Izzy & Eliza...an alien tale

  *COMET CENTRAL STATION*

  The crowds at Comet Central Station bustled every which way, jostling into one another, intent on finding their own destination. Parents crooned over children and children pulled away from parents, embarrassed but also nervous about leaving home.

  "Gleestix, is everybody leaving today? It's so crowded," Izzian complained.

  He pulled a hood over his head and slinked through the masses, hoping to avoid his classmates and the whispers and jeers that would surely arise at his expense.

  A group of Klesians waved signs high over the crowd denouncing the Al203 Telescope, calling it a deadly hazard. The demonstrators were screaming their slogans and blocking the walk ways. Izzian thought the entire premises of the protest was ludicrous.

  They should be protesting the government for answers, he thought; answers as to how an earth girl could realize she was being watched by a Klesian kid, galaxies away from her own planet. Fools, he thought.

  "There will always be those against change and advanced technology," Ojolian said as he pushed his way through the angry group. "But maybe they have a right to be concerned the way old Yangsley's running that lab, something bad will happen…count on it," he admitted, muttering to himself.

  Izzian smiled, having overheard the slight against Dr. Yangsley.

  He noticed his mom glaring out into the crowd. Mirtheea wore a sour look upon her face; a look that could scare a Whoosper Tree into submission. Izzian's parental pride nearly overflowed when he noted that his mom's evil glare was directed at Reddle F. Girth and her mother, Wava.

  Several yards away, Wava Girth spotted the Klowosky family. She savagely dragged her daughter through the crowd, running down a grandmother and knocking an iced apriguavo cone out of the hands of a small Chulupean child. The child wailed, but Wava was oblivious to the trail of destruction that followed her.

  With a fake smile plastered upon her face, Wava approached. Her daughter, Reddle, sneered. Izzian's mom had also donned her faux smile as Wava reached for her hand.

  "Dear Mirtheea, isn't this crowd frightful?" Wava Girth's voice sounded like poured honey as she dutifully greeted Mirtheea. Below the sweetness, Izzian sensed a hive of angry bees.

  "Wava, how are you? Yes, protesting President Boojum Twoeyes in a crowded public building is troublesome and disrespectful to say the least," said Mirtheea, pulling her hand from Wava's grasp.

  Wava sensed an opening and went in for the kill. "Weren't you engaged to old Boojum? Before you met dear Ojolian of course," Wava asked with assumed innocence.

  Wava patted Ojolian's shoulder as if he were a poor, begging Slimerot Slinker, accepting the remains of an old bone from the pack leader as she spoke.

  Mirtheea remained smiling but Izzian could tell that underneath her calm exterior raged an untamed beast.

  His mother retorted, "So long ago, Wava. How could you possibly remember such things? Besides, I do believe you were several years ahead of me in school. You are much older than me, right?"

  Izzy's mom had purposefully poked the woman in exchange for her rude comments. For a brief second, Izzian noticed Wava's superficial façade collapse, but her recovery was flawless.

  His eyes moved back and forth, following the exchanges between the two women and Izzy felt as though they were sparring in a Spiked Ball Tournament. The pointy ball went round and round, but eventually, it landed on someone's foot, painfully. He was proud of Mirtheea for holding her own against the mother of his archenemy, and he whispered, "Strike, and the point goes to Mirtheea."

  "Well, Reddle is off to Grotanoa!" Wava exclaimed, rapidly changing the subject of her age. "Aren't her wings just beautiful? I told Reddle that Izzian meant no harm the other day at the Sendoff Ceremony and he simply cannot help himself with those unrestrained outbursts. But my dear Reddle is such a trouper and realized Izzian was just raised differently."

  The false woman took a second to allow her psychoanalysis of Izzian to sink in.

  "I'm sure he didn't mean to interrupt my daughter's speech," Wava added with concern, her bees buzzing just below the surface.

  "No, of course not. Reddle must be used to getting all the attention," Mirtheea said slyly.

  Reddle's father, Franckle Girth made his way through the crowds. He reached for his wife and daughter.

  "Wow, this crowd's a doozey. Ojo, Mirtheea, how are you both? Izzian, I hope you have an amazing time on earth. I went there myself for my Goodwill Project."

  Izzian had always like Franckle Girth and wondered how the gods had allowed the man to be stuck with such a snotty daughter and fake wife. Apparently, the man hadn't even sensed the tension of the group and went about his business as if they were all great friends.

  Reddle sneered at Izzian, but kept her mouth shut for once since her father had arrived.

  Franckle gathered his wife in one arm and Reddle in the other, and said, "Come Reddle, as the old saying goes, a comet waits for no Klesian."

  "Listen Izzian, when you get back to Klesia, come by the office. I might have the perfect internship for you next year and we can compare earth stories," Franckle said with his trademark wink.

  Izzian smiled but Reddle glared daggers at her father's offer of an internship. Franckle Girth owned several profitable companies and Izzian would love to work at almost every single one of them, especially Freighter Fabrications.

  Freighter Fabrications was a company that specialized in hollowing out and terraforming transportation asteroids. It had been Franckle's company that created Footfall Freighter, Izzian's favorite 'stroid in existence.

  Franckle leaned in close to Izzian and said, "Just so you'll know, earth girls are fantastic. Have fun, son. You're only young once." He winked at Izzian.

  Franckle nodded farewell to Mirtheea and Ojolian as well. The Girth family headed for the ramp that would deliver Reddle F. Girth to Grotanoa and out of Izzian's life for a year. He was thankful for that.

  "How dare that woman throw my friendship with Boojum in your face, Ojo? He's a great man and a good friend. Wava was always jealous of our relationship, but it's you I wanted to marry, not Boojum," Mirtheea said as she stalked towards Izzian's comet in a huff.

  Ojolian flinched as his wife's well-meaning words angered him even more, and his dislike of Boojum Twoeyes swelled.

  He couldn't resist saying, "Boojum is not an angel, Mirtheea. He's just an elected official."

  Mirtheea ignored her husband but Izzian noticed the sly smile appear on his mom's face. Izzian suspected his mother enjoyed making Ojolian jealous. Suddenly, he felt squeamishly nauseous and uncomfortable in the big crowd.

  "Izzian, are you okay?" Mirtheea asked her son.

  "Getting nervous?" Ojolian asked.

  He ignored his parents. Izzian just hoped the hordes of people and groups of demonstrators wouldn't delay his trip to earth. He felt mildly guilty about not being more socially conscience, but he was more interested in earth politics at the moment.

  The Klowosky trio arrived at platform 1213 where his transport comet was positioned. Although he could only see the tiniest section of the comet, Izzian knew that beyond the boarding platform, beyond the station, its hugeness loomed.

  Gala, his pretend mother for the next year, appeared within the crowd looking disheveled, lugging a large backpack. Her new earth hair was frizzy and orangey-red. To Izzian it looked as if it might burst into fire at any second.

  "Hello Izzian. Hello Mr. and Mrs. Klowosky," greeted Gala as she animatedly shook their hands, curls bobbing along with each handshake.

  Gala looked frazzled and concerned. "Did you see those protestors? I've never heard of anyone actually picketing the Al203 Telescope. What a waste of time," she said.

  Izzian's ortnots nodded their heads in agreement.

  Mirtheea said, "I know, President Twoeyes is doing a good job. They shouldn't mention his name. It's not like he invented those telescopes."

  Gala agreed. "Yes, yes. I heard the Broshinka Brothers are pla
nning to deliver two more telescopes by the end of the year. We'll be able to spy anywhere in the universes! But why would we need to? I'm beginning to think we are the nosiest bunch of aliens in existence."

  Izzian was sick of hearing about the stupid Al203 Telescope, President Boojum Twoeyes and the likes of Wava and Reddle F. Girth. After all, it was his day.

  "Oh Izzian, It's almost time," said Mirtheea.

  It was a testament to her abilities as a mother to practically read her son's mind and sense his feelings. She dismissed all thoughts of Wava Girth's condescending comments and forgot any sentiments about the struggles of Klesian society in favor of hugging her son and telling him goodbye.

  "Oh, there's Enot!" Gala exclaimed as she stood on the tips of her toes and peered over the heads of the crowd.

  "See you on board, Izzy. Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Klowosky, I'll take really good care of your son. I promise." Gala shook Mirtheea's hand one more time and headed toward Enot who was buried deep within the crowd.

  The small family of three stood together in a warm embrace until Izzian stepped away and prepared to board his ship, the comet known as Gratified Speed 1213. Mirtheea dabbed away her tears. She yanked Izzian's shirt tail straight, licked her finger, and then plastered his new earth hair against his scalp with her spit covered finger. Izzian pulled away in disgust.

  "Oh, Izzy, if only your hair would have grown out just a bit more, I could've fixed it better," Mirtheea said, fretting over the boy.

  "Mom, stop. My shirt is even and my human hair is fine," he said, wiping away the spittle on his scalp.

  "It will grow out on the trip and I'm pretty sure they have scalp-cover cutting people on earth," Izzian complained and backed away from his mother.

  He noticed how sad and upset she really was and hugged her again.

  "Mom, I'll be fine. I promise," Izzian added.

  His mom hugged him with a finality usually reserved for boys going away to war, only to return as wizened men.

  "Be good, Izzian. I love you," said Mirtheea through a cloud of tears.

  Ojolian stepped up to his son and seemed to be getting a bit misty-eyed himself and said, "We'll miss you, boy. We'll miss you."

  It was more than Izzian could stand. He quickly stepped onto the boarding ramp of the comet, hoping to escape a fit of uncontrollable, jagged crying in front of everyone.

  "Wait," a distant voice cried out, over the buzz of the crowd.

  Thilillian Yangsley casually stepped onto the boarding ramp of the Gratified Speed 1213. She stood directly next to a sign with big red letters that read: APPROVED TRAVELERS ONLY ON RAMP.

  Izzian was amused again at the girl's brazen nature, and thrilled that she had sought him out to say goodbye.

  He was also curious to see how Thil had transformed for her Goodwill trip to the Footfall Freighter. There were various races of aliens on the asteroid she was travelling to, so he wondered what she'd end up looking like.

  He carefully appraised the girl from head to toe, hoping she wouldn't mistake his curiosity for inappropriate ogles. She was truly beautiful, but not much different than normal.

  Most of Thil's transformation was unrecognizable. Her hair, which she'd always grown long and dark as a flashy accessory in Klesian form, appeared slightly longer. The dark mass of hair had always contrasted sharply with her vivid, bright purple eyes.

  The only difference Izzian noticed was that she seemed a bit shorter, which made sense since transport freighters sustained occasional gravity pulls and being tall might become painful. In a way, Thil had transformed to an even more beautiful being and Izzian thought she resembled an elf from an old earth fable, without the pointy ears. Pointy ears would have been cool, he thought.

  "Hey Thil, your transformation looks awesome. Is that how most females on the Juniper Colony look?" Izzian said in a sort of trance. If so, he made a mental note to travel there one day soon.

  Thil looked around furtively, then changed the subject, saying, "I just wanted to say bye, Izzian. Have a good trip and try not to get thrown out of any labs or make any scientists mad enough to chase you around a room," Thilillian said with humor.

  Her purple irises contracted in the bright light gleaming from the comet's cabin.

  Izzian was somewhat frustrated that Thil always seemed to dismiss his questions or answer them by changing the topic. He knew enough to keep his mouth shut, though. He was thankful to see the girl before they were both shipped off into the galaxy.

  "My dad had to ice his back for a week after your shenanigans in his lab that day. He's still limping," she added, feigning resentment.

  Izzian had never really heard Thil talk about Dr. Yangsley as her father before. He felt a little closer to the girl each time she opened up or surprised him with unusual familiarity.

  "Yes, sorry about that, Thil. I hope you didn't get in trouble," said Izzian.

  Thil shook her head in a way that said, "I don't get caught."

  "Excuse me, miss! This ramp is for approved passengers only. You will have to get off this ramp. I'm trying to load my Plascreen Inoculation Surveyor," said a distinctly whiney voice from behind a large piece of bulky machinery.

  Thil rolled her eyes and squeezed by Enot and his Plascreen Inoculation Surveyor. Izzian wondered why Enot hadn’t just said, excuse me, in a polite way and left it at that.

  Thil jaunted down the ramp and Izzian waved to the girl that continually made his new skin pores activate.

  Wiping the sweat from his brow, he yelled, "See ya, Thil!"

  "Later, earth boy!" Thil yelled above the clamor of the comet station.

  Izzian saw his parents waving, being bumped about by others, occasionally disappearing amongst the mounting and subsiding waves of the crowd.

  He noticed several kids he knew saying goodbye to family and friends. For once, he was proud to be standing up high above them, ready for earth.

  Waving instinctively to his ortnots one last time, Izzian turned and headed for Gratified Speed 1213's cabin.

  Izzian Klowosky was finally headed for earth.

  ***

  CHAPTER 10