Blood thicker than water
It was another boring day at the tanner house as Alf sat under the coffee table beside the couch watching TV. It was in the middle of the week and most of the tanner family was out, Willie was as work, Brian was at school and Lynn was at her college and Kate was doing housework elsewhere. It was days like this where Alf felt the most bored and lonely as he had no one to talk too, of course Kate was always around, but since she liked him the least she was not one up for conversation. All he had to comfort him was the noise of the TV, even though whatever was on this time of day was disastrously boring, but he had to make due. He would play surf through the channels looking for something decent to watch. Finally he turned to something that caught his interesting, it was of a middle-aged man doing these silly things and living in a house with a women. As Alf watched the show more, he soon found out the man was really an alien being from another planet that came to observe and adapt to earth's customs. He soon thought this human like alien being is just like him, an unfamiliar being on an unfamiliar planet trying to adapt to their lifestyle and customs. Only difference was he did not come here by choice, but as I thought about it more maybe he did, he was the one who first saw interest in this planet thinking it was another Melmac, but it was not his choice to crash land to someone's garage and not be able to return into space. The more he watched the show, the more it reminded him of himself and he started to get depressed, so he switched too something else.
Soon enough evening approached, Brian and Lynn were back from school and Willie was back home from work and Kate started making dinner. Alf was relieved to have some social contact again. When everyone sat down at the dinner table for dinner, Alf was surprisingly quiet, he would usually start to crack jokes on Kate's cooking or do his rude mannerisms, but tonight he just sat there and poke at his food. His thoughts were still dwelling on that show he watched and thinking on what he life has become. Everyone started to show concern on how quiet he was.
Finally Willie spoke up "Alf, is something bothering you?"
"Uhh? Oh…nothing." Alf said back.
"Are you sure?" Willie said again.
"Yeah." Alf said back again with the glum look still on his face.
Willie was still not convinced it was okay, but he choose not the press the issue as Alf would talk about it when he feels up to it. Alf eventually did eat all of his dinner and sat down in his usual spot next the couch to watch some evening TV with Brian and Lynn, Alf remained pretty quiet during that time too. Soon enough it was bed time and Alf did not put up any protest in going to bed this time, which was also very unusual for him. Even Brian and Lynn were started to get concerned to as if something was bothering him, but they figured it was just a phase and he would back his regular self the next day.
As Alf settled into his little basket he had for bed in the laundry room, he started to look through his old photos again he had in a box beside him. Photos of his family and friends he had back on Melmac, finally he came across a photo of him and Rhonda together. Looking at the photo made him stop and think, it had been several months since Rhonda and his old friend skip had made a fly by to earth to pick him up, but he choose to stay behind. Now Alf was thinking if had made the right choice by staying behind. He could of easily gotten his old life back and be happy with own kind again, but in the end he just could not bring himself to say goodbye to the tanners, as they have meant so much too him in the short time he had been here. But what if now that he did not come when he was suppose too, Rhonda would no longer want to be with him. Tears started to stream down his face as he lingered on that thought, he hoped if Rhonda ever did return, she would forgive him for not showing up. Eventually, he wiped the tears away from his face and put away the photos and settled himself down to try to get some sleep, even though that might be impossible now.
As suspected, it was 1 o'clock in the morning and Alf still could not get to sleep. So he decided to get up and go to the kitchen for a late night snack hoping it would help clam his thoughts and help him get some sleep. As he opened the fridge door to get something to eat, he started to hear strange noises. The noises sounded like they coming from outside, he closed the fridge door and went to look out the kitchen window. He couldn't see anyone, but he could definitely hear something rustling around in the brushes in the backyard. Alf got a bit scared and tried to figure what to do. He could go wake Willie up, but he figured Willie would just think he was hearing things, so he decided to put matters into own hands.
A few minutes later he came out into the backyard holding a baseball bat, he was still a bit scared to confront whatever was sneaking around out there, but he wanted to protect is adoptive family.
As he cautiously walked around the backyard with the bat, he spoke out "alright, who or whatever you are. I got a lethal weapon and not afraid to use it."
Alf soon stop walking around and didn't hear the rustling noises anymore, maybe whatever it was had gone away. Suddenly, Alf felt something cold and hard press firmly against the back of his head, instinctively he dropped the bat he was holding and rose he hands in the air. He was shaking from head to toe thinking he had just been caught by someone dangerous.
Before Alf could say anything, a voice spoke out "alright drifter, state you name and orbit guard ID."
At first Alf was scared out of his mind, but then he thought of that voice, a voice he had not heard in a very long time and thought he never hear again.
"Blinky?" Alf said softly
"Gordon?" Alf heard the voice say back.
Alf felt the cold hard object slowly move away from his head and he slowly turned around to face his newcomer. Out the dark shadows he saw his long lost cousin, Blinky, slowly step out. Blinky looked a lot like Alf with a similar hairstyle and the same brownish color of fur, expect he was a lot taller and older then Alf and he was wearing just a sleeveless vest and pants.
"Blinky!" Alf shouted at once.
"Gordon!" Blinky shouted back.
At once without second thought, they embraced in each other with open arms. After a brief moment of hugging, they parted from each other and Alf soon said "geez, Blinky! You scared the hell out of me!"
"Sorry about that Gordon, it didn't know for sure if you were friend or foe." said Blinky as he put his gun away in its holster that was on a belt around his waist.
"How did you get there and how you find me?" Alf asked anxiously.
"It's a long story, but we can discuss that later. Right now I need to get you out of here before someone sees you." Blinky said.
"Actually someone already as." Alf said.
"What?" Blinky said back kind of surprised.
"You see, I'm kind of living with a human family now." Alf said back.
"You mean to tell me that the species on this planet, these "humans" you call them, know you're here!?" Blinky said while shock and panic was starting to show on his face.
"No, not all of them! Just the family I live with, the tanners. I know what you thinking, but they really are nice people." Alf said.
"They did not try to hold your prisoner or hurt you in any way have they?" Blinky said with an anger look.
"No, not at all! They really are nice, come on I'll introduce them to ya."Alf said.
"I don't know Gordon. I usually don't trust a species I barely know anything about." Blinky said.
"Come on, they've gotten to like me pretty well, I'm sure they will like you." Alf said.
Blinky let out a sigh and said "fine, but I'm still cautious."
Alf lead Blinky in through the back door to the house, through the laundry room and into the kitchen. Alf turned on the light so Blinky could see everything better. Blinky scanned the kitchen with intense eyes trying to take everything in.
"A rather small household for a species their size." Blinky finally said.
"Yeah, do tell, but they got really good food here." Alf said as he opened the fridge again and grabbed whatever food he could get and then bought it out to the kitchen table.
"You want anything?" Alf said going back to the fridge to get more food.
"Nah, I'm fine. Could use a stiff drink though, do these "humans" have anything alcoholic?" Blinky said.
"No, afraid not, but you can try this stuff, it's pretty good." Alf said as he tossed a soda can to Blinky from the fridge.
Blinky grabbed the can and soon read the label on the can "doctor pepper? What would want to drink something from a doctor?"
"Don't ask me, I didn't name this stuff." Alf said as he came to the table with more food.
Soon both Alf and Blinky sat down at the table, as Alf began to gorge himself on the food he laid out on the table, Blinky soon said "so Gordon, how in the world did end up here? And furthermore how long have been here?"
"Well, it's a long story. I like to know the same from you." Alf said.
"Mine is a bit of a long story as well, but you go first." Blinky said.
"Well, after Melmac exploded I wandered through space either looking for any more survivors or another suitable place to live. I soon found this planet know as earth, I decided to check it out, but my spaceship malfunctioned and started to fall towards the planet. The next thing I remember I was in someone's house. Turns out a crash landed to a family's garage, my ship was beyond repairable, so I couldn't return to space. So the tanners took me in as part of their family and I've been living with them ever since."
"I see, interesting and they were not scared of you or tried to destroy you?" Blinky said.
"Nope, well they were a bit cared of me at first, but they quickly got used to me." Alf said.
"And you absolutely sure no one else knows your here?" Blinky said.
"Yeah, I'm sure because the tanners made a promise to not reveal me to the public, one big reason, the alien task force." Alf said.
"Hmph. Trust me, I know about them." Blinky said.
"You do?" alf said kind of surprised.
"Yeah, as they came looking for me as well." blinky said.
"So what about you? How did you get here and how to you find me?" Alf said.
"well, my story is a lot similar to yours, I wandered through space for a while, came upon this planet you called earth, decided to check it out and my spaceship malfunctioned and crashed landed as well, but unlike you mine crashed landed in a forest. Actually, that was a good thing because the last thing I wanted was to crash land in a populated area and draw unwanted attention, but unfortunately my abrupt arrival still did attract some unwanted attention. Shortly after a crash landed, some humans did some snooping around my hideout, they looked of military class and unfriendly. I presumed they were this alien task force you speak of, so I decided to hide myself from them. Thankfully I hid myself and my ship well, so they found nothing and the eventually left. After that, I spent months living on my own with what I could in the forest while trying to fix my ship. Soon I was able to fix my ship and ready to leave this planet as fast as I could, but as I was leaving towards space I picked up a signal, a signal I knew could only come from another melmacian ship, so I traced it and it lead to here." Blinky finally fished explaining.
"So you have had an encounter with them too, huh?" Alf said.
"yep, good thing I took the side of caution as who knows what they would of done if they found me, but it was to be expected for a planet so isolated as theirs they would freak out at the first sight of beings from another world" Blinky said.
"So if you knew I was here and was coming to see me, why didn't try to contact me?" alf said.
"I didn't exactly want to announce my presence in case the alien task force was still looking for me." Blinky said.
"But they still could find your ship." AlF said.
"Hmph, unlikely. I'm not an idiot, Gordon. Why do you think I specially designed by ship to have a cloak shield? The cloak shield makes my ship invisible to most radar from other planets, with primitive technology they have here, it was easy to hide from them." Blinky said.
"Oh, so no one knows you here?" alf asked.
"Nope, not yet, but I suspect someone might soon." Blinky said.
Meanwhile, while Alf and Blinky continued to talk, Kate who was sleeping the bedroom with Willie was soon woken up by all the noise downstairs. Kate could clearly hear it was Alf making all the noise, but she also heard someone else talking, this greatly concerned her.
She quickly moved over to Willie side of the bed and tried to shake him awake. "Willie!" she said in a whisper.
"Hmm….what?" Willie said as he began to stir from his sleep.
"Alf is up in the middle of the night again, but I hear someone else. It sounds if Alf is talking to another person." Kate said.
"Oh, he is probably up watching TV again, I guess I got to put him back to bed." Willie said as he sluggishly crawled out of bed.
Willie put his rode on and walked out the bedroom, down the stairs and into the living room. He expected to see Alf there watching TV, but he was not there, then he saw the light on in the kitchen and he figured he was there.
"Alf, how many times have we told you…"Willie started to say as he opened the kitchen door.
My Willie never got to finish his sentence, as what he saw before his eyes almost made me faint. There was Alf sitting at the table with tons of food laid all over the place and sitting next to him is what appeared to be another Alf.
"Yo Willie! Glad you awake, saved me the trouble of having to wake you up." Alf said
"Christ, I must be having one those nightmarish lucid dreams again, I'm seeing double Alf." Willie said.
"No, you're not dreaming, this is my cousin Blinky."Alf said.
Willie walker closer to the other alien to make sure it was real and he was not seeing things while Blinky was staring at Willie intently, studying anything closely of the strange being. Blinky started really nervous when Willie approached him as he didn't what he might do, but he decided to go for the friendly approach as Alf said they were not a threat.
"You must be one of the tanners, nice to meet you." Blinky finally said holding out his hand assuming that's how humans greet each other.
Willie cautiously took the furry alien's hand and said "umm….right, Willie tanner, nice to me you ummm….. Blinky."
"Gordon as told a lot about you. How you been protecting him from the alien task force." Blinky said.
"Yeah, that is why he is here." Willie said.
"I am grateful that, that you have kept my cousin out of danger for this long." Blinky said.
"Well, that hasn't be easy, but were glad to do it anyway." Willie said.
"I see, well you won't have to worry about that too much longer." Blinky said.
Both Willie and Alf were a bit confused at the statement Blinky had said. A few moments later Kate walked into the kitchen and said "Willie, what's going on? I thought you were putting Alf to bed."
A second later Kate realized what she saw in the kitchen and said with a concern look "am I seeing things or are their two Alfs in the kitchen?"
"Hey Kate, you're up too! Great, while you at it wake Lynn and Brian up too! I want to meet my cousin Blinky as well." Alf said.
"No, I'm afraid you're not seeing things, it appears that a part of Alf's family has come to pay as a visit." Willie said while holding Kate by the shoulders.
"You must be Kate tanner, nice to meet you, madam." Blinky said holding out his hand again.
Kate was a bit hesitant to shake blink's hand at first, but she soon did anyway not to be rude "hi, nice to meet you to umm….blinky."
"Gordon as told a bit about you as well." blinky said.
"Oh I'm sure that he as." Kate said.
"I guess I better wake Lynn and Brian up, they wouldn't want to miss this." Willie said as he left the kitchen. Kate stayed behind to keep an eye on Alf and Blinky.
A few minutes later Willie came back with a sleepy Lynn and Brian.
After Lynn yawned, she soon said "okay, what the big deal to wake us in the middle of the night for?"
"Well…..that." willie said pointing to the kitchen table
Soon enough Lynn and Brian realized what was sitting at the table with Alf.
"Am I imagining things or are there two Alfs there?" Lynn said.
"No, I'm afraid it is very real." Willie said.
"Cool! Two Alfs!" Brian said.
"Yo Lynn and Brian! I like you to meet my cousin binky!" Alf
"You mean the one you said eats light bulbs?" lynn said
"Yep, the one and only." Alf said.
Blinky friendly greeted Lynn and Brian was well and they returned the gesture. Soon Lynn and Brian got excited and started to ask Blinky dozens of questions, Blinky started to get a little annoyed, but he was willing to answer anyway. Then Alf started talking about how Blinky was in the orbit guard like Alf, but retired before he joined and also how they were close to each other back on Melmac.
Then Willie finally said "alright, I know were all excited about our new visitor, but we got to get back to sleep. We got a busy day tomorrow."
"Aww…dad, come on. I want to know more about Blinky." Brian said.
"No, Willie is right; we all got to get some sleep." Kate said
"Hey B, we'll have plenty of time to hang out tomorrow." Alf said.
"Oh, alright." Brian said.
After that, Lynn and Brian went back upstairs to bed and Willie and Kate started to clear up the kitchen. Soon enough Willie and Kate went back upstairs as well and once Alf and Blinky were finally alone, Blinky said "they call you Alf?"
"Yeah, it is sort of a nickname they gave me, it means alien life form." Alf said.
"How come they don't call you by your real name?" Blinky said.
"Don't know, but I don't mind it so much." Alf said.
"come 'on, I'll show you where I sleep." Alf said again as he left the kitchen and went into the laundry room and Blinky soon followed.
As Blinky entered the laundry room, Alf settled himself down in the laundry basket he had for a bed.
"You have got to be kidding me, you sleep in here?" Blinky said kind of surprised.
"Yeah, it's not so bad once you get used to it." Alf said.
Then Blinky folded his arms and leaned on the doorframe with one leg over the other said "it's funny, for a human family you lived with for a while they don't even give you a proper bed."
Alf give him an angry look and said "well, I am thinking of moving to the attic."
"Oh sure, that's so much better." Blinky said kind of sarcastically
Alf gave him another angry look said "look Blinky, they are doing their best to take care of me."
"I didn't say they didn't." Blinky said.
Alf was still a bit angry at what Blinky had said about the tanners.
"Sorry Gordon, no offense, but I think I rather sleep in my ship." Blinky said as turn to leave.
"You'll come back right?" Alf said kind of sad and disappointed. He hoped Blinky would sleep with him and keep him company for the night.
"Of course, as we have a lot of things to discuss." Blinky said and then he left the laundry room. Then Alf settled himself down in the basket more and went off to sleep.
As for Blinky, he managed to get out the tanner's house through one the back windows, hopped the fence in the backyard and went back to the spot where he hide his spaceship just outside the neighborhood.
The next morning Alf got up earlier than usual as he was eager for Blinky's return. The tanner family was already awake was well; Willie, Lynn and Brian were sitting at the kitchen table with Alf while Kate was busy cooking breakfast of toast, bacon and eggs. Brian was again asking questions about Blinky and Alf did his best to answer then from what he remembered about him,
Willie was reading the morning newspaper when he soon noticed a certain someone was missing, so he said "Alf, where did your cousin go?"
"We went to his spaceship for the night, but he'll be back soon." Alf said.
"I hope so, he was fun to hang out with." Brian said.
"Yeah, it seemed like a cool guy, I like to know him better too." Lynn said.
"Trust me, he'll be back." Alf said.
Sure enough, a few minutes later Blinky came in through the kitchen door.
"Hey Blinky! Glad your back, your just in time for breakfast!" Alf said excited.
"Oh, you're having breakfast, sorry, I will not intrude." Blinky said as he turned to leave.
"No, wait! Come' on and join the family!" Alf said.
"Yeah Blinky, come join us!" Brian said as he was excited too about Blinky.
"Are you sure that is okay with them?" Blinky said to Alf.
"Yeah, I'm sure!" Alf said and then looked over to Willie.
"Sure, why not." Willie simply said.
Then Alf looked over to Kate. Kate let out a small sigh and said "fine."
After that, Blinky sat down in an empty chair next to Alf which is where Kate would usually sit. Kate briefly looked over to Blinky while she was still busy cooking breakfast at the stove.
"Lord help me, my house is being invaded by furry aliens." Kate whispered to herself.
A few minutes later, Kate was done cooking and started to serve everyone at the table, then Kate soon realized she had not offered anything to Alf's cousin.
"I'm sorry, Blinky, did you want anything?" Kate said to blinky.
"No thank you, madam, I'm fine, but I could go for some coffee." Blinky said back.
Kate found it odd he wanted coffee because Alf never drank it, but she give him a mug and poured him a cup anyway.
Then suddenly something had dawned on Kate that concerned her "wait, how did you get in here, Blinky?"
"Through one of your back windows, you humans really should learn to secure your household better." Blinky said as he took a sip from his coffee.
Alf scarfed down his breakfast in no time and starting talking to Blinky, but Blinky stayed mostly quiet while he was at the table. Again throughout breakfast Brian and rest of the family starting asking general questions, again Blinky got annoyed by this but obliged to answer them anyway and kept his answers short and simple.
Finally, Blinky said to Alf closely "you know you and I have something to discuss, but I don't want to do it in front of….them."
Alf simply nodded his head and spoke out to everyone "guys, could you give me and Blinky a few minutes to talk alone."
Everyone was a bit concerned when Alf said that, but they were willing to respect his request anyway.
"Sure Alf." Willie said.
Then the tanner family got up and cleaned everything up from the table and walked into the living room.
Once Blinky was sure they had closed the kitchen door, he finally said "a rather nosey bunch aren't they?"
"Ah, come'on, they are just curious about you, they don't get aliens here too often." Alf said.
"So I have noticed." Blinky said.
Blinky took another sip from his coffee and then said "alright spill it, what's the deal with you and these "humans"?"
"Like I told you, I crashed into their roof and they made me part of their family." Alf said.
"but why haven't they revealed you yet or turned you in to that alien task force?' blinky said.
"Well, they did have a chance to turn me in, but they didn't." Alf said.
"Why is that?" Blinky asked.
"I'm not sure; I guess they care about me." Alf said.
"Hmph. Surprising they actually care about something besides themselves." Blinky said.
"What you got against the tanners, Blinky?" Alf said kind of angrily.
"It's not them, but really their race in general really." Blinky said.
"What are you saying?" Alf said.
"I'm saying these humans are nothing but greedy egotistic self-centered creatures." Blinky said harshly.
"Hey, not all humans are that way!" Alf said angrily.
"Really? Tell me; have been out into the society world of the planet?" Blinky said.
Alf down casted his head and said "well no, the tanners won't let me because if someone else saw me they might turn me in to the alien task force." Alf said.
"exactly my point, you may be good friends with the tanners, but the rest of the world would rather put on you display like some cheap entertainment in an amusement park or sent you a lab somewhere just so they take you part piece by piece just to see what makes you tick." Blinky said angrily back.
"Humans wouldn't do that!" Alf shouted.
"Oh believe me they would. You see, during the months I was hear fixing my ship I also went looking around human cities just to see what this place was like and I didn't like what I saw. You haven't seen the ugly side of humans like I have. That is why I have come here; too take you away from all this." Blinky said.
"So, you're serious about me leaving the tanners?" Alf said.
"yes." Blinky said.
Alf leaned his head down again and leaned back in his chair, after a moment of phase, he said "I can't, Blinky."
"Why not?!" blinky shouted.
"Because I can't leave them, not now anyway." Alf said.
"That's not a good enough excuse, Gordon!" Blinky shouted again.
"Alright fine, the truth is I've grown attached to them." Alf said.
"Christ, I knew it! Look Gordon, you may like them, but you don't belong here, you belong with your own kind." Blinky said.
"I know, but I just can't seem to say goodbye to them." Alf said.
"Hmph, cry me a river, what have those humans ever done for you?" Blinky said
"well for one thing, they have protected me, cared for me and most of all they love me." Alf said.
"Trust me, it isn't real." Blinky said coldly
"Hey, they really do love me!" Alf shouted.
"No, they don't! They may like you as a friend, but they can never love you like part of a family! You're too different from them!" Blinky shouted back.
"Since when does that matter?! They still love me!" alf said.
Blinky tried to calm himself down again and the spoke again "Gordon, your blinded from the truth, you know as well as I do that no matter how hard to try there is an empty space in your heart that they will never be able to fill."
Alf was about to say something back, but then he phased for a moment. what Blinky had said was true, even though he had a lot of good times with the tanners, there was still this emptiness and loneliness inside me that never seemed to go away.
Alf thought for a bit more and then said "even if I did leave with you, what I am going back too? Melmac is gone, everyone and everything I ever knew is gone."
"You're not as alone in the universe as you think you are. I heard rumors that a few orbit guard destroyer ships made if off before the planet exploded and have been searching for more survivors." Blinky said.
Alf perked up at that moment and said "really? Have you ever seen these ships?"
"No, but that is just from what I have heard. So you see, there still hope for us, even if is just a small glimmer." Blinky said.
"Do…do you know what happened to my family?" Alf said.
"Sorry Gordon, I don't, I'm just as clueless as you are. When Melmac started to fall apart, I just quickly grabbed whatever I could and got the hell out of there and then I was stranded alone in space as well, but I'm sure they are out there. Like many of us, scattered among the stars." Blinky said
"Come to think of it, Rhonda and skip came here as well once; they wanted me to leave too." Alf said as he sort of look away from Blinky.
"They did? Well, why didn't you go with them?!" Blinky said.
"Like I said, I couldn't bring myself to leave here." Alf said still not looking at Blinky
"So you rather spend the rest of your life with some strangers you barely know, then your own friends and family, your own flesh and blood?! That's low, even for you." Blinky said.
"You don't know what it was like for me, Blinky! You don't what it's like to make tough decisions, to have your heart tore two ways!" Alf said looking back at Blinky and throwing out his arms.
Blinky slammed on his hand of the table and said "don't talk to me about tough decisions! There were many of times I had to make tough calls! All those times I had to think what would be the greater good for myself and the ones I love. So this is why I want you to come with me, not because I am your my friend, but because it's for your own good."
"Alright, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I can't just leave like this, what the tanners think?" said Alf.
"Why should you care what they think? Thy probably be more than happy to see you leave." Blinky said.
"They're not like that! They're happy for me to be part of their family because they love me!" Alf shouted again.
"Trust me; I see it in their faces. There is only so much they can tolerate of you." Blinky said
"They have gotten along with me just fine!" Alf said.
"I wouldn't be so sure once they find how messed up you are on the inside. How you have suffering from post-traumatic stress and homesickness." Blinky said.
Alf's eyes went wide with surprise and said "how do you know about that?"
"I know because I have dealing with the same thing, the nightmares, screaming and punching at walls in the night. Being sensitive to every loud noise you hear thinking it might be a bullet to meet your end." Blinky said.
This was true, Alf have been having night terrors lately, more than often in the night he woke in in a cold sweat and panting hard. The nightmares were always of the same thing, of the war on Melmac and his planet exploding. He managed to keep his condition hidden from the Tanners because he did want them to worry about him.
"No, they don't know that about me yet." Alf said.
"I see, but I can assure you once they find out, they might think of you as a danger." Blinky said.
"No way, they could never think that!" Alf said.
"Trust me, they would. You think by being with these people it will help you eventually get over it? You know as well as I do there is no cure for this kind of messed up." Blinky said.
"Even so, they still would care about me no matter what!" Alf said
"Dammit, Gordon! When it is going to get through your thick head?! They don't love you; they just keep you around because they don't have a choice!" Blinky shouted back as he got up from his seat.
"Just because you don't like humans very much, doesn't mean the tanners are like that!" Alf shouted back getting out of his sit.
Meanwhile, as Blinky and Alf continue to argue, the tanners were still all sitting in the living room, they're arguing had gone on for a while now, the tanners could hear them shouting and were starting to get really concerned.
"They sound really mad at each other; I wonder what they are fighting about?" Lynn said.
"Well, whatever it is, they better stop or I'll break it up for them." Kate said folding her arms are getting frustrated.
"No, it is best to let them settle it; it would not to right to barge on their personal business." Willie said.
Then Brian quietly snuck over to the kitchen door and rested his head against it hoping to hear more of the conversation. Brian couldn't make out much of what they were saying, but he did manage to hear something about Alf's leaving earth.
Then Brian quickly opened the kitchen door and said "Alf, your leaving?!"
Both Alf and Blinky immediately stopped talking and turned towards Brian. Brian soon started to swell up in tears and quickly ran out the kitchen.
"Bri, wait!" Alf quickly said as he got up from the table and ran after Brian.
Brian quickly ran through the living room and up the stairs to the second floor.
"Brian, what's wrong?!" Willie shouted as he saw Brian run past.
"Alf's leaving!" Brian shouted as he continued to run up the stairs.
Alf then came into the living room and was met with confused and awestruck looks from Willie, Kate and Lynn.
"Alf, what is going on?" Kate said.
"Don't worry; I'll take care of it." Alf said and proceeded up the stairs after brain.
Brian quickly ran into his room, flopped on his bed and buried his face in his pillows crying his eyes out.
Alf soon entered Brian's room and said "hey Bri!"
Brian did not left his face up from the pillows, but said "go away!"
Soon Alf spoke again "come' on, B! Don't be like this."
"But Alf, you're leaving, why? Don't you like us anymore?" Brian said finally lifting his face away from the pillows.
"Of course I do! But I still love my family too and this might my only chance I have to see them again." Alf said as he came closer to Brian's bed.
"But I don't want you to go; I would miss you too much." Brian said sitting up in his bed.
"I would miss you a lot too buddy, but I have to do this." Alf said back.
"Plus, if you go, I wouldn't see you ever again." Brian said again.
"No, of course I would come back! I would never forget about you guys!" Alf said.
"So I guess I'm acting kind of selfish my making you stay?" brian said.
"No no, you're the least selfish person I know. You and your family have given something I could never forget, but you must understand I have my own life too with my own people." Alf said.
Brian calmed down and whipped away the tears from his eyes and said "okay, but promise me you'll come back?"
"Of course, I promise." Alf said.
After that, both Alf Brian hugged each other gently, after the finished hugging Alf left Brian's room and closed his door in case he needed some alone time.
Alf turned around, only to be caught by surprise to find Blinky standing in the hallway with his arms folded and the leaning on the wall again with a stern look on his face.
"Now you see why I can't leave, Blinky? The poor kid would be heartbroken without me." Alf said.
"Sometimes you have to break a few hearts in order to move on with your life." Blinky said narrowing his eyes.
"I'm not like you, I can't just walk away from everything." Alf said back.
"In this case, it is probably for the better." Blinky said.
"What's gotten into you, Blinky? You never used to be this cold." Alf said.
"Hey, when your entire planet blows up, things change." Blinky said.
Alf leaned down his head, he soon came to the realization everyone and everything around me was changing again and not for the better and he was finding it very hard to change with it.
"So are you coming with me or not?" Blinky said firmly.
Alf lifted his head up again and said "ummm…. I need to think about this."
Blinky let out a sigh and said "fine, but don't think about it too long."
Alf and Blinky went back down stairs and when they entered the living room again, Willie approached Alf and said "it is true? Are you really leaving?"
Alf looked up at Willie and said "maybe, but nothing as be decided yet."
Blinky just shook his head in dismay and went back into the kitchen. Alf soon followed Blinky into the kitchen as he was hungry again and wanted to get himself a snack.
When Alf went to the fridge, he had his back turned to Blinky for a second, which was all the second Blinky needed to make his move, he quickly run up behind Alf, pulled his gun out from his belt holster and pressed into his back. Alf froze instantly, he not need to turn around to know what was pressed against his back.
"Blinky, are you crazy?! Bringing a gun in here! If the tanners find out they will go nuts!" Alf said in a whisper.
"Sorry Gordon, I tried negotiating with you, but you simply will not listen to me. I didn't want to do this, but you left me with no choice." Blinky said whispering to Alf's ear.
"Please Blinky, don't do this. Don't force me to leave them." Alf said.
"Trust me; this is for your own good." Blinky said back.
Then Blinky pressed the gun harder into Alf's back and said "now move!"
Blinky forced Alf back out into the living room where Willie, Kate and Lynn still were, when the two aliens came back out of the kitchen, they all had concerned on their faces, but they didn't see the gun pressed against Alf's back.
"Gordon, or Alf as you call him, as something to say to all of you." Blinky said.
Alf was being hesitant to speak, so Blinky gave him a quick jab with his gun, which made him flinch a bit, but the tanners didn't seem to notice it. Then Alf soon said "umm…I have final made my decision, I'm leaving. I'm going back with Blinky."
"You're really serious this time? You're not going to stall out again are you?" Kate said.
"No, I'm really going this time." Alf said.
"Aww…Alf, we are really going to miss you." Lynn said.
"I know, but this what I really want." Alf said somberly.
"Well, if that is your decision, then we should respect that, is it what you always wanted anyway." Willie said.
"Can we at least get a hug goodbye?" Lynn said as she got up front her seat.
Blinky again gave another quick jab of his gun into Alf's back and then Alf said "no no, it's probably best I just leave."
Lynn was a bit confused by Alf's reply because he never left without giving a hug goodbye before, but she soon said "oh…okay, then goodbye Alf."
"Farwell, Alf, we'll never forget you." Willie soon said.
Kate was a bit hesitant at first, but soon said "goodbye, Alf."
Alf was getting a bit teary eyed and soon said back "thanks guys, say goodbye to Brian for me."
After that, Blinky drew Alf back into the kitchen and with his gun still firmly placed against Alf's back, forced him through the kitchen and the laundry room and through the back door to the backyard. When Alf left the house, the tanners thought it was very odd Alf would make his decision so quickly and would leave without saying much of a goodbye considering that last time her tried to leave, he couldn't because he would miss them too much.
As Blinky lead Alf though the backyard, Alf noticed he had left Brian's baseball bat in the yard from last night and it was right in the path they were walking, then he got an idea. As he walked over the baseball bat, he kicked it lightly to go under Blinky's feet. Blinky stumbled a bit and his gun drew away from Alf's back for a second, which was all the second Alf needed to turn around and grab Blinky's arm that held the gun. Then Alf and Blinky started to struggle with each other, Alf tried to get the gun out of Blinky's hand and Blinky tried to push him away. A shot was accidently fired from the gun while they were struggling, thankfully it missed them both. The tanners heard the shot and they all got up and rushed to the backdoor in horror. They were utterly shocked of find the two aliens fighting each other. Alf finally managed to knock the gun out of Blinky's hand, when the gun hit the ground, Alf kicked it away out of Blinky's reach. Blinky then forcefully threw Alf to the ground and then took a step back to catch his breath.
"So all those years in the orbit guard did teach you something." Blinky said.
Alf quickly got back up and said "stop this, Blinky! You can't force me to leave!"
"Oh, I can and I will. If I have to fight you to do so, then so be it!" Blinky said.
The next moment Blinky charged at Alf and tackled him to the ground, Alf was pinned to the ground in a minute. Even though Blinky was a lot stronger then Alf, he still could hold his own, they started to bite and claw at each other's faces, Blinky punched Alf in the right eye and Alf punched Blinky in the left cheek. Then they started to pull at each other hair, Alf grabbed the hair on top in Blinky's head, he pulled as tight as he could, but Blinky still would not let go of him. Then Blinky did the same and pulled at Alf's hair on top on his head, this time Blinky managed to pull a few hairs out and Alf yelped in pain. Soon they started to roll around on the ground, Alf tried to Blinky off from top of him, but Blinky always had the upper hand. Meanwhile, the tanners continued to look on in shock and horror.
"Dad, do something! He is going to kill Alf!" Lynn shouted.
"There is nothing we can do; it's too dangerous for any of us to get involved." Willie said in dismay.
Finally Alf managed to kick Blinky in the stomach which in turn threw him off Alf and on to the ground. By this time both aliens were exhausted from fighting, Alf struggled to his feet ready for another round with Blinky, but he did not get back up. Blinky was still lying on the ground holding his stomach in pain and was breathing hard and coughing a bit. Alf hoped he had not hurt Blinky real bad, but he was left with no other choice. Finally Blinky struggled to his feet, Alf expected him to charge again, but he didn't, instead he just stood there said.
"Fine, have it your way, I'm done with you! But mock my words Gordon, this family will be the death of you! When you're an in lab somewhere ready to be dissected into pieces, don't come running to me!"
After that, Blinky started to walk away, picked up his gun from where it had been thrown, hopped the fence of the backyard and was never seen again. Alf continued to stand there panting hard to make sure Blinky was gone for good. Then Willie and the rest of the Tanners quickly rushed over to Alf.
"Alf, are you okay? What in the world happened?" Willie asked frantically.
"Nothing we need to worry about anymore." Alf simply said.
Soon the Tanners brought Alf back into the house and sat him down at the kitchen table. Willie went to get his first aid kit to patch Alf up for his injuries, he was not badly hurt, a few cuts on his nose and face, a black eye from where he had been punched, a bloody nose and a small wound from where Blinky tore his hair out. Alf had a grim look on his face and was quiet throughout the whole ordeal; they figured Alf did not want to talk about whatever happened between him and his cousin, so they left it at that.
After Alf got patch up, he sat on a ledge next to a window, it started to rain outside and for a while he just sat on the ledge watching the rain pour down and listened to the pitter patter on the window pane, he didn't want to watch TV, he didn't want to eat, he didn't want to do anything. The Tanners started to get greatly concerned for him and Kate tried to convince Willie to talk to him, but Willie figured he just needed time to get over what had just happened. But as the day drew on and he continued to sit by the window, Willie finally decided it was best to talk to him.
Willie pulled up chair and sat across from Alf and soon said "I know it's none of my business to know what happened between you and your cousin, but I'm here if you want to talk."
At first Alf did not respond and continued to look out the window, but then he soon turned to Willie and said "oh Willie, I've done a terrible thing, I just pushed away the only family I probably had and the only chance of getting off this planet."
"So why didn't you go with him? You said you wanted too." Willie said.
"No, I lied; I didn't really want to go. Blinky forced me to say that and he was forcing me to leave you guys." Alf said.
"So that is way you two got into a fight?" Willie said.
"Yeah, he was forcing me to leave and I did not want that to happen. If I leave, I want it to be my choice." Alf said.
"So you didn't really want to leave?" willie said.
"Yeah, I do miss my family and friends, but I would miss you guys more." Alf said.
"Ah Alf, that is sweet of you." Willie said.
"Also Blinky had a gun and when I knew that I was afraid he might hurt you or the kids, or even Kate and I didn't what that to happen." Alf said.
"I see. Well, I'm glad that you care about that much." Willie said.
Alf went quiet again and looked back out the window, Willie assumed he was done talking so he started to get up from his seat, then Alf turned back to him said "Willie, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure Alf." Willie said.
"Do you guys really love me?" Alf said.
"Of course we do Alf, what made you think that?" Willie said.
"I mean not just as a friend, but as….family?" Alf said
"Oh Alf, is this what it's about?" Willie said.
Willie then phased for a moment trying to think of the right words to say, and then he finally spoke "I know we can never replace your real family, but we will try to do our best and really any way you look at it, were glad you became part of our family."
"Do you really mean that?" Alf said.
"Of course." Willie said.
After that, Willie came over to Alf and gave him a long gentle hug and then Willie walked away to give him more time alone. Despite what Willie had said, Alf still sat by the window in a depressed mood, he still needed time to get over what just happened, but by the time it was dinnertime, he was feeling better and his big appetite for food had come back. After that, the Tanners decided to have a movie night with Alf since he really needed it. They all sat down in the living room together with Alf sitting in his usual spot beside the couch and under the coffee table. It made Alf feel a lot better knowing they wanted to spend time with him together as a family. When the movie ended and everyone started to turn in for the night, Alf went to bed that night in a much happier mood knowing the family he was living with now may be is true family, but they still loved him just as much. Perhaps one day he would to see his own family again, but until that day comes, he was just as happy with this one.
THE END