!"

"Being?" I laughed. He really did have a way with words - an odd way, that's what. "Are you serious?"

He never answered me though – he was too engrossed in his hands. Panic crossed his features momentarily and he gasped when he looked down over his naked body.

"This is not me," he mumbled under his breath. His eyes widened. "What is this tongue I speak?"

I was confused – I was confused because he was confused.

"Are you alright?" I asked him quietly.

His icy glare was set on me once again, his finger held up at my face accusingly. "Speak being!" His tone was of anger and I flinched. "I demand to know where I have set foot! Which quadrant is this? Which planet? Have I fallen into the Saturnus Rings? Am I on Neptura ground? Perhaps the cavernous corner of Mercum? No, wait, it's exceedingly too cold here for it to be Mercum..."

"Er..." I started, still scared. He was an alien, that was confirmed. He was mad, that was also confirmed. A mad alien from outer space talking to a human and looking for answers – the result? Not confirmed. I didn't want it to be confirmed, because who knew if the outcome would be good or bad?

"Speak!" he commanded again.

"What are you on about?" I finally managed to say. He didn't know where he was, and I felt the need to let him know. So I said, "You're on Earth. As in ... planet Earth."

He slowly lowered his finger and looked around again. It almost looked as if he were relieved. His voice was a whisper when he spoke again. "Do you speak truthfully?" he asked.

"Yes, you weirdo," I said as I looked him over. I was intrigued by the way his skin had started to die down in shimmer and colour. In fact, the more I looked at him, I realised his skin was changing. He gradually transformed into a human-like figure with a natural skin tone, his eyes also darkening in colour. When he blinked, he blinked like a regular person.

"Why do you continue to observe me with such curiosity?" he suddenly asked me, his head tilted to the side.

"Hm?" I said. "Oh... You just changed."

"Changed?"

I cleared my throat. "You have transformed. You look like a human."

"A human?" he asked. "You mean a human being, the species that populate the planet known as Earth?

I shrugged. "Yeah, those."

"Human," he repeated as he looked at his hands once again. He'd said before that it wasn't himself he was seeing and I wondered just what he'd meant. I wanted to know his story. Where did he come from? What was his name? Which planet did he originally reside on?

"Do you fully understand what I'm saying?" I asked.

He nodded once. "English. Language: English."

"Yeah..." I mumbled. "How can you understand me?"

"All of the citizens from my home planet are able to learn the most common of languages spoke in the universe. English, the language of humans, happens to be one."

Well, this is some weird shit, I thought to myself. "Oh," I said. "Are you an alien? I mean - a real alien?"

He frowned. "Alien? Is that truly the title we have been given? We are just like you. What makes us so different that your kind would need to call us something so bizarre?"

I laughed. "Do you know what you looked like about two minutes ago? You were blue, with weird markings and weird opposite-blinky eyes. You speak strangely-"

"I speak oddly?" he asked, stopping me in the middle of a sentence. "I am afraid it is you who is in the wrong - from what I have concluded thus far, we are both speaking the same language."

"Thus far? Your knowledge of the English language is a little dated, don't you think? Why not say 'so far' instead?"

"I do not comprehend..." he said, squinting slightly.

A moment of silence fell between us. I stood in my pyjamas, covered in a blanket while he stood in the buff, very human-like as opposed to earlier. I realised it was getting chillier as the minutes flew by and I unwrapped the blanket from my shoulders. I carefully held it out to him.

His calm demeanour didn't last long.

"How dare you try and use trickery against me?!" he said. "I shall not fall for your master tricks, Earthling!" 

"My name is Flora," I said. "Not Earthling, thank you very much."

"Your rudeness only makes me more determined to end your existence!"

I instantly pulled the blanket back and stepped closer to my house. End my existence? Was he on Earth to kill us? Did he even have the ability to kill human beings? I saw no weapons on him, or a space-ship for him to run to.

"You're not going to end my existence," I said firmly. "You have no weapons."

"What makes you think I need any weapons?" he said, almost as if it were a challenge. I took another small step back.

"OK then, why would you want to kill someone?" I asked.

The alien took a step forwards - and fell. I wanted to rush over and help him but I was a little freaked out by his previous comments. So I observed him instead. He was shaky on his feet and he kind of reminded me of a baby animal learning to walk for the first time.

"Are you OK?" I asked.

He glared at me and said, "Back off, human. I do not require your assistance."

I raised a brow and watched as he struggled to his feet. He held his arms out to balance himself  and he looked at me with a smirk, as if proving his point. All I did was stare - in shock. An alien!

Why was he on our planet? And where did he originate from? 

"Listen to me," I said, looking him carefully in the eye. I kept expecting his eyes to blink oddly again but they never did. "You need to come inside." I gestured to the door.

"I think not!" he said, sticking his chest out proudly. "I do not listen to or obey foreign creatures."

I snorted and looked him up and down. "You're one to talk. Seriously though, I need you to listen to me. You could be in big trouble ... danger even, if you don't come with me."

"I welcome danger! Let it try its best to tether me down." The alien wobbled on his feet again and I just rolled my eyes. You don't even need danger to knock you off your feet, you're doing pretty well all by yourself, I thought.

"Listen, you crazy bastard," I snapped, taking a step towards him. "To me, you are the foreign one. You are the kind of creature we call aliens - because we don't know or understand you. If you don't listen to me, you could end up being killed or experimented on."

"Experimentation?" he questioned with a frown. "Why would one do such a barbaric thing?"

I wanted to laugh - to us, aliens abducted humans for experimentation, and he thought it was something unacceptable. How ironic. I took another step closer and looked him in the eye as I slowly held out the blanket to him once again.

"Humans are not all that great," I truthfully answered. "We're a selfish race and we won't  hesitate to snatch you and torture you. Unless ... you find the right people. I'm one of those people. Think yourself lucky I'm not some government agent. You'd already be lying on a metal slab with needles in your arms."

He flinched at my words and eyed the blanket before slowly - painfully slow - he reached out and took it from me. He wrapped it around his shoulders like I had before and I lifted my hands up in a surrendering gesture to show I meant him no harm.

"Do not think for a second that I will fully trust you, mortal. Especially not after you told me about how your kind are."

"Like I said, you're lucky I'm not one of those types of people," I said as I gestured to my house. I grew impatient when he stayed motionless before me, and so I walked inside first, showing that there was nothing out of the ordinary inside. "Just get your arse in here."

"I detect authority in your voice. Are you the leader or a leader of some sort?"

I laughed. "Hell no, I'm just a randomer."

"Randomer? I do not understand your terminology."

"You'll get used to it," I said as he finally stepped inside, his posture still unsteady. It almost seemed like he'd never walked before and I wondered what he usually looked like back on his home planet. He had been blue before, after all.

Once he was inside, I instantly locked the door. What the hell was going on? I was surprised my house wasn't under quarantine yet - had no one seen him wandering through the small town before he had ended up in my back garden?

I showed him to the couch where he sat while glaring at me like an enemy. I just continued to stare at him in disbelief. I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that he was an extra-terrestrial being. How did they even exist? No one had been able to prove it - just like the ghost theory. Some believed while others didn't. And no one had proved them right or wrong yet. 

But there he sat, an alien.

I let out a sigh and asked, "What are you called?"

He pulled the blanket tighter around his body and looked at the rug. "Loudrix," he whispered, almost as if he were embarrassed. Why would be be?  Maybe it's because he was naked? Or perhaps realising just how rude and silly he was being to begin with? I didn't ask though.

"I'm Flora Brannon," I told him as I carefully held out my hand. "You shake it," I told him. He just raised a brow and looked from my face to my outstretched limb several times before reaching out and slipping his hand into mine. His skin was cold. With a quick shake, he quickly retracted his hand like I had given him an electric shock. 

"I am sorry," he said. "I was rude earlier. You cannot imagine what I have endured over the last day and a half. I have been through so much torturous happenings I almost feel like I can no longer trust anyone. Especially not someone from another planet."

"I know how you feel," I told him. "I'll forgive you. Just know that there is no need for you to be rude here. Just as long as you don't get on anyone's bad side then you should be fine."

He nodded and then looked down at his hands again. He sat in silence as he bent his fingers this way and that, curling his hands into fists and out again.

"This is not me," he repeated from earlier and I asked him what he meant. He looked up at me and waved his hand about. "This body is not my own. I do not have so many fingers or this outrageous colour of skin."

"Outrageous skin colour?" I scoffed. "Mate, you were blue when I found you. Now, I don't know what you're used to when it comes to skin tones but here, on Earth, blue rings warning bells."

"I see," he muttered as he looked at his legs, his feet. Then he lifted the blanket to look at his crotch. "I see this human physique has enlarged some areas of my true form."

I wanted to laugh. It was so hard not to but I managed - barely.

"C-can I offer you a drink?" I asked, giggling quietly. "Or something to eat?"

"What is there to consume on this Earth?" he questioned.

I shrugged and told him the things I could pull together with the few ingredients I had left in my fridge. "I could make you a cheese sandwich or toast. I have some sausage rolls or left-over pizza from last night." What the hell did aliens eat anyway? It wasn't like the question had often come to mind.

"None of those delicacies sound familiar to me," he said and I just sighed.

"How about I pick one and you tell me what you think?"

He nodded slowly and returned to observing his human form. I could hardly take my eyes off him as he sat there on the couch, looking as confused and scared as ever. Under his tough exterior, it was obvious he was acting out of fear - imagine waking up on a different planet. 

I was dying to ask him so many questions but the time wasn't right. I knew that, and I didn't want to scare him off.

I placed the cold pizza into the microwave and let it sit there for several minutes. I took the opportunity to look outside. There were no other strange lights shining anywhere. It had to be connected to Loudrix - what else could it have been? I'd give him that - he sure as hell knew how to make an entrance. 

I pulled the pizza out and made my way through to the living room to give him the food, not knowing what he'd make of it. Maybe our kind of food would poison him? 

However, as I neared the couch I let out a sigh. 

He was fast asleep, curled up in the blanket with his bright blue eyes closed. He looked at peace, like any other person while they slept. Only, he wasn't like any other person.

He was an alien and God, I was completely and utterly fucked.

Thank you for reading! x
Alien joke: What is an alien's favourite chocolate bar? A Milky Way.
Cazza