LUCYS Vol.55

Story by Brianne X2B0
The clock blinked 1970 but numbers didn’t mean much to me, we don’t
measure time the same way in outer space, or grasp it the same way as
humans for that matter. I’d seen earth so may times in pictures and heard
so many horrible and intriguing stories, it almost didn’t feel like I was really
there, experiencing it for myself. But I only had 48 hours and I wanted to see
and do as much as I could before heading back to my planet. Plus, I knew
I couldn’t leave my space ship hidden for too long without someone finding
it and asking questions. I also did plan to give the car back I had borrowed
from the human person with the funny hair and low pitched voice box. I had
tried to explain I just needed to borrow his car for a few hours, but he didn’t
seem to understand until I showed him my laser beam to explain who I was.
After that, he didn’t seem to mind me borrowing it at all but he also ran away
before I could get his house number to return it. Maybe human people are
not as bad as they say they are. There were so many things that I wanted
to do, just like a human. I wanted to see their human houses, try on human
clothes, smoke a cigarette, pet a furry dog creature, go in a falling water
box, and of course try the human hamburger food.
I knew I wasn’t supposed to come to earth, but with my antennas fully
hidden, I figured I could blend in pretty well. I finally earned my very own
space ship and I just had to see earth for myself. Besides, humans always
think we should look greenish and bugish and speak in weird clicking
sounds, which I find both hilarious and convenient. I chose a place called
“America” because that’s where most of the movies I had watched as a little
creature were made. I know their land is unintelligent and irresponsible in
far too many ways. However, in their own little way, things feel classic and
pointless in such a fun and interesting way to me.
Smoking the cigarette wasn’t all too exciting. It hurt my insides and I don’t
quite know if I was doing it right. It’s just not something you learn in space
school like they must there. The main goal of the day was to hunt down this
“hamburger” though, so I found something called a Portillo’s. They asked a
lot of detailed questions in a very robotic way until I could finally convince
them that a hamburger was what I needed. They kept telling me more
numbers with a shiny silver drawer until I also showed them my laser beam
to explain I wasn’t from there. Things didn’t go too smoothly from there, but
I got what I needed. The hamburger felt much squishier than I imagined
and peeled apart in a very weird way. It had a very particular flavor to it,
something that I had never quite tasted before. I decided I liked the red,
sweeter stuff inside the best and mostly ate that.
And before I knew it, I had to leave for my journey back home. I rode home
with images and smells and sounds from earth flooding my head. I couldn’t
get over how medieval and raw things felt there. I didn’t know when but I
knew I’d be back on earth again someday, maybe even to live among the
humans.