**Author's Note: This was written for May 2019: aliens prompt hosted by @justwriteit**
**Disclaimer: The image belongs to all-download-free site**

"Diane! Diane! Diane!" chanted my best friend's daughter, Chrissy.

Her chanting was getting on my nerves. Grumbling under my breath, I stalked off to the other end of the campsite.

Unfortunately, Chrissy followed me.

"Raine, can you look after your daughter," I growled at my best friend. 

Regrettably, Raine just giggled and continued reading.

After a little while, Raine took pity and suggested, "Why don't you go for a walk with her. If you play with her for a little while, she'll get bored and she'll search for something new."

I thought of Raine's suggestion while I looked at the ominous forest around us. 

This was my first camping trip. My friends had nagged me until I finally broke down and agreed to join them. I had lain awake last night listening to all the creepy forest sounds. I was grumpy from lack of sleep and Chrissy's chanting was exacerbating my terrible mood. Maybe, it was worth going for a walk.

"What if something eats us?" I asked, looking at the forest suspiciously.

Raine snorted, "Stop being a child, Diane. It's just a forest."

Deciding to risk my life, I told Chrissy, "Kid, let's go for a walk. Go wear your shoes."

With a stubborn look, Chrissy pouted, "No! Pretend."

Raine giggled. I glared at my best friend. 

Raine said, "Aw, don't get mad. I couldn't afford to buy Chrissy the toy she wanted. So, I asked her to pretend. Since then, she has been saying 'pretend' for anything she doesn't want to do."

Raine turned to Chrissy and said sternly, "Wear your shoes. I don't want to hear any arguments." 

Chrissy scrambled and wore her shoes, leaving me to stare after her in shock. 

Didn't I say the same thing? Gosh! I don't understand kids.

Chrissy and I began walking in the woods. Chrissy was happily prancing everywhere and picking up flowers and berries.

I, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. I was spooked. I kept looking around, jumping at the slightest sound and waiting for something to pounce on me.

Was there something on the tree? Did something move behind that rock? Ew!! Did I just step on something squishy?

It suddenly began to glow brightly and we began sweating.

Ever since we had begun the camping trip, the sky had been dark and depressing. I looked up at the blinding light, thinking that the sun had finally graced us and the gloomy, rain-laden clouds were finally bidding us adieu.

Wait! Is that a comet?

A ring of orange, red and yellow flames surrounded an object as it fell from the sky leaving a blazing trail of fire. The forest shook from the reverberation of its impact.

"Let's see!" squealed Chrissy and raced through the trees.

"Wait, Chrissy! Don't run off," I shouted to no avail. 

The kid simply didn't listen.

We ran through the forest and finally reached a small crate. In the middle of it, sat a colorful egg, looking like a giant easter egg.

As we began to go closer, we started to hear snapping sounds.

Before we knew it, small cracks appeared on the eggshell making it seem as though thick, dark veins were growing over the egg.

The next few minutes passed like hours as the shell broke apart piece by piece. 

A thin, green hand emerged. It had only three fingers. I screamed and scrambled back only to hit a tree and fall down. Chrissy clapped her hands and looked excited.

A small green figure lifted itself out of the broken shell. It looked like a human with two hands and two legs. It even had a small tummy. Its feet didn't have toes and looked like boots. Two antennae with rounded tops protruded on top of its round face. Above a small mouth, two large black eyes covered half of its face.

"Carry it," shouted Chrissy.

"No! It must be some dangerous animal. It could bite me. I'm not touching it," I shouted terrified, not realizing it was an alien.

"Pretend it no bite," squealed Chrissy.

 I refused. 

The baby's eyes grew big and began filling up with unshed tears.

It looked so sad, lost and forlorn. I felt like a monster.

Huffing, I cautiously made my way to the baby and picked it up. I held it with my arms stretched out straight. I was too scared to hold it near my body.

The baby smiled. A split tongue like that of a snake peeked out. I shrieked, dropping the baby and scrambled back.

The baby started crying. It made no sound. Instead, its eyes closed up and big, fat tears started rolling down.

Darn it, I AM a monster.

Feeling terrible, I picked up the baby, still holding it far away from my body. 

"Name it," shouted Chrissy.

"Aco. Your name will be Aco. It's an old name that means kindness. So, that means you can't eat me later on. Understood?" I said sternly to the baby.

A huge smile grew on Aco's face and it nodded.

Chrissy and I made our way back to the camp.

"What is THAT?" everyone shouted. Raine ran and grabbed Chrissy.

Looking at them in surprise, I said, "This is Aco. I think it's some animal. It hatched from an egg which was as tall as Chrissy."

All my friends began shouting at the same time.
"Are you mad?"
"That's not an animal."
"That's some alien."

The word 'alien' kept ringing in my head. I stared at Aco in fear. My friends scrambled around calling the police, the hospital and any emergency services they could think of. No one believed us.

The sun peeked out finally, brightening the campsite.

Aco made a squeaky noise and started jumping. We stared at it in terror, grabbing sticks and stones, hoping we could use them to defend ourselves.

The alien grew to Chrissy's height.

We watched Aco for the rest of the day while the sun played hide and seek. Every time the sun peeked, Aco grew. 

Finally, it was around 6 feet tall when it stopped growing.

"Thank you for watching over me. I will remember my name. Aco. Will leave now. Need to go home. Goodbye," said Aco monotonously in a robotic voice.

Aco began levitating upwards, slowly picking up speed. Before we knew it, Aco took off into space like a rocket.

Chrissy clapped her hands and shouted, "Fun!"

We stared at the little girl in perplexity knowing that Chrissy wouldn't have comprehended what had happened. It was her clapping though, that shook us out of our stupor. 

We broke out laughing. Raine cried. Joseph, Raine's husband grabbed a bag of chips and started gorging. It was a massive adrenaline crash. 

"Diane, we will never bring you to another camping trip," declared my friends. Nodding my head vigorously, I whole-heartedly agreed with them.

Decades have passed and I'm an old woman now. I still look up into the sky and wonder where Aco is. I hope it is safe and happy.