Kayla felt safe with Alex’s arms around her, she was confused to what had caused the blinding light. When she opened her eyes, she looked at Alex, so she didn’t notice at first that they weren’t in her home, but in a different room.

“What was that?” she asked. Before Alex could respond, she saw out of the corner of her eye, realizing they weren’t in her apartment, but in someone’s bedroom. She stood there with an amazed look on her face and she felt shaken by this development. She turned her head and as her eyes roamed the room they were in, she saw there were vases full of yellow roses, which made her think of Alex. She looked at him to see what he thought what had happened to them.

What surprised Kayla the most was Alex didn’t look bewildered about this development. He acted more as if he had been expecting this to happen, but how could that be?

“Alex, we aren’t in my apartment anymore. Don’t you find that a bit strange? What has happened to us?” She felt a scream of fright at the back of her throat.

“Kayla, I have something important to tell you.”

“Don’t you think it’s odd we are no longer in my apartment?” she asked with hysteria in her voice.

“Kayla, calm down. You are safe and everything is all right, he told her in a calm voice. He took her hand and pulled her to the bed, and once there he gently pushed her to sit down, sitting down next to her.

“Alex, what is wrong with you? How can you tell me everything is all right? Are you telling me you can explain all this?” Kayla shouted at him. Her panic causing her breathing to be fast and shallow, making her to feel as if she was about to faint.

“Shhh, Kayla, don’t yell. Take some slow deep breaths. I can explain what happened, really I can.” Alex said in a soothing voice.

“Then do it and do it now!” She yelled. Tears made glistened on her lids, pooling and then they ran down both of her cheeks.

Alex smoothed his hands over her cheeks, wiping the tears away. “Sweetheart, we’ve been transported onto a spaceship.” He stated, looking deep into her eyes as he waited for her reaction.

Kayla looked at him strangely and then laughed. “What makes you say that?”

Alex took her hand into his. “Because I’m not from Earth, but from a planet many thousand miles away from Earth. I was sent to your plant to find a bride.”

His comment seemed to amuse her, and a faint light twinkled in the depths of her eyes. “You really expect me to believe you are from another planet. Next thing you’ll be telling me is that you are a space alien.”

“I’m an alien to your planet.”

“What?” Of all the things he could have said, this wasn’t what she expected him to tell her at all. She thought that he would deny about being an alien, not agreeing. “Space aliens are odd shaped, have extra eyes, legs, or arms, and are dangerous.”

His expression turned grim. “It’s the truth, I’m from a planet called Zodar. My planet suffers an epidemic that kills the women on our planet, and we’re here to recruit women to marry us, come to our planet to make Zodar their new home. To live the rest of their lives there, as well as to raise a family.” Alex continued to explain about the epidemic and how Earth women from were immune. “I want you to marry me, come live with me to my planet, and to raise our children there.”

“Oh, Alex, please tell me this is all a joke.” She begged.

His expression stilled and grew serious. “I’m sorry sweetheart, this isn’t a joke.”

“I want to go home, Alex. Now! I just want to go home.” Kayla gulped hard, hot tears slipped down her cheeks.

“Kayla, what about us?” He asked downheartedly, as suddenly their future looked vague and empty. He never dreamed that she wouldn’t want to be with him and go to his planet to live as he assumed, she loved him.

“If this is true and you really are from another planet, why can’t you stay with me on Earth?” She asked him hopefully.

He sighed heavily; his voice filled with anguish. “It’s my duty to my planet to help repopulate our world. If you don’t marry me, I will be matched with another woman from Earth. Someone I don’t know or love.”

Kayla couldn’t believe all this. “What do you mean by that last statement?” Her mind filled with confusion by his comment.

“Usually women are transported to the ship and matched with a man who has picked her. The women don’t know the men, they are total strangers to each other. They don’t physically meet each other until the wedding. If the woman, the man has chosen doesn’t want to marry him, she is sent back to Earth, with her memory erased of the visit. The man then has to pick another woman and the procedure starts all again.”

Alex stood and began walking around the room. “We have ways to monitor people on Earth. This is to help us to find the women to recruit. We usually pick women who haven’t any family left on your planet, so they aren’t missed by love ones when we take them with us.” Alex stops and looks at Kayla.

“You have heard stories in the news about people who simple just vanish, without any kind of trace to explain their disappearance. Well, this is one of the reasons why some of the women have come to be missing. They have given up their way of life to come with us to our planet. We have been doing this for several years now.”

He squeezed her hand to get her to look at him. “Sometimes, not often, the man goes down to Earth to live for a while so they can find someone to fall in love with and marry. That’s what I chose to do. Actually, you found me, but still, we fell in love, I asked you to marry me, and here you are. Kayla, please say you will stay and marry me.” He waited anxiously for the right answer, the one saying she would marry him.

“You never told me you loved me.” Her voice drifted into hushed whisper.

“Oh, Kayla.” Alex moved back to her where she sat and pulled her into a firm embrace. “I love you so much it hurts. Please say yes. Marry me and come to my planet to live.” He begged.

“This is too much for me to comprehend all at once.” She was so confused by Alex’s words.

“I need your answer now!” A sudden thin chill hung on the edge of his words.

She was filled with frustration and buried her face in her trembling hands. She suddenly looked up. “Alex, I can’t marry you now. I don’t want to leave Earth, as it’s my home.”

Tears appeared in Alex’s eyes as he’d been so sure she would say yes. He wasn’t ashamed to show her his weakness, as he didn’t know how could he go on living without her? “Please don’t do this to us. We have a special love; you can’t let love this special be wasted”

A flash of wild grief ripped through her, knowing she was the cause of his pain. “Please Alex, don’t cry.” She seemed at a loss as to how she should comfort him. “Maybe if I had more time, I could get use to the idea of all this.” She softly whispered.

“I’m sorry, there isn’t any time left. It’s now or never.” He slowly moved away from her.

“I’m sorry Alex, I just can’t do this.” She said sadly. “Couldn’t you come back to Earth and stay awhile. Let me get used to the idea of you being who you say you are.”

“I can’t. That sort of thing it isn’t allowed.” Alex turned his back on her. “I’ll see to it you are sent back to Earth, immediately!” He turned back around to face her. “I must tell you something first, once you are sent home, you won’t remember me. Ever! It will be as if I never existed to you.” Alex watched her facial expression. “Doesn’t that change your mind?”

“NO! It will be for the best if I don’t remember you or our love. It would hurt too much otherwise. I do love you Alex, but I guess not enough to leave my home.” Her voice broke, as the thought of leaving and never seeing Alex again made a painful knot in the middle of her belly.

“It’s supposed to be my job to send you home, but I can’t do it. I’ll send someone else in to prepare you for your return to earth.” He racked his hand though his hair. “I just can’t do it.” He repeated, before he walked back to where she stood and pulled her into his arms. He took her face into his hands and gave her a passionate kiss. “Kayla, I’ll always love you. Good-bye and good luck.” He quickly turned and ran from the room.

Before Kayla’s mind could react to their kiss, she heard the door slam. She sat back down on the bed as the tears began falling down her cheeks once more. If only she could do it, it would be so wonderful to live the rest of her life with Alex. Frankly, she was too scared to make such a sacrifice, to give up all she knew for the unknown, how she wished she were braver for Alex’s sake.

Soon there was a knock at the door. “Come in.” Kayla said as she stood up, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand as she did.

A man and a woman entered the room. “Hello, my name is Allen Wiley, and this is my wife, Wendy. We are here to help prepare you for your trip home. Are you sure this is what you really want to do?” Allen asked.

“No, I’m not sure, but it’s what I must do.” Kayla tried to keep the tears at bay. Would she ever quit crying? For now, it was a hopeless feat as the tears came once again. “Please, let’s get this over with.”

Wendy walked over to Kayla, “Please lay down on the bed. When you wake up you will be home, and this will have all been forgotten. Are you ready, Kayla?”

“Yes.” She didn’t sound sure of herself. “Now, please.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Is there a message you would like to leave for Alex?” Wendy asked her.

“Tell him I’m sorry and I truly do love him.” Kayla thought a moment more. “Tell him if something should change and he finds he can live on earth for a while; tell him to come back to me.”

“Kayla, Alex won’t ever be coming back to earth as we have certain rules we must follow. He had his chance to find love, so now a wife will be found for him. I’m sorry.” Wendy’s heart ached at the sight of seeing Kayla so distraught.

Kayla acknowledged Wendy comment and then closed her eyes.

Kayla slowly stretched, moving her arms upward towards the headboard. As she became more awake, she remembered having a peculiar dream about a man who she had fallen in love with. He was from a different planet and had come here to make her his bride and take her away to his planet to live. He seemed too wonderful to be real, as their love for each other was earth-shattering. She felt as if they had been special made for each other, so much so that she could actually feel the lovemaking.

If only she could really find a love like the one in her dream, she would do anything for a love like that one. She looked at the clock and saw it was only 7:00 in the evening. She frowned, wondering why she was in bed at this time in the evening when she didn’t even remember laying down.

Kayla gradually got out of bed, and as she made her way into the living room. a yellow speck on the floor happened to catch her eye. She bent down and picked up a yellow rose petal, confused to how this came to be in her apartment.

Her stomach growled, taking her mind off the rose petal and onto her belly. She laid the petal on the kitchen counter and began fixing her dinner and it was forgotten in the busy time of fixing her dinner.

After she cleaned up her dinner mess, she decided to take a hot bath and had just walked into her bedroom when something on the floor happened to catch her eye. When she walked over to get a closer look at the object, she gasped when she saw that it was Alex’s red sock on the floor. It was at that exact moment that everything rushed back to her memory, it hadn’t been a dream after all. It had all been real and because of her and her stubbornness, she had lost her true love.

“Alex,” She screamed, looking at the ceiling. “Please, forgive me and take me with you.” Kayla closed her eyes and waited, but nothing happened. “Alex, I was wrong. Please forgive me and I’m sure about all this now. Please don’t leave me behind, I love you.” Still nothing happened. Terrible regret attacked her conscious as she thought of how she had ruined everything.

Kayla sat back down on the bed, put her head into her hands, and started crying, and once she started, she couldn’t quit. Where all the tears came from, she had no idea. What had she done? How could she go on living without Alex?

After about an hour of crying Kayla fell into an exhausted sleep. It took Kayla a few seconds before her mind registered that someone was holding her and stroking her hair. She didn’t want to wake up from this dream, because she wanted to believe it was Alex and stay in his arms. In her sleep, she snuggled against the warm body.

“Kayla, I love you too. Everything is all right now. There isn't a need to cry anymore. We will go back to the ship together and be married. We will live happily ever after, just like Cinderella did.”

Kayla opened her eyes; her heart sang with delight when she looked into the eyes of her love. It hadn’t been a dream after all, Alex really was with her. She laughed and hugged him tightly to her, “What do you know about Cinderella?”

“I have read some of your Earth books. Women are always bringing new books with them to Zodar.”

“Alex, I really do love you, you know.”

“Yes, I do know. I have been monitoring you since you were sent back as I couldn’t bring myself to let go yet. I heard everything you said.” Alex smiled at her as he watched her face change into one of anger.

“Then what took you so long to get back here.” She angrily asked him. “Were you trying to punish me for leaving?”

“No, of course not. I needed to talk to the Commander into letting me return for you. We are on a tight schedule, and we are running behind because of you and me. We need to leave your airspace before we are detected by Earth’s radar.” He explained to her.

“I’m ready to go. No doubts this time.” She told him with confidence.

Alex took hold of Kayla’s hand as they stood up together. “Are you ready?”

“Wait!” Kayla pulled away, swiftly grabbing the lonely red sock off the bed. “Now I’m ready.”

“Kayla, I have plenty of socks.” His eyebrows arched mischievously.

“Yes, I know, but this one is extra special.” She grinned as she held the sock closely to her chest.

He put his arms around her and then there was the blinding light again. This time it didn’t scare Kayla, for she was expecting it. Opening her eyes, she saw they were back in the same room as before and Mr. and Mrs. Wiley were smiling at her.

“Welcome back, Kayla. We are so glad you changed your mind.” Wendy said with sincerity.

“I have a question for you. You told me I wouldn’t remember any of this, but I did. Why was that?” Kayla questioned Mrs. Wiley.

Wendy shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sorry I haven’t any explanation for why you remembered. All I can say is that it has never happened to anyone else before, so maybe your love for Alex was too strong for you to forget him.” Wendy’s words seemed to please herself, as if she had just hit the head of the nail with a hammer. “Yes, that must be it. Kayla, there isn’t much time left. You must get ready now as your wedding is to start in twenty minutes and you still need to change into your wedding dress.”

Kayla looked down at herself and giggled when she saw that she was still wearing her shorts. “Yes, I better change. It wouldn’t look good to get married looking like this.”

Wendy looked over towards the two men and began fanning her hands at them. “You men, scoot.”

“Can’t I stay and help?” Alex asked jokingly.

“NO!” Wendy pushed Alex out the door, and she turned back to Kayla. “Now, let’s get down to business.”

Wendy walked to the closet, opened the door, and proceeded to bring out the most beautiful dress Kayla had ever seen. “Is that my dress?” Kayla asked softly. “I’ll look like Cinderella in that dress.” Her eyes glowed, and a soft smile appeared on her face.

“Yes, you will. You won’t believe this, but Alex picked the dress out for you himself.”

Kayla chuckled at the thought, “Who would image he could do such a great job in picking out a women’s dress. Now I know why Alex mentioned Cinderella, because this dress reminds me of her too.”

As so as the door closed, Kayla started pulling off her clothes, once she had them all off, she grabbed the dress. She barely too time to breath as she stepped into the dress, then turning her back to Wendy. Once the dressed was zipped, Kayla kept twirling around in circles, smiling the whole time as she watched herself in the mirror.

The other woman was a bit stunned as she hadn’t ever seen anyone dress for a wedding as fast as Kayla had. “Kayla, slow down, you don’t have to be in that much of a hurry,” she said as she watched Kayla’s antics.

Kayla stopped turning and looked at Wendy. “I don’t want the Commander to change his mind and send me back to Earth. Now, just the thought of being sent away from Alex makes me shudder.”

Wendy laughed, “I don’t think you need to worry about that, as Alex has him wrapped around his little finger.” Wendy reassured her.

Kayla was confused by Wendy’s statement. “What do you mean?”

“Didn’t Alex tell you who the Commander was?”

“All he said was that he talked the Commander into letting him come get me.” Who was this commander that he had so much power, yet Alex had gotten him to somehow change his mind about letting her come back on board the ship?

“I think I might have just stuck my foot into my mouth.” Wendy’s smile quickly faded.

Kayla laughed, “That is an Earth expression. Are you from Earth?”

“Yes, I was. Allen and I have been married for two years now. After you have been on Zodar for two years, they’ll ask you and Alex to be a host couple too. Then it is your job to get the brides prepared for the wedding and answer any questions they may have.”

“Alex hasn’t told me much about Zodar yet. Who is the Commander?” Kayla asked, holding her breath expecting the worst.

“The Commander is Alex’s father.”

“You’re kidding. No wonder you said he had the man wrapped around his finger.”

“When Alex first asked his father if he could be sent back Earth to stay with you until the next trip, Commander Gordon told him no, because Alex had been gone too long as it was. Then Alex asked if he could go and bring you back with him today. Again, he told Alex no. He said you had your chance the same as everyone else had. If he made an exception for Alex, then all the other men would what the same done for them. Alex then showed his father the viewing monitor and he saw for himself the hurt and pain you were experiencing. The Commander felt the reason you didn’t forget Alex, like you were supposed to, was maybe because of your love for Alex. That’s what finally changed his mind, and he allowed Alex to bring you back, while the ship waited for your return.”

“Do you like it on Zodar?”

“Yes, and you will too. You won’t be able to see much of a difference from Earth once you get there, as Earth women have been bringing items to Zodar for many years now.”

“How many years has this been going on?”

“For over twenty years now.”

A soft gasp escaped, as Kayla was shocked by this information, assuming this was a new endeavor. “You would think you would hear more about missing people on the news than you do. Don’t people report that people are just disappearing off the face of Earth?” Kayla was puzzled by this.

“Usually the people we take with us don’t have any family to miss them. Many times, friends simply think the person has moved away to be with family, occasionally we blot out their memory of that person. We always try to cover our tracks well, and has always worked, expect in your case that is.”

“I’m just special, I guess.” Kayla joked.

Wendy laughed at Kayla comment.

“You said I won’t be able to tell much of a difference from Earth. Why is that?” Kayla was confused at how another planet could look like Earth.

“The forefathers of Zodar wanted the women who came to their planet not to get too homesick, so we bring items back that someone requested on each trip to Earth. This way Zodar feels more like home for them. Some people have requested the latest book from their favorite author, or recent movie that has just come out on DVD, others want a certain plant, a flower, or a tree that isn’t found on Zodar yet. Some have even opened their favorite restaurants here. So, if once you get to Zodar and you think of something you want, just let Alex know, and he will see that it is on the next ship.”

“I can’t think of anything.”

“It won’t be too many years before these trips won’t be necessary anymore. Soon the entire women population will be made up of all female Earthlings and their descendants and the epidemic will no longer exist. That is the goal we are trying to achieve on Zodar,” Wendy explained.

“Alex mentioned something about leaving Earth’s airspace before being detected by our planet’s radar. Why doesn’t the United States Government detect this spaceship as soon as it entered our airspace?”

“I think it has something to do with the special metal the ship is made of, as it is a compound that isn’t known on Earth and can’t be detect with their radar. If we stay too long or too close to Earth, sometimes they have detected us. Then the government quietly tries to find out who or what we are. Luckily, Zodar’s technology is way beyond anything Earth has and we have never been fired upon. Not yet anyway.”

Kayla’s eyes widened. “Wow. I feel as if I’m in a sci-fi movie.

A knock at the door made Kayla jumped, so engrossed in their conversation she had forgotten all about her wedding.

Wendy opened the door and Allen entered.

“Are you ready, Kayla? It’s time to get this show on the road.”

She takes a deep breath, slowly letting it out, then smiles nervously at Allen. “Yes, I’m ready. I can’t believe today is my wedding day.”

“I will go on ahead to find a seat. Allen will walk you to the church, as well as walk you down the aisle. I’ll see you later.” Wendy gives Kayla a kiss on her cheek and squeezes her hand. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Wendy, can we see each other again and maybe be friends once we land on Zodar?”

Wendy smiled at her. “Yes, I would like that.”

Wendy was gone before Kayla could thank her for all her help. She looked at Allen, and by his expression you could tell he was eager to ‘get this show on the road’. Kayla lifted her chin, took hold of Allen’s arm, looked over at him, and grinned. “Let’s go.”

Allen’s expression turns serious. “First, I have something to give you.”

“What is it?” she asks quietly.

He hands her a velvet box. Her hands are shaking as she opens it up, she gasps when she sees the exact ring she had wanted to buy for Alex. She looked up at Allen, astonishment showed in her face. “How did you know?”

He smiled mischievously at her. “We have our ways.” As if that explained it all.

Kayla laughed and shook her head. “Thank you. You can’t imagine how much this ring means to me. I wanted to take Alex to the mall to look at it this evening after dinner. With all that has happened the last few hours, I had forgotten all about the ring.”

“I’m glad you are happy with my choice. Now, let’s get this show on the road.”

Kayla giggled. “Yes let’s.” She couldn’t wait to be Mrs. Alex Jackson.