Aliens (short story)

Prose

One day, Amelia woke up in the company of aliens from another planet.

She had no memories of her life before she started living with aliens.

Their language sounded like English aurally, but they couldn’t communicate since they were creatures from different worlds.

Even though they lived in the same spaceship, they lived in a completely different state of existence than Amelia.

They were all the same kind of alien. Amelia was the only human on the spaceship.

Did they perhaps think she was one of them?

She decided to blend in.

She learned to eat alien food.

She played with alien toys.

But secretly, she longed to be rescued by her own kind. She often gazed outside of her bedroom porthole, hoping for a glimpse of Earth. But she didn’t even know what she would do if she saw it.

Convince her alien captors to return her to her planet?

What if she blows her cover and they turn violent?

Should she chance it?

She knew she couldn’t stay, but even after living among the aliens, she couldn’t trust them. She decided to escape on her own.

She made her preparations, and when the chance presented itself, she took it.

She slipped away when the aliens were sleeping, and tucked herself and her bag comfortably into an escape hatch. She powered it up, took aim, and ZOOMED toward freedom!

At first, there was nothing but inky blackness. The vacuum of space was lonely, oppressive, and dangerous. It was a different feeling from when she lived with the aliens.

She pushed aside her feelings of fear, and kept her eyes moving back and forth, searching the darkness. Finally, she saw it!

A glittering blue ball with swirling milky clouds. Her home planet.

When she landed, she was embraced by members of her own kind. Fellow humans. Amelia wept with gratitude. She wasn’t sure this day would ever come.

It took some adjusting, but with the love, care, and patience of other earthlings, Amelia learned to live as a human again.

Sometimes she thought about the aliens, but she never wanted to live with them again.

Amelia lived out the rest of her days as a human on Earth with peace in her heart. Her memory lives on in those she impacted along the way.

Chains (poem)

Poetry

Delicate filigree,
Dainty little thing.
Shine for others,
But weigh down the wearer.

Concentrated mass,
Density pulling downward.
Sinking into hell,
Looking like an angel.

Commercializing pain,
Constructing injuries for attention.
Ride the waves of trauma,
On the backs of true survivors.

Wear your burdens proudly,
Jewels burn into flesh.
Fingernails like diamonds,
Slicing up the fakers.

Resilience (poem)

Poetry

Stabbed in the trauma,
Inflicted once again.
Scar tissue rendered flexible,
Elastic armor shielding.

Walk through fire unscathed,
Witches mothering cats.
Fury rains with curses,
Gifts to bless withheld.

Healing power directed inward,
Inner strength grows within.
Pot brimming with soil,
Roots spread to prepare for bloom.

Integrate our fractures,
Accept each broken part.
Sand down, buffer, polish,
Groomed all around.

Lucky (poem)

Poetry

Fortune in the form of a cat,
Slink into your life to bestow a gift.
Pounce and kill those who hurt you,
Licking wounds with her scratchy tongue.

Let me bat away your worries,
Listen to my purrs instead.
Dig my claws into your chest,
Massage the aching heart beneath.

Show me care and I’ll teach you,
How to see and feel the divine.
Love me and feed your spirit,
That energy that lingers after death.

Cats choose their humans,
Only our bodies can be held captive.
Make us happy to bring luck,
The bounties of fulfillment await.

Hell (poem)

Poetry

Singed by hellfire,
Phoenix spirit.
Forged from brimstone,
Carved from demons.

Liquid magma,
Deep core earth.
Raised by evil,
Devil’s laughter.

Learn their cackle,
Battle cry.
Defiant rebellion,
Insidious plot.

Tortured souls,
Trapped in prison.
Newborn babe,
Eternal suffering.

Demonic ribs,
Skeletal structure.
Macabre dance,
Ghoulish rattle.

Eyes are turned,
Slip away.
Hide those horns,
Don human skin.

Fly ever higher,
Roost for the night.
Look down on creation,
Extinguish its flames.

Lashes (poem)

Poetry

Teardrops falling,
Whips keep chasing.
Weights attached,
Legs keep pumping.

Bruised flesh,
Ripped skin.
Fused with the burden,
Anchor in the chest.

Fluttering eyelids,
Keep out the dust.
Sandstorms brewing,
Squint through the clouds.

With a single blink,
You’ll feel the force.
My pain rains down,
Slice through this mess.

Start (poem)

Poetry

New beginnings,
Old hurts.
Penelope’s suitors,
Demanding her attention.

Kitten by your ankles,
Following you home.
How to tell her in meows,
Landlord forbids pets.

Pushed out love,
Draw it back in.
Residing in the heart,
Recuperate from exposure.

Chilled but not frozen,
Cherished by her body.
Courage coming home,
Foreign lands inhospitable.

Tears drip steady,
Empty that cup.
Clean glass,
Starting again.

Scar (poem)

Poetry

They scream at me,
From my side.
Their voices embedded,
In my flesh.

The lives that life forgot.
Pain with nowhere to go,
Turned inward,
Exploding organs.

Numbed sensitivity.
Infected callous.
Pierce the skin,
Let the sorrow ooze.

Their deaths are overlooked.
Their stories, rewritten.
I’ll live to spite you.
I’ll make it for myself.

We need you, soldier.
The war rages on.
Your experiences, our artillery.
Your agony, our weaponry.