The Blue Star rose again and Liz was still alive. The monster was as well. Except, as Liz came to realize, the monster wasn’t a monster at all. Just an odd-looking man. She had never seen a man like him before, but he also didn’t look too different than herself. The only distinguishing differences that Liz could spot were his skin and eyes. Every person Liz had ever seen had soft skin that was various shades of pink and eyes of dull colors when compared to wild beasts.

The man walking silently next to her, however, had rough-looking skin that was a light shade of brown. His eyes were also much brighter than any eyes she had seen on a person before, and more closely resembled that of a beast’s. She had been hoping for a beast, but instead, she got this man. A man who wanted to die just like her.

“Why do you want to die?” The man asked Liz as if he had been reading her mind.

For a moment, she thought of ignoring him, but then realized she had nothing better to do than to talk to this mysterious man.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious.”

They continued to walk silently and aimlessly through the forest as Liz gathered her thoughts. The man didn’t pressure her to respond, but she still did after thinking about her reasons.

“Just felt like dying would be better than living, I guess.”

“Don’t like where you are at, huh?” The man said casually. “I guess you could say the same for me, but for probably different reasons.”

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

“Which are?” Liz poked.

“You didn’t tell me yours. Why should I tell you mine?”

Liz stopped walking, perplexed. She had a bad habit of asking too many questions. A habit that many men have tried beating out of her.

The man looked back at her, one eyebrow raised above the other.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Liz replied as she began to walk again.

She caught up to him a few moments later.

“I work at a brothel.”

“Ah, I see. We do have different reasons.”

The man didn’t continue speaking after that. Apparently, that was all he had to say. Liz felt her cheeks burn a little, and without thinking, she jumped in front of the man, forcing him to stop walking.

“You said you’d tell me your reason if I told you mine.”

Liz’s finger angrily pointed at the man.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Well,” Liz thought,” Maybe you didn’t, but now I’m curious.”

“You probably won’t understand because even I don’t understand.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The man sighed and then took a moment to breathe.

“The reason why I wanted to die… is because I’m not from this planet.”