*UNCOVERED ALIENS*
The sun peeked through the tree tops, streaking the ground with brilliant patches of warm color. Every being was exhausted from the night's escapades but all were happy to feel the sun's rays signaling that the dreadful night had ended.
Izzian, Eliza, Paksha and Thilillian paused mid-conversation upon hearing rustling leaves, breaking twigs and moving branches. This time, they knew that the quietly restrained noises had nothing to do with the appearance of The Witch of the Bluff. The fears of Black Winny had diminished along with the moonlight, and anyone standing in the middle of the woods could see and feel the calming beauty of the sun carving its way through the treetops.
The forest that had moments ago seemed so still and quiet became alive with movement and sound. Bit by bit, each member of Yarn's party revealed their existence.
A SpacePod appeared, its figure slowly shimmering into view, and out walked Yarn. With an uncharacteristically warm smile and soft voice, she introduced herself to the group.
Taking his cue, Laddie stepped from behind a tall oak tree and politely nodded his head in greeting. The kids were happy to see Laddie's familiar face, but were confused by his presence in the woods. Yarn then made the announcement, telling each little Fester Tail it was time to meet the gang.
One by one, the smallest known people in the universe came forward. Some stepped out from under leaves; others appeared from behind Laddie's shoelaces, while others stood upon the rocks they had previously hidden under.
The strangest camouflage seemed to be the masses of wildflowers that began to move individually and of their own accord. The flowers revealed themselves to be Fester Tails, using the bloom off each stem as a hat.
"These are the Fester Tails of SpacePod Leon. They are my friends, my helpers," said Yarn, carefully approaching the wide-eyed faces of Izzy, Eliza, Paksha and Thil. "This is Muriel and Signal, with their daughter Esterly, and over there is Hulla. I think that fellow wearing a Dandelion as a hat is Gus, or Barnaby- I can never tell those two apart. I see Trumpet standing on that stone, and her sister Feelia resting on Laddie's shoe…" As Yarn began the endless process of introducing every single individual Fester Tail by name, Laddie interceded.
"Is not important, my love. The kids will have time to meet as many Festers as they want. Later," Laddie said. He smiled at his beloved to make the criticism easier to swallow.
"Quite right, Vladdie," said the old woman calling herself Yarn. "My friends, the Fester Tails and I are here to help you all save Klesia. The problem of Lucas and Link has been solved and the kids of Sudden Bluff no longer have to live in fear. Finally, all brains are to be focused on the missing Klesians. Okay let's get started," she finished abruptly, anxious to begin.
It was obvious to everyone present that blank stares and puzzling expressions needed tending before anyone got started with saving Klesia.
"One last question," Izzian ventured, even though he'd had no opportunity to ask the first one, "Your name is Yarn and Fester Tails are real. Okay, but why is Laddie here and how did you know a Raging Slunt Notte lived in Sudden Bluff?"
"That was two questions," Yarn said, avoiding the answer all together.
Laddie, understanding that his sweet Natasha was not so fond of question and answer sessions, spoke for her, "Ask little people. Is all part of Fester Tail plan. We think they knew everything already, but we'll never know since the little people don't answer questions. Some nerve, eh?" said Laddie, delivering eleven Fester Tails from his sneaker and four from his shirt pocket to the ramp of Yarn's SpacePod.
After introductions to the little people were complete, most of the tiny tribe marched back into their tiny lair with tiny smiles upon their tiny faces. Signal and Muriel Minor remained with the bigger people since they were the Spokespeople of the tribe. Hulla Baloo, the tribe's mechanic, also remained, being too stubborn to go inside like the rest of his people.
"Laddie, I can't believe you were in on this. I should have known that you aren't from earth," said Izzian, feeling like a Glotfish for not recognizing an alien when he saw one.
"Thanks to the nosey Fester Tails, I found my beautiful Natasha," Laddie said, grabbing Yarn's hand. He thickly lathered on the accent again, "I pack up all my stuff, my entire business and want to go away with her, if she'll have me. Of course your old friend Laddie wants to help save Klesia too."
"We'll discuss it later, Vladdie," Yarn whispered. Then she addressed the group, loudly, saying, "When we got wind of that evil twin getting sucked up by the Slunt Notte, we knew it was all over. Pukas, or Mucas, or whatever you kids are calling him these days, will never bother you again. The bully situation needed to be solved before we could begin with the important business of saving Klesia."
Yarn, all gentleness gone from her persona, looked around the group of perplexed faces and added, "I don’t understand your confusion. It's all quite simple, really. Eliza gets it, and she's never been in the presence of so many aliens."
Eliza perked up at the mention of her name. She and Paksha seemed to be silently soaking up the appearance of the newcomers, both tiny and regular-sized. It was a lot to take, if one has never been within a large group of more than a single alien or two. Eliza merely nodded her head every few minutes, possibly checking to see if her brain was still inside her skull.
It was understandable that the girl was in a state of confusion and disbelief, but for some reason, she wanted to impress the old woman known as Yarn. Eliza made an obvious effort to appear more sophisticated.
Yarn, faced with the expressions of continued bafflement, attempted more explanations. She left out the details regarding her proclivity for spying and really didn't say much of anything. Her demeanor suggested that she was not in the mood for a press conference and that any questions should be directed to someone else.
After Yarn's very brief summary, the group stood awkwardly in a confused haze, curiously regarding the wizened old lady. They still had no idea who she was and why she ended up on earth, watching them battle a bully and planning the rescue of Klesia and its moon.
Yarn stepped closer to Eliza and spoke softly, "Soon enough, the sight of tiny Fester Tails and talking SpacePods will wear off and you will return to normal."
Eliza never stopped nodding her head and asked, "Talking SpacePods?"
During the introductions and all the confusion that followed, Leon the SpacePod had been all but forgotten. Since he was half-artificial and half-organic, he didn't really mind not being the center of attention. Leon knew his introduction would come, once all the nonsense with the Fester's had been settled.
Yarn leaned in close to Eliza and whispered, "Has your friend Izzian ever mentioned that as a child, he had a guardian Fester Tail named Chintz? No? It's true. Izzy believed Chintz was real and treated him like a best friend. One day, his father declared that Chintz was only an imaginary friend and that Fester Tails did not exist. Ojolian told his son it was time to grow up."
Izzian listened as Yarn spoke of his past as though she had been there from the beginning. He was perplexed as to how Yarn could have distinct details regarding such a trivial incident from his childhood.
"Can you imagine the look on his father's face," Yarn continued, "standing here today, seeing all these little people wandering to and fro? Just goes to show you that even a scientific genius, a green man from a planet called Klesia Moon Prime doesn’t know much about the universe. Fester Tails are real as you and me."
Eliza absorbed the message of Yarn's words, and the old woman nodded in approval of Eliza's quick wit and level-headed nature. Izzian also grasped the message and considered that perhaps the incident from his childhood was not so trivial. He had almost forgotten about Chintz the Fester Tail and was amazed to discover that he had not imagined his imaginary friend. Chintz had been real.
Paksha, who had curiously examined every diminutive detail of the alien-filled forest, approached Yarn's SpacePod. He introduced himself to Leon and began having a conv
ersation with a living UFO, feeling a certain kinship with the ship who occasionally felt like a third wheel.
When Yarn glared at Izzian for raising his hand, it became quite clear that she did not subscribe to the old adage that there were no stupid questions. Yarn's press conference was over.
SpacePod Leon took his own cue and loudly proclaimed, "Now that you are all gathered together, I have an important announcement to make. Please come aboard and make yourselves comfortable. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Leon. All aboard!" shouted the SpacePod Leon. Then he quietly added, "I've always wanted to yell that."
Izzian's pretend parents, Enot and Gala, arrived right on schedule, trudging through the forest. By the looks on their faces, they were wondering why everyone else had already arrived and why they hadn't been included in the plan with Lucas and Link.
The Fester Tails had organized everything it seemed, purposely inviting Izzian's pretend parents after the snatching of Lucas and Link. It was a smart decision as the young adults would more than likely have messed up the entire plan, as parents so often unwittingly do.
Gala, and undoubtedly Enot, would have interrupted the kids and put an end to the senseless bullying. Unfortunately, by stopping Lucas in his tracks, his mistreatment of the kids would have ended for the night, but most certainly continued the next day and forever after. The twins would have learned nothing.
The second he stepped into the clearing, Enot began whining. "I see you Thilillian Yangsley. You might as well come out and face the music," he demanded.
Thilillian meekly stepped out of her hiding spot. Her gutsy scheme of sneaking to earth was at an end, and she knew it was time to pay the fiddler, or in this instance, get an earful from Enot.
In a way, Thil was happy that someone was worried about her. She almost glowed when Enot scolded her and announced that the entire population of the Footfall Freighter most likely assumed that she had either drowned in the muddy waters of the Jum-Jum River, or been kidnapped by the space terrorist, Zelph Elegueria.
"The freighter would have never thought to look for you on earth, Thil. You might have been stuck on the planet forever. Dr. Yangsley will blame me for this," Enot yammered on.
Finally, Gala placed her finger upon Enot's lips, silencing him. She hugged Izzian and Thilillian and said how happy she was to know they were safe.
"And you, Izzian! Your father will hear about your activities in the woods. I better not get blamed for picking up an interstellar stowaway…" Enot mumbled to Gala. She replaced her finger each time Enot tried to open his mouth.
Enot wasn't finished complaining and he spoke over and through Gala's strategically placed finger. "Thilillian Yangsley, you are in violation of a hundred different laws. You used an illegal firecracker in a public setting, stowed away on a vehicle and violated every space travelling law in existence." Oddly enough, Thil's happiness continued to soar with Enot's increasing wrath.
By contrast, Izzian was not so happy to receive a scolding from Enot. With puppy dog eyes, the boy spoke mournfully, saying, "But my father has possibly vanished, along with the entire planet," Izzian was truly worried, but he was also attempting to lessen Enot's fury, garnering sympathy instead.
Thil seemed to happily accept Enot's reprimands, always having been a loner whose father never took the time to express any cares about her behavior. Without warning, Thil strolled over to Izzian and planted another kiss on his blushing cheeks.
"Gleestix Thil, what was that for?" said the abashed alien, turning bright green in the morning sunlight.
"For everything. For all of your help and the help of your friends," Thil cried. She also pecked Paksha on the cheek with a sprightly kiss and hugged Eliza.
She didn't notice the fumes practically shooting from Eliza's eyes, or at least she pretended not to notice. Thil thanked Enot and Gala, apologizing for her reckless adventuring. She promised Enot that the blame lay entirely on her own shoulders.
Thil continued, "I am truly sorry. Enot you are right. You have all risked so much for me. My entire life I was a loner, never thought I needed anyone, played my own game. This summer on earth, I realized life was not a game. I've acted like a complete and total Glotfish, but you all are still here, supporting me."
Thil approached Eliza and Paksha. She reached for their hands and added, "No matter what happens, no matter if Klesia suddenly appears again, I'll never forget the support and kindness you two have shown me, a complete stranger, and an alien to boot."
Paksha blushed right along Izzian at the alien known as Thilillian Yangsley. Even Eliza seemed to have softened to the black haired beauty, somewhat. Even though the boy had no control over Thil's lips and where she chose to plant them, Izzian would forever be blamed for being on the receiving end of a kiss.
The old space traveler known as Yarn butted in, saying, "Looks like Lucas and Link weren't the only ones who learned a valuable lesson tonight."
Eliza was feeling thankful too, but rather than give kisses, Izzian and Paksha each received a swift thump to the head for being helpful. Izzian knew she was still angry, but it was nice to be on the receiving end of a thump again.
***
CHAPTER 31