12:00 p.m. April 23, 2015
Two youths were lying on their backs in a large courtyard’s field of lush dark green grass. The field was dotted with green-leafed elm trees and squirrels could frequently be seen running up and down their trunks. Walkways crisscrossed through the courtyard and numerous people were walking quickly across them as they socialized with friends. On all sides of the courtyard, there were gothic styled buildings complete with spires. The sky is mostly clear with white wisps of clouds here and there and the sun is brilliantly shining down upon the Earth in all its glory. It would be a rather normal scene if not for the ominous obsidian colored ships with a metallic luster hanging from the atmosphere, which even from the ground, looked extremely large and foreboding.
“It’s been nearly twenty-five years and they’re still just hanging there in the atmosphere. I mean…I don’t think any extraterrestrial beings would just sit there that long next to a planet with life and not have some ulterior motives” spoke one of the two youths lying on the ground. He appeared to be in his late teens and had a lean, athletic build at 5’ 11” with bronze colored-skin, gray eyes, black hair, and a stubble of hair growing on his face.
“Maybe they’re just here for the view, Alex” laughed a short, but extremely muscular black male, with his dark brown eyes lingering on a shapely girl who was walking by.
I turn to face my friend, Sharad, and snapped my fingers. “Hey, focus bro. Don’t you think it’s weird? There’s obviously aliens up in those ships, but ever since they got here in 1990 they’ve literally done nothing at all! What the hell are they even here for?” I frustratingly reply to his lack of focus.
“Come on, man. You know I love it when they walk” he helplessly replied as he reluctantly turns his head away from her and towards me. “Yeah, I agree, it’s weird…but remind me again why we can’t just politely ask the aliens why they’re here? I say politely because I’m not all for attempting to survive an alien invasion at my age…I’m also not a history major so I kinda didn’t pay too much attention in high school…” he trails off while scratching his head.
I sigh exasperatedly. “Chill out. You’re nineteen same as me! How do you not even know…ugh! Look, I’m sure you can at least remember what happened when the United Nations planned to probe the ships, right?”
As if the words ‘United Nations’ had lit a light bulb within his head, Sharad hurriedly replied saying, “Oh, hold on, you’re talking about the manned aircrafts we sent that somehow just dissolved into ashes once they tried to break through the stratosphere…as if they had run into some sort of force field or something, right?”
“Right…Well, I guess we can only just wait and see like everyone else…but it still bothers the hell out of me.” I say turning my head back up towards those unmoving ships. “Anyways, I’ve got that lab quiz in about an hour so I’m gonna head to my room and refresh for a bit. I’ll hit you up later. Maybe we can finish Star Wars V or something?”
“Sounds good, bro. The quiz didn’t go too well for me, but I’m sure you’ll be alright. And most def on the Star Wars later” he replies with a smile.
I laugh and good-naturedly reply while walking away, “I’ll be sure to exact vengeance for you, my fallen comrade.”
………………..
11:55 p.m. April 23, 2015
“I didn’t really like that movie as much as one through four. It was kinda…boring and they all just made terrible decisions! But I suppose that that’s how you make a story more interesting or something.” I said to Sharad. We had just finished watching Star Wars V.
“I agree with the terrible decision making skills, but I still thought it was pretty good. We’ll have to watch the last one tomorrow and then begins the long wait for the seventh movie” Sharad said while making an awful pouting face. I ignored it and proceeded to pack my laptop into my bag and throw it on.
“It’s good that we could use your room. My roommate is always blasting the speakers playing Battlefield so there’s no way we could’ve watched it in there” I said as I swept an arm out indicating his room. “I’m gonna go back to my room and sleep…I’ll see you in chemistry at 10:30?”
“…I haven’t been to chemistry in like a week, but we’ll see, bro” Sharad laughed I looked at him completely astonished. Then I shrugged.
“Well, I’ll pray for you once finals come around” I laughed. “Alright, imma head out. Night bro” I said as I walked out of his room and into the hallway of his dorm.
“Night brotha!” I heard as the door shut behind me.
‘Alright, let’s see…’ I think to myself. Having made a decision on how I’m going to get back to my room, I walk off down the hallway and hit a left at the end of the hall. I keep walking down the hall and even though it’s lit, there is an eerie silence throughout the floor of the dorm. I made it to the end of the hall, stopped in front of an elevator and pressed the ‘down’ button. Once it arrived, I stepped in and pressed the button for the basement. The dorms that Sharad and I live in are connected by an underground space where three dorms share their washers, dryers, and extra cleaning supplies.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
“Oh wait! Hold the doors please!” I heard footsteps hitting the floor of the hallway outside the elevator and stuck my hand in between the doors of the elevator right before they closed.
Looking out into the hall I see a short girl who appeared to be a mix of white and Asian. ‘Oh, I’ve seen her in my chemistry class.’ Upon this revelation I take a closer look at her and realize that she’s a very pretty girl.
I sigh in slight admiration at her beauty and give my best smile to her saying, “I caught it for you. No worries.” I move to the side as she walks up to the elevator and steps in while giving me her thanks. “No problem. Hey, you’re in my chemistry class, right? I have Professor Ka Yee.” I ask as the doors close.
“Yeah, I am! I’ve seen you around a couple times…I’m actually pretty worried about finals. Things have been more or less quite confusing in the class since we started on the latest crystal structure stuff. Oh, my name is Sarah by the way.” She stretches out her hand and I shake it.
“Alex” I reply. This was the moment that I was hit with the greatest idea ever. I let go of her hand and awkwardly looked around the confines of the elevator. “Well, I’m doing pretty alright in the class…if you’d like, erm, maybe we could have a couple study sessions in the library before the final?” I cross my fingers behind my back for good luck. We were nearing closer and closer to the basement…
“Oh…!” she exclaims, obviously realizing that I’m trying to get to know her better.
‘What the fu-…is she blushing!?’ I excitedly thought.
“Well, I have been having quite a bit of trouble so…yeah sure, why not?” she says. The elevator dings and the doors open moments later. We both step out and turn towards each other.
“Well, can I get your number and I’ll text you tomorrow so we can figure something out..?” I trail off while pulling my iPhone out of my pocket and begin opening up a new contact space.
“Sure” she responds as her face becomes even more flushed.
As she gives me the numbers, I’m on cloud nine. ‘Is she blushing even harder?? Does real life even work like this??’ I mused. We began walking towards the end of the hallway where it split in two different directions.
“Well, I’m going to do my laundry, so I’ll see you around Alex” she says with a light blush.
I give her a smile and tap my phone. “I’ll be in touch soon for that study session, Sarah.” I turn and walk down the hall towards another door which I pushed through and continued to walk down another lit hallway.
I kept walking forward and in half a minute, I made it to the next elevator. I press the ‘up’ button and wait for it to come down since I’m way too lazy to take the stairs I had passed about ten yards back all the way up to the third floor. I take this time to run through my mental checklist of things to do and after nearly a minute the elevator arrives. I step into it and focus my attention on my hearing just in case God decides to smile down upon me once more by gracing me with another beauty’s presence.
Oddly enough, before the elevator doors were close to closing, I heard heavy breathing that seemed animal in nature. I blocked the doors and peered out around the edge of the corner to see a hairless pale green organism trotting with its back towards me down the hall where I had just come from. It stood at four and a half feet tall and was wearing a pair of shoddy boots and dirty trousers with holes in them. However, its clothes weren’t what drew my attention. I zoned in on a glint of light coming from its waist and immediately recognized it as a thin sword that was about two feet long.
Immediately withdrawing my head from the corner, I freaked out, ‘what the fuck!?’ Nearly involuntarily letting out a noise, I clamped my hands over my mouth managing to stifle it at the last second.
‘Could it be robotic? No, definitely not. It moves too smoothly to be artificial. So it’s real? It has to be. This has to be connected to the ships…holy sh-…they’re finally making their move…but…why is there a goblin looking creature jogging around here in my dorm of all places?’ I peered back around the opening of the elevator just in time to see the goblin pull open the door and move out of my line of sight. ‘This is…what the hell is going on? There might be more than just one of these things. I need to let people know about this. The desk lady could probably notify people more efficiently than I can.’
Attempting to not panic, I step back into the elevator, press the button for the first floor and wait for the doors to close. ‘Oh shit!’ I stick my hand out once more and bolt out of the elevator towards the direction I had come from. ‘It’s only been two minutes since I last saw Sarah, so she’s probably still in the laundry room! That little green thing is heading towards her!’