Authorial Magazine - Manila Edition

“You take the picture first Tor-Shal,
make sure you get us both,” one of
the women said.
“Friendship with fools is a poor
investment, and often comes
with a cost.”
the attention was certainly motivated
by the novelty aspect of his presence,
but sometimes it was more than that.
There were three young women, and
each had their own mobile device.
Tor-Shal took pictures with all three
devices, then switched places with one
of the other girls and the procedure
was repeated. The whole process took
nearly ten minutes.
“You have something to say Gor-
Kaal?” Nathan asked when the
women had gone.
“It is not my place to say anything,”
Gor-Kaal replied.
“It’s alright, go ahead.”
“Why do you encourage such
foolishness?”
“Why not? I’m the first alien they ever
got to see, and maybe the last. They’re
young, and they want to remember.
There’s no harm in it. It’s good to be
friendly.”
“Relax. This is nothing compared with
how my people reacted to yours back
on Earth. Every time they went out,
there were enormous crowds, and
many people leaning in and reaching
out to try to touch them. If they
wanted to spend any length of time
in an area the police had to clear it.”
A clear look of horror flitted across
Gor-Kaal’s face and his mouth even
dropped open a little. Nathan waited
to give him an opportunity to say
something but he was speechless.
“So you see, this is nothing by
comparison,” Nathan said.
But that was not all. On Earth he
was considered attractive by the
opposite sex, and he received flirts
from time to time, but it was nothing
compared with the volume of female
attention he received now. Much of
At one point he had a long
conversation with a twenty-two
year old woman. As they talked, she
frequently brushed at her long black
hair. It parted on the side, and so
smooth that it kept slipping down
over one side of her face. Nathan
found the repeated action charming,
and occasionally the young woman
even smiled at him.
It slowly dawned on Nathan that he
was coming to appreciate Martian
beauty. The universally long hair and
flowing garments reminded him
of older and more noble eras of
ancient Earth, and began to stir up
new thoughts in him and longings
which he did not know that he had.
Of course, that was not the only
thing. Most of the women were tall
and slim, and had sharp Nordic type
features. He had gotten used to the
AUTHORS PRESS
authorial magazine | 62