I'm pretty certain this idea has been done a bajillion times already, but that won't stop me. I love originality, I seriously do, it's just… I don't have any of it :P So, I'm going to continue ripping off stories and such. Honestly, I have no clue what I'm ripping off right now, all I know is its probably been done before xD Oh well, I hope you enjoy it.


It's Saturday, and Saturday is probably the only day I'm able to go out to the town so I could buy groceries and tractor parts. I would come on a week day, when people were out and active, but I always had to clean the house and tend to the fields. Not that I was being told to, not anymore. It was more out of habit, and I didn't really want to break the schedule. I don't know why.

The cashier, an old meaty man with silver brows and a thick moustache that hugged his bare chin, rang me up, calculating the prices and bagging the various foods in paper bags.

"How's the farm?" He asked, his voice like thunder. Not booming, but rumbling.

"It's still growing, so I must be doing something right." I said lightly, getting a nod from the emotionless hunk of meat. The only time this guy ever laughed or smiled was when his 'darling' niece was around. Everyone else was like a heap of shit to the man. Particularly the hairdresser, but that's a different story.

"How have you been?" He continued the conversation, carefully stacking the two cartons of eggs, then putting the bread above them. I adjusted my glasses until they sat comfortable on the rim of my nose, shuffling through the various postcards stacked on the counter.

"…Still living, so I must be doing something right." I muttered lamely, and the man sighed, almost blowing the postcard I had in my hand. This guy's sighs were probably as strong as a hurricane. I constantly wondered how huge his lungs must be in order to hold that much air.

"If you ever need anything, we're here for you. Remember that, Alfred." He tried to sound convincing and comforting, but I scowled anyway. No matter who said it, if it weren't my parents, I didn't want to hear it. I hated hearing that phrase coming from someone who wasn't related to me.

I took the brown bags, one in each arm, and I started walking out of the shop, keeping my eyes on the door.

"Alfred." The cashier called out, and I tilted my head back and sighed myself. Luckily, I didn't cause a whole house to crumble with my sigh, unlike meat-man back there.

"What is it, dude?" I was annoyed, and I let it show in my voice. However, this guy sucked at picking up on things like that. I shouldn't complain, though, since I couldn't read the atmosphere either.

"We're worried about you." He told me, and I smirked. 'We' being he and his 'sweet as chocolate' niece. Her parents were dead, and he didn't have a wife or children, so they made a good duo.

"Don't be. I'm fine." I said, adjusting the weight of the bags, then continuing out onto the sidewalk where my bike waited. I would've driven the tractor down instead, but it was running low on gas, and I didn't want it to die in the middle of the road. So I stuffed my groceries in the basket on the back of the bike and I got on, pedaling down the road and towards my farmhouse Arthur left me.

When I reached the pathway that led to the door, I hopped off my bike and walked it up until I got to the steps, then I flipped the kickstand and leaned it close to the wall. I unlocked the door first, pushing it open with my foot as I grabbed the groceries. I shuffled into the house, nudging the door closed with my butt, then shrugging my jacket off, letting the bag balance on my hip, hugged between my side and the wall as the jacket slid off one arm, then the same with the other. When it dropped to the floor, I stepped on the back of each sneaker, pulling them off by the heel, then slipping my socked feet out and swiping them against the wall with my windbreaker. After, I padded down the wooden halls, past the rectangular archway into the living room and the small marble bathroom, then I made a left at the guest bedroom and down a shorter hall that had one entire side that opened up into the kitchen. I set the bags on the linoleum counters beside the microwave and I started unpacking them, putting the bread by the microwave, the two cartons of eggs in the fridge, and the various cereals on top of the white fridge, leaving the Cap'n Crunch on the counter and digging out a shallow glass bowl.

As I filled up the bowl, I flipped on the small television beside the microwave, not with the bread, but on the other side. It was the news, of course. A farmer needed to keep track of the weather at all times. At least, that's what Arthur taught me.

"Tomorrow there will be a chance of heavy rain. In fact, there may even be a big storm coming through in the next few days. If it does, there may be a blackout, so make sure you have some spare candles or kerosene lamps in your closets!" The weather man said, and I groaned. Sure, I wouldn't have to water the plants for a few days if there's a storm, but I hate blackouts.

"Oh… Oh I'm… getting an update." The man stammered, pressing a hand to his ear, probably so he could hear through the receiver he was wearing. It was made to look like a Bluetooth and I was told it was supposed to make him look professional but also human, but to me it made him seem all the more alienated.

"There storm is coming in much quicker than… previously anticipated…"

Oh hell, if I have to suffer through a blackout right now I was seriously going to punch a cow. I was spooning dry scoops of Cap'n Crunch in my mouth quickly as I watched the weather man become more and more agitated as information spilled in through his idiotic Bluetooth. Then, I heard a deep and thundering BOOM!

No way in HELL did a storm move that fast! I wondered, 'was it a hurricane instead?' I nearly threw my bowl on the counter, spilling dry Cap'n Crunch all over the place, and I ran to the window, pulling open the shutters to peek outside. It got gray impossibly quickly! I couldn't see any hurricane or tornado, but that didn't mean there wasn't one. I ran to my front door, grabbing my jacket and squeezing my feet into the sneakers, then I ran back down past the kitchen and out the sliding door in the back, where the corn field was. I stepped off the porch, still tugging on my black jacket and I examined the skies. It wasn't raining yet, but it was definitely going to in a few minutes. The clouds were moving so quickly, and for a minute I thought I was watching a time-lapse video or something.

Another booming noise sounded, and a flash of lightning was seen in the grayness. I stepped further outside, reaching the wire fence that separated the thin strip of backyard from the corn, and I continued looking around, spinning in quick circles to find any sign of a tornado.

'Dammit, it was fall! We're not supposed to be having any tornados! Or rain! Fuck weather and Mother Nature! I wanted my corn to finish growing before the cold snap!' I thought.

Then, I saw it. It was very brief, but I saw it nonetheless.

A bright amber-yellow streak shot through the clouds, leaving a hazy golden glow in its path. I followed its short existence with my eyes, and it vanished within the clouds. I didn't know what to make of it. I tried to convince myself it was just a plane, but even I knew planes didn't fly that fast.

When I was trying to persuade myself that it was just a normal light, the clouds just above my cornfield snapped apart in a circle, and the amber light shot down and collided with the ground just as another booming strike of thunder made its appearance. The ground shook from the impact and I saw the stalks of corn sway and shudder.

The first thing I thought, the very first thing that came to mind, was a simple 'Oh HELL no!'

"My corn!" I cried dramatically, running forward without thinking of possible dangers of whatever that had just fallen from the sky. If I didn't have a complete harvest, I won't be able to bring in enough money for the winter! I hopped over the short fence and bolted through the stalks, shoving them gently away so I didn't get hit. Then the stalks cut short in a sudden drop. I skidded to a halt, falling back on my butt and twisting my ankle. I had almost fallen into the pit, but I was able to grip onto a rather stubborn stalk and keep myself from nose-diving into the nothingness.

I was panting heavily, and I scooted forward and peered down the dark hole. It was either terribly dark, or terribly deep, and I began to feel curious as to what really fell from the sky. I leaned forward just a bit more, still holding tightly onto my beloved corn, and I started seeing a faint yellow-ish glow.

"H-Hello?" I called out, but I got no response. The glow seemed to get a little brighter, and I patted the ground in search for a rock without taking my eyes off the light. When I found a pebble, I tossed it into the hole

"Ouch!"

ouch?

OUCH?

"Hello?" I yelled out again, a little more hysterically than before. I had backed away from the hole a considerable amount, and was practically hugging the stalk that had saved my life. I heard a shuffling noise, then pebbles tumbling, and soon a glowing metallic gold hand popped out and gripped the ground, right beside my foot. I squeaked and tugged both feet back, immediately regretting the sudden movement. My ankle throbbed painfully and I rubbed the soreness, still trying to back away from the arm that had now found its way out of the hole.

With a strained noise, a whole body was pulled out of the ground and onto the edge. The entirety of this body was a metallic gold, and the hair… the hair was forever flowing and glowing so beautifully! It was like liquid gold, never ceasing its windless flutter. One knee came up after the torso, then a second knee, and soon this glowing and almost angelic body was hovering above mine, skinny, frail arms on either side of my legs.

"Who are you?" I demanded, still feeling a little worked up since there was a hole in my corn field. The person slowly looked up; their goldenrod lips hanging open in a small yawn, and his eyes were shut, like a baby. When he had finished yawning, he moved a little closer to me, and I backed away just as quickly. He made a babbling noise, his brows pinching together in an upward arch, and it really looked like he just wanted a hug.

'Who knows, though? This guy –if it was a guy, that is- could be covered in some sort of poisonous… Poison that's… poisonous and stuff! I could die just by poking him, much less hug him! I would not take any chances! None! He –or she- could be some sort of maniac killer from a different planet that only Doctor Who would know how to kill, but he'd only be notified after my death!' I mused.

'God damn, I missed Arthur that badly?'

I shook my head slowly, then returned my attention to the problem at hand. Man, was this guy –or girl- absolutely beautiful! Even if he didn't have human coloured skin and glowed like a radioactive element, he was just stunning! His eyes were still closed, and he kept making baby noises, as if he didn't know English. Well, hey, if he's an alien, maybe he doesn't know English! Well, he should've learned if he was coming here.

He moved forward again, his head coming closer to mine, and I flinched back, instinctively putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him. A bare hand.

'Oh, shit!' I screamed in my head.

I tore my hand away as quickly as possible, making the alien-whatever-it-was-dude babble more and look even more in need of a hug, and I was seriously panicking over whether my hand was burning or not. I was panicking so much that I had started to imagine the pain, but when I realized nothing happened, I turned a bright red and felt a little embarrassed.

The alien-whatchamacallit-thing tilted his head to the right, as if examining me through closed eyes. It continued the incoherent babble, and then his own cheeks started to turn a light shade of pink. I widened my eyes in shock, my eyebrows rising to their highest point, and the weird-ass creature tilted its head to the other side. Its head turned back so it was straight, and it raised its own golden eyebrows, matching my own.

"W-what…. Are you?" I whispered, and the alien scrunched its face up, as if it smelled a bad odor. Then, his eyes slowly began to open. I half-expected them to be pure white, and half-expected them to be just as golden and shiny as his skin, but instead, they were a glittering heliotrope colour, flowing with emotion and life like his hair.

"Oh… wow…" I breathed, and the alien kept its eyes on me. It moved closer again, and I was frozen to the spot, not leaning back and not moving forward. I just stared at the glowing being, my heartbeat quickening as I imagined it going 'Kali-mah!' while ripping out my heart.

But, he did something totally different. Something I was not expecting in the least. It leaned forward and kissed me. It wasn't a passionate kiss or anything, just a quick peck on the lips. I spluttered against the golden boy's lips, then yanked myself away, and the being looked at me questioningly.

"Hello." It said, and I blinked.

"Uh….. hi?" I muttered, and the being smiled and sat back on its legs. And that was when I noticed how…. Naked he –definitely a he- was.

"Oh… oh jeez." I yelped, turning my head away and covering my eyes, my face heating up even more.

"Jeez?" He asked, and I tugged off my jacket and wrapped it around the boy's waist so that the longer part was covering him. I guess it had started raining when I was too busy staring into this thing's face, and it was coming down hard. I was already soaked, and taking off my jacket didn't help.

"Um…. Hey, you're not dangerous or anything, right?" I asked quickly, really wanting to get inside where it was warm and dry. The alien shook his head, his hair flowing even more as he did so. I smiled weakly, still feeling the buzz of shock and adrenaline rushing through me, and I forced myself onto my feet, my ankle throbbing in protest. I groaned a little, but forced weight on it anyway. The alien practically floated to his feet, looking so graceful and smooth while doing it. I nodded a little, mumbling a small and unsure 'Right…'

I led him towards my house, not wanting to touch him, but not wanting to lose sight of him. I forced him to walk in front of me at first, but when he complied, I wasn't able to take my eyes off of his bare backside. I switched our positions again, keeping him behind me so I didn't have to keep staring, and I made him hold onto the back of my shirt as if he were a kid.

He didn't seem to mind, and when we got into the house, I flipped the switch up to get some light.

… And of course...

The power's out!

I huffed to myself and turned to tell the alien that I didn't have electricity, and he just stared at me blankly. After a minute, he gave me a look of realization, then touched the switch, and the lights flickered on. I blinked at the flickering bulb, then shook my head.

'I'm dreaming. Definitely dreaming. I'm just asleep, and when I wake up, I'll find myself on the road or something, all my groceries strewn out around me. It'll suck, sure, but it'll make so much sense.' I brooded.

"Electricity." The alien said, pointing at the flickering bulb and still pressing his finger to the switch. I gave him a bewildered look, then nodded slowly and sat down at the table. He went to sit with me, but when he removed his hand, the lights died, leaving us in a semi-dark room. Since he was glowing, I was able to see him and what surrounded him, but I couldn't see anything else. When the room had gone dark again, he looked around in confusion.

I groaned slightly, upset that I would have to burn the candles, and the alien looked at me and made a small gasp, then he put his hands to his lips and murmured out "Oh, no!"

"What are you, a baby?" I asked, a little annoyed by how little he spoke. He stared at me blankly for a minute, then shook his head.

"I learn." He said confidently, then looked around the room in search for something.

"Look, I'm going to go get some candles, so stay here, okay?"

"I stay." He affirmed, wiggling in his seat to assure he was going to stay. I let out a soft sigh and left him in the kitchen, going upstairs and opening the closet to the left of the stairs, searching for the candles and flashlights. When I shoved the whole of them in my arms, I limped back downstairs and returned in the kitchen, only to find nothing there. I frowned and looked around, not finding any kind of glowing light anywhere.

I sighed and decided I must've been hallucinating. Maybe the blackout happened earlier than I imagined and I panicked so much I was sent into some sort of psycho-hallucination-thing? I grumbled and dropped the candles and flashlights on the wooden table, grabbing one light and turning it on. I knew I had matches in the kitchen, I just had to remember where. I shuffled over to the sink, getting down on my knees and tugging open the cabinets. When I opened them, I was greeted not with a package of matches or even a small rat of some sort, but instead a curled up glowing alien creature that flinched and looked at me, then smiled.

"You find!" He said happily, crawling out from under the sink and hugging me. I backed away from him quickly, yanking his arms off of me and scowling at him.

"Find? We're not playing hide-and-seek!" I scolded, and the alien pouted at me, jutting out its lower lip cutely. I got to my feet, and the alien just hugged my legs as he stared up at me with that pout.

"What is it? Let go." I commanded, but the alien shook his head instead and continued his puppy-dog eyes. I groaned again and put my hands on my hips, shining the light down at the floor. His eyes widened and he looked at the glowing spot on the ground, and he pointed at it.

"Electricity!" He said excitedly, and I raised a brow.

"It's light. Electricity makes light." I said, and the alien looked up at me with a concentrated expression.

"Light… light is… good? Light makes…. See?" He asked, slowly going from useless-incoherent-dumb-baby phase into slightly-understanding-still-very-stupid-but-crafty-toddler-mode.

"Um, yes. Light lets us see. We're in the middle of a blackout." I explained, and he made an 'o' shape with his lips and he looked back at the spot of light.

"Where from?" He asked, using his finger to follow the stream of light to the flashlight in my hands. He made an excited babbling noise and swiped the flashlight from me, cradling it in his hands and testing its weight. He was still clinging to my legs, so I had to flap around to keep myself standing up straight.

"Hey, stop that, you're going to break it, dude!" I tried scolding, but he paid me no mind and looked straight into the bulb, squinting his eyes and shaking his head.

"Ow!" He whined, rubbing an eye and holding the light away, "Hurt!"

"Well, obviously!" I huffed, and he looked up at me curiously. He tilted the flashlight up so my face was clear, but not high enough that it was blinding me. He tilted his head, then got to his feet and stepped uncomfortable close. I shied away, but I found myself trapped between him and the table. He was examining my face closely, and I was growing redder by the second.

Then, something amazing happened. He closed his eyes and started humming a single tone, and soon the golden skin of his started to melt and peel from him. It wasn't really gross, but it wasn't particularly attractive to look at either. He kind of looked like a snake shedding golden skin, and I briefly wondered if it was painful at all. He continued his humming, the gold flaking away to show human skin and a normal –well, earth normal- tone. When he was just about done, he opened his eyes again and smiled.

'Oh my god…' I thought. He had stolen my face!

Well, minus the eyes…

But the lips! The cheeks! The nose!

I gaped at him, and he laughed softly. His hair was still a flowing crop of shimmering gold, unlike mine, and his eyes were still a forever changing wisteria, and his body was much thinner than mine. He was still wearing the jacket-skirt I put on him, and I was a little curious as to what changes were made down there, but I'm a decent man, so I didn't check.

"That was…. Interesting…" I muttered, glancing down at the floor to see the metallic gold shriveling up into a rusted brown colour, then dispersing in an almost nonexistent wind. The alien laughed softly and hugged me again, making me jump and try to pry his arms off.

"What is up with you and hugging all the time, dude?" I yelped, and he pouted and let go of me. I let out a sigh and tried to stay stern, but that pout was driving me nuts. With or without metallic skin, he was still gorgeous.

"Fine." I grumbled, holding out my arms for the thin boy. He smiled happily and made a successful noise, then threw his arms around my neck and hugged me tightly, humming in delight and trying to fit his body closely against mine.

We stayed like this for a while, and when I tried to pull him away, I realized he had fallen asleep on me shoulder. My eyebrows shot up once more in surprise, and I easily lifted him into my arms. Either he was impossibly light, or I became impossibly stronger. And I was already friggin' strong, thank you! I took the flashlight from his hand and used it to guide the way up the stairs and down the narrow hallway, into the room opposite of Arthur's, which was my own room. I laid him down on the bed and tucked him in, unable to resist running my fingers through the never-resting golden locks on his head. He sighed at my touch and turned towards it, nuzzling my hand in a comforted way.

Well, I wasn't tired yet, but since it was the middle of a blackout, I figured I could sleep early. I nodded and peeled my still damp shirt off, then shimmied out of my jeans and boxers, and I slipped into some warm sweats. I contemplated going into Arthur's room to sleep to give the alien some privacy, but I didn't really want to ruin the time-capsule that was Arthur's bedroom. When he left, I never touched the place. And no matter how beautiful this guest of mine was, I wasn't going to just barge into the room of the man who took care of me and ruin everything. Mostly if he would be coming back.

I tucked myself under the sheets beside still slightly glowing creature, and when I pulled the sheets above both of our shoulders, he pulled himself closer to me and sighed again, still sleeping soundly. His hair was brushing against my face as it flowed around his cheeks, and it felt as if it were full of a warm energy, which actually lulled me to sleep. It was one of the most relaxing and fulfilling nights I've had since Arthur left.

Alfred F. Jones