Dice Roll: eye, alien, hand, airplane, fountain, abacus, arrow wheel, lock, lightbulb

While I was walking to the grocery store, I spotted an alien sitting on the bench at the bus stop. I stopped and stared, eyes growing wider as the alien saw me, smiled, and waved one large hand at me. I was surprised to notice it had five fingers on each hand, like we do.

As I quickly made to walk by, the alien waved again, beckoning me over. I approached slowly. As I drew nearer, I saw it had a newspaper open in its lap. One article was a "memories from the vault" picture of the city fountain, right after it'd been installed fifty years ago. The main article on the page had a big picture of an airplane and a flying saucer, crumpled together on the runway at the airport.

Catching my look, the alien pointed at the picture; its voice sounded slightly mechanical as it said, "That is my flight device. I forgot to turn on my wave emissions while landing, so the plane's radar didn't detect me and we crashed. I am heading to the airport now—hopefully, in nine hours, my device will be fixed."

"Oh," I replied slowly. "I'm sorry to hear that." I pulled my eyes away from the alien's large pupil-filled eyes and looked down at the paper again.

The alien pointed again, this time at an ad. "I wanted to ask you about that strange device there."

The ad was for an accounting agency. In the background of the photo, behind the accountants, was a giant wooden frame, wires holding beads strung across the frame.

"It's an abacus," I replied with a shrug. "No one really uses them anymore, now that we have computers and calculators."

The alien looked at me, eyes growing lighter and hazy. "What are abacus and calculators?"

I pointed at the picture in the paper. "That's an abacus. It was used to do math problems, instead of doing them in your head or on paper. But now we have calculators and computers that can do math problems for us, instead." I pulled out my phone and opened the calculator app, punching the screen to show a simple math problem.

The alien's eyes watched, haze fading, as the calculator app read: 284 + 16 = 300.

"Ah. It is like our jotties." The alien pulled what looked like a plain grey rock from its pocket. When the alien shook it slightly, the rock glowed, strange symbols showing on its surface. Performing a series of taps and shakes, the alien made the strange device change the symbols glowing on its surface. It seemed to be humming while it worked.

I stared, unable to understand how the alien was controlling the device without it having any visible buttons or screens.

"Wow. That's. Um. Really interesting," I said finally, pulling my eyes away from the rock to see the alien regarding me.

"Sorry. I forgot to convert it." The alien tapped the side of the rock. Sudden, the glowing symbols became familiar numbers. The 'jottie' now showed the same math problem as my phone's app: 284 + 16 = 300. The alien twirled the strange device between its fingers, and the glowing disappeared; the device looked like a plain grey rock once more.

"Cool." I straightened and took a few steps back. "Thanks for sharing. Good luck with. Um. Fixing your. Uh. Flying device."

"I am not fixing it. The mechanics are already doing that. They said it should just be nine more hours now, so I should get to the airport."

"Oh. Well. Safe travels." I turned, muttering, "Human mechanics can fix an alien spaceship?"

"No. But my people can. Several of them work at that airport."

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned back to the alien on the bench. "ALIENS work at the AIRPORT?"

"Well, yes. Your mechanics work on the airport, too," the alien replied blandly. "This place called Earth is a common rest and refuel station. I'm on the way from home to Carti, for vacation."

"Carti?" I asked, drawing closer to the alien on the bench again. "And where's your home, then?"

"Draxxish." The alien paused. "Carti is near what Earth scientists call Alpha Centauri without giving regard to what its residents call it."

"We didn't realize it was inhabited?"

It looked like the alien shrugged its narrow shoulders. It reached around itself again, then pulled something out of its pocket. A strange, lilting melody came out of the alien's mouth.

I looked at the alien, brows furrowed in confusion.

It held the item out to me, another melodic sound accompanying the action.

"I... don't understand?"

The alien froze, then placed a hand over its mouth. After a moment of humming, the alien spoke once more in its mechanical voice, "Sorry. I accidentally toggled the translator. Can you understand me now?"

"Yes."

"Good. May I trouble you once more?" The alien held its hand out again, showing me the item on its palm. "What is this?"

I looked down at the circular thing in the alien's hand and recognized it quickly. "It's a compass. It's to help people find directions." I watched the needle spinning like mad, making a blurry circle under the cracked glass. "It looks broken, though. The cover's cracked and the needle is moving like crazy. It's only supposed to point toward north."

"Hm." It pocketed the compass. "Thank you."

I looked at the street; no bus was in sight. "How long have you been sitting here?"

"Two hours."

"Two hours?! Where's the bus?"

The alien shrugged.

"Would you like a ride to the airport? I can drive you."

"You would? In a car?"

"Yes, in a car."

The alien stood. "If it's not too much trouble."

"No trouble at all." Forget the milk and bread. Spending time with an alien is way more interesting. "Come with me." The alien followed me back down the sidewalk to my apartment complex.

I struggled with the rusty padlock on the garage door, mentally cursing my landlord for not keeping things in good repair. Once the door finally opened, I pocketed my key and walked inside, dodging around other cars to get to my stall.

After I had the garage door open, I looked around. The alien was no longer behind me. It was still at the doorway, crouching down to study the rusty padlock.

"Come on. I thought you wanted to go to the airport," I said, coming to stand beside the alien.

"What is this?"

"A lock. It keeps things closed until someone with a key comes and opens it. To keep things from being stolen."

"Ah. Fascinating..." The alien prodded the lock with a finger.

"Don't you have anything like it at home?"

"No." The alien straightened and walked with me to the car. "We use lasers."

I opened the door and ushered the alien inside the car, then walked around to the driver's side and got in.

"So, your flying craft is supposed to be fixed in nine hours?" I asked as I carefully pulled out of the garage and jammed the button to put the door down.

"Yes." The alien watched the garage door slowly lower to the ground until it was fully shut. "Then I can go to Carti and start my vacation."

"Do you ever vacation here?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. My family always went to Carti, so I do now, too."

I glanced over at the alien; it was staring out the window, watching the trees and buildings go by.

"What are you going to do at the airport for nine hours before your spaceship is ready?"

"I don't know," the alien replied, watching kids playing on the playground as we drove past the park. "Probably watch the humans. They are so interesting. Don't you think?" The alien turned and looked at me.

I turned off my left blinker and switched lanes, taking a right turn at the corner. Why bring an alien to the airport to have it sit for nine hours, staring at people? I had a better idea.

I parked in the big lot and got out. "Come on," I said as I opened the alien's car door. "You have nine hours—no reason to sit at the airport that long. Come see other strange things people have done over the years."

I guided the alien into the sciencemuseum.