9 a.m.: Welcome to my weekend coffee share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. It’s gray outside, but the birds are singing. I’m enjoying some chai tea. Pull up a chair with your favorite beverage, and I’ll catch you up.
A gray Saturday doesn’t bother me.
It was a really busy week with work, two doctor appointments, and a dentist appointment. I had good substitutes who worked with my kids. The orthopedic doctor was happy with my shoulder progress; he gave me another cortisone shot in the anterior shoulder and prescribed 5 more weeks of physical therapy. This is good…I don’t want surgery!
Last sunday, as I drove back from the grocery store, I got inspired to write a short story about two aliens and their observations of humans during the Halloween season. I’d love it if you gave it a read: https://wp.me/p7aqV2-33e
While we’re on the topic of writing, I gave my boyfriend the 60 pages I have written of Ellie’s time travel story. It’s a disjointed mess, but I wanted to know what questions should be answered. So, he gave those opinions, which is good, but now I need the stamina and for my pain to subside. Maybe over the holidays, but if not, next summer.
I’ve had some new students join the news club at school, and many of them just don’t know where to start. So, I guess that’s my first job with them, giving them ideas on something to find out about the world or their community. They start searching and get interested, so they write, and I help them from there. I’ve thought about giving summer writing camps. It may be a retirement idea!
So, it being Halloween weekend, my boyfriend and I are going to the Zoo Spooktaculor event tonight. I look forward to it!
I hope you all have a great weekend, Halloween, or a blessed fall season!
The creatures hooked up their all-terrain space vehicle after landing on an airstrip. “Welcoming of them, isn’t it?” Eggbert chuckled. After a short drive They arrived outside of a Lou’s Best Pies diner.
Gawking at them by the door of the restaurant was a propped up skeleton. 👀 “Humans don’t look like that ” Venice commented.
“Well, but they do on the inside, ” Eggbert answered.
“Could they have become a cannibalistic society now? Is that a trophy?” Venice asked.
The sign said, “Prize-winning chicken dinner on special today”. Eggbert suspected Venice was wrong, but didn’t have the true answer. So instead of looking uninformed, he said nothing to debunk Venice’s theory.
“Activating invisibility shield,” he mumbled as a huge truck barreled into the parking lot. It had two skulls and a chain on the front grill. It seems humans now hunted humans for sport.
“Ready for human camouflage?” he asked as Venice gawked at the truck and it’s decorations.
“I guess,” Venice answered.
Soon they were in the restaurant, listening to two young and cocky teens banter back and forth. “Just wait till Halloween, Chad. I will scare the crap out of you.”
“Oh yeah? Well I’ll get you, man. You will just die!”
You will just die? What kind of sport is this?
The two aliens made sure to sit near the young teens. Eggbert had always been told to fit in at any cost, to do ” as the Romans do.” He was perfectly willing, but he wasn’t quite sure about Venice’s sensibilities.
“Are you okay with this, Venice?” he asked.
“Totally,” Venice answered, batting her eyelashes at one of the teens. She quickly shook her head as if to shake It off. “I think their hormones are polluting the air around me. You got to watch out for me Egbert. I mean, I can look out for myself, but if you think I’m starting to act foolish, tell me.”
Eggbert sighed. This had never happened on the job with Venice before, though she had formerly been a birthing creature. Perhaps her insides were trying to motivate her to procreate with a human. Ick, he thought. “Okay. I will.”
“I’ll snap out of it. I will. So, did we disguise our vehicle to look like theirs?”
“Yep. Good thing too. That gray minivan out there is plenty of ugly. Though I did see a miniature skeleton hanging inside of it. The trophies are quite prevalent around here.”
“Well, I think that gives us permission to collect a few of our own,” Venice said with a wink.
“Let’s stick with these guys and see what they’re about,” Egbert suggested. “If you can handle it.”
“Are you kidding? I’m ready to outfit our vehicle with chains and big wheels! Maybe this is how they deal with over-population.”
“Could be.” Eggbert smiled and two tens materialized in his hand as the two young men paid at the cas register. He moved up and got in line between the two , realizing that Venice had chosen to be disguised as a male. Albeit, a male with beautiful eyelashes. Ugh! Distraction was contagious around here!
Venice waited for him at their vehicle, holding two huge pieces of metal with her huge human arms. “These will mold into chains nicely.”
“Ah, yes. Maybe wait until we can get to an abandoned area.”
“That was my plan. I tell you, we’ll show those irritable humans how to play. And there will be trophies!”
Eggbert clapped a hand on Venice’s back as the young men passed them. ” That’s right brother. You’ll be an excellent hunter in no time.”
“Let’s hurry and get our set up before they get out of our range of scent,” Venice whispered.
Thirty minutes later they emerged from a path in the woods with a truck larger than an F-350 with chains on the front grill.
“The secret is aggression, ” Egbert said.
“Of course. We keep ramming them til they roll their vehicle and run out. Then we’ve got ’em!” Venice squealed, excitedly.
“Venice, these humans are really rubbing off on you,”Egbert stated. He smacked Venice’s shoulder in solidarity, revving his engine.
Popular Opinion, copyright 2019 by Pamela Schloesser Canepa
“According to popular opinion, these humans are good for nothing but space fuel, or an after-dinner snack. Not much substantial about them at all.” Dorf looked down at the landscape that grew closer and closer to them.
Mifkus just shrugged. How could he convince the ogre any different?
“I mean, we’ve been visiting and observing for centuries and they don’t even suspect. Politicians concern themselves with little more than the production and consumption of green legal tender. I don’t see humans as worthy of a friendly greeting. Destruction should be our goal.”
Mifkus zoomed his eyes into focus. “Slow down.” A dot on a city street below became visible. Slowly, he pushed the share button and an image came to the big screen.
“There. Someone knows we’re here. She’ll be the bridge toward peaceful acclimation. Destruction is not needed.” He sighed in relief.
“Nonsense. Those daft care-takers will erase any hopes of sensibility in that child.”
“Not if we make our appearance now. A peaceful hello, to just this one. Please, hear me out. We’ll make a vote.” He looked pleadingly at the others.
Peaceful appearance won out over hostile Earth takeover. And today she lives to tell the tale of the odd green creatures that presented her with her first daffodil. Tomorrow, who knows what may bridge us toward universal peace.
Flash fiction response by Pamela Schloesser Canepa, (c) 2019
“Wree, I feel like we are going to be a great success! Thanks for your guidance. I’ve got no idea what your secret is, but this seems to be working.”
“Of course it is, Chap. I know what I’m doing. Could you just, tame your excitement a little though. They can sense it from a mile away. We need to be confident, smooth.” Wree stood and straightened his imaginary tie. Of course, he looked good.
“I’m just not believing it all yet. We’ll be heralded by all, we’ll be famous.” Chap beamed. “I keep thinking we’ll be found out, though, for what we really are.” The smile faded, and anxiety crept over his face. “I mean, I see you and your reptilian nature,” he whispered. “Why don’t they? Why don’t they see my tentacles and fangs?”
“Stop it, Chap. Don’t worry; they’ll never see it. They drank the punch a long time ago. We look like winners to them. We look like money, and it blinds them. Sit tight, because this is the millenia in which we will conquer.” He stood proud again and smiled at an approaching female at the perfect age for carrying and producing an interplanetary specimen. “Hello,” he said with a wink.
****The RDP prompt is shared daily at the Ragtag Community site. You may find today’s prompt at https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2019/11/09/rdp-saturday-punch/ What would you make out of today’s prompt? Thanks for stopping by! Please leave a comment and tell me where you are from, what planet, galaxy, etc. 🙂
Welcome to the weekend! How about some speculative flash-fiction to combat the effects of a stressful week? Thanks for reading!
Maverick, by Pamela Schloesser Canepa
Maverick didn’t like being followed. Having once been a soldier in the Gulf War, he was always very aware and at times, hyper-alert.
No one knew the beings were here on earth, until Maverick discovered his shadow was not the only one following him. Who would have suspected that our first alien invasion would be orchestrated by invisible beings? Pretty much no one but Maverick looked up from their cell phone while walking.
All I know is, one day they were not here, and then one day, they were. Look for a shadow with no human partner. It may be following you, or just standing on a corner. Maverick said these beings probably don’t get much sunlight (or any equivalent) on their home planet. Do they like the sun? Who knows. When you see an unpaired shadow, perhaps it is an alien just standing and soaking up the rays. Or maybe they are watching you, observing. Maverick says it’s the latter.
Meanwhile, the government is making cell phones even cheaper, and requiring each family to have one for every person over age six. They struck a deal with the aliens. Be aware.
Maverick and I always leave our cell phones at home. You might want to consider that too. Be aware!
Check them out, follow them, and join the daily writing fun!
**The above photo is my own, taken on an innocent family walk in North Carolina where the beauty of fall is apparent and colorful. No aliens were harmed in the taking of this photo. 🙂
“Don’t you see, Lou, we can learn so much by having two.” He looked down to the scene below.
“But, but they’re not the same. Well, not entirely. We could be gone by now, your obsession is going to get us caught! ”
“You didn’t study them as I did. Why have one without the other? We could find out so much more. I’m not talking about resell or trade value. I want to see how they grow together, I want to know what they would do for each other.” Eggbert would not take his hand off of the console. They must land to capture the other, and they must do it now.
“You’re right, Eggbert. I don’t understand; I’ll never understand your fascination with them.”
Eggbert smiled, the lines in his face almost cracking, and guided their craft to land in pursuit of the second human, who was, as Lou would never understand, a sibling to the first capture locked in their storeroom. To leave one and not take the other could possibly break one of them, and that would not do.
What do your behaviors say about you? Who really cares? Someone does. Humans are inclined toward making patterns, setting boundaries to their land to say what is theirs. Other humans want no less than what you have. These imaginary boundaries sometimes can be seen from outer space. They make the place look ridiculous and make humans quite predictable.
“Merv, you’re being pretty ominous. I really don’t think you want to share thi…”
“Stop second guessing me, Philbert. You always do that; you’re just as predictable as a human, just like that one in the cage over there.”
“Sorry specimen, he. Definitely needs a mate. Of course, he was always alone on Earth. Showed up at work at 7:35 after stopping by Smoothie Champ. Home at 5:30 after shopping for dinner and his next day’s lunch. What a boring fellow. No wonder he’s sweating back there. Something new has happened in his life!”
“Philbert, focus. We need a second specimen. How about that one that stops in the bodega every Weds. morning and heads to the bookstore every Thurs. night. I’ve been watching for four weeks; it seems pretty reliable. We should swoop in during our current 24 hour period. I like these patterns. It’s a good compliment to that turtle of a man back there.”
“It’s worth a try. You’ve done well, Merv. I think this will get you promoted!”
A smile cracked a million crevices in Merv’s face. It had never looked as beautiful to Philbert. He closed his eyes to memorize the patterns in the cracks. Certainly Merv would not let something like a smile repeat itself too often.
pamelascanepa 