3 Jessa
The devil had shoveda sandwich bag into my hand.
Every instinct I had warned me not to take my eyes off the threat, but he wasn’t acting very threatening, and I didn’t think looking at him would save me if that changed.Besides, I had to admit, I was curious.
Fighting to keep my breathing steady, I slowly dropped my attention to the wrinkled baggie in my fist and was met with an all caps READ ME!!!written in bold purple marker.
Okay.Not what I’d expected.
My hands were trembling and slick with sweat as I struggled to peel the sealed bag open and shake out the folded piece of lined paper.When I finally got the page flattened out, I was greeted with three stickers of kittens playing with yarn and a glittery peace symbol.
A slightly hysterical snort escaped me, and I darted a wary look up at the invader still looming on the other side of the massage table.He flashed me a broad smile and tilted his head expectantly.
Right, read the note.Clearly, he didn’t speak English, and clearly someone he knew did.Someone who thought kitten stickers would be enough to keep a terrified human from running away from a six-foot red alien in a loincloth.
I awkwardly cleared my throat and held up a finger.
“I’m reading it, give me a sec.”
The alien’s grin brightened and I wondered if he somehow understood me.
Swallowing down the whirling bubble of stress threatening to take over my body, I looked back at the sticker adorned note.
Hello, stranger, my name is Penny and I’m a human survivor.
If you’re reading this you’re probably standing next to a really scary looking red alien, don’t panic, he’s friendly.
The hysterical laughter I’d been holding back escaped me in an obnoxious burst and I clapped a hand over my mouth to muffle it.Tears filled my eyes as I reread the first two lines of the note.
A human survivor was talking to me.Not in person, but for six months I’d been convinced I was the only human left alive on the planet, and I was holding tangible proof I wasn’t.The relief was so intense my chest hurt.
I wiped my arm over my streaming eyes and kept reading.
I know it’s a lot to believe, but if you’ve survived this long you’ve probably seen a lot you’d never have believed a year ago.There are two kinds of aliens on Earth right now, turochs and sytos.
The big red guys are turochs and they’re on our side.The blue ones are sytos, DON’T APPROACH THEM.They’re the ones who invaded us and they’re still a threat.
The situation is a lot bigger and more complicated than a note can explain, but we have a safe place for you if you want to come.We have food, water, weapons and friendly faces.
The turoch who gave you this note has a translator that will allow you to understand him.It looks like an earring and unfortunately has to pierce your ear to work.If you want nothing to do with us, he’ll leave you alone, his translator already lets him understand you.
Good luck, Penny
The note ended with another kitten sticker and a drawn heart.
It was the most beautiful, silly, human goodbye and I found myself frantically rereading the note just to feel the presence of another person.
Turochs, sytos, translators, a safe place.It was too much information and not enough all at once.I was desperate for more, for a whole book of reassurance and humanness and at the same time, I was so overwhelmed by the moment I wanted to shut my eyes and check out for an hour just to process.
For a second I did just that, shutting my eyes and holding my breath until my racing thoughts slowed down.
There was a scuff of movement and my eyes flew open.The red guy was still here, how had I forgotten?It was a good thing I'd never left the spa, clearly my situational awareness was crap.I had the self-defense skills of a newborn fawn, just holding still and hoping the predator didn’t realize I was right in front of them.
