It stinks on this planet. It's noisy too.
"This 'Earth' place sucks," I told my brother. "I want to have fun."
"Don't be silly," laughed Tony. "This is paradise! You'll see! We have games and horror movies. I'm never going home!"
I let out a snort. Ever since Tony moved to Earth, all he thought about were those stupid games. I loved games, but not the kind that made your thoughts feel fuzzy and your eyes feel glassy. Tony never wanted to play my games anymore. He only played with America. I didn't know what horror movies were, but just sitting around watching anything sounded like a waste of time.
I think I'm jealous.
I wasn't jealous that Tony lived in this hellhole. I wasn't even jealous that he liked America better than me. But I envied their close bond, a bond I knew I was missing. I didn't have a friend. I wished I could be close to someone. It would be thrilling to have a bonded Earthling pet. Or a friend. Was that the same thing?
I don't understand their customs.
"Why are you carving signs into those big orange orb plants? Is it magic? Is it torture?"
"It's Halloween!" said Tony as if that was even more delightful. "America and I and some of his friends are trick-or-treating together: you wanna join?"
"No," I mumbled. I didn't know what he was talking about. A boring activity? But then again... "Yes." I changed my mind. "I meant yes. I'm joining."
Tony gave me a curious look, but I just shrugged. A little piece inside my big head was excited, but I chose to ignore it. I was hoping too hard. It wouldn't happen. America's friends could never be interested in me...
"We need to get our preparations in order," said my brother, and then he asked a curious question:
"What time is it?"
It was peculiar how time worked on this smelly planet. I didn't care for any of the other earthly devices Tony showed me ("tee-vees" that displayed moving images, "glasses" that could cure humans' bad eyesight, "radios" that made a lot of incomprehensible noise for no apparent reason), but the clocks fascinated me. I could hold one up against my ear and listen to the ticking for days. It felt as if these clocks and their constant, meditative ticking were what kept this planet's time in control. I wondered what would happen if you broke one...
