p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"strongspan lang="EN-CA"Chapter Two/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"As I entered my home, my fiancé Richard, sat up from his slump on the couch./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Hey babe! How was work!" He exclaimed, turning off the t.v./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Oh man! Work was boring . . . With the usual customers and all. . . You know boring stuff and all, but. . ." I answered trying to shed my jacket. It was sticking to my arms, making the job that much more difficult./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Cool, man. So, supper is ready for you in the fridge, but I'm going to bed, Sarah. Goodnight!" Richard yawned and started to head upstairs, his heavy feet making loud thumps. I could hear him head towards the back where the single large bedroom sprawled along the whole back of the house./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I sighed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I had been dating Richard on and off for about five years, ever since we met in eleventh grade and became high school sweethearts. The summer we graduated, Richard asked me to marry him, but I'd already had the next year planned out./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"So that summer, I traveled around the countryside, visiting my many family members that have, over the years, spread out into ten different states. From New York all the way to San Francisco, I spent driving the highways and more scenic routes of the U.S.A. I thought about my relationship with Richard and how I wanted to spend my days with my life-long partner. And in those long summer days, I deluded myself into thinking that I was in love./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Hell, I wish I had taken a little bit more time on that particular decision. Like asking for familial advice or waiting to see if there was anyone else in my life that could be any better at loving and being loved in return, than him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"It was two more years, with an on-again, off-again dating before he'd asked me to marry him, again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I'd said yes, only because there was no one else in my life. But I was really starting to regret it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I mean seriously! I had just seen aliens, for God's sake! And I'm soaking wet, and he didn't even try to offer to help me out of my wet things, warm me up or even warm the supper he'd made for me!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"No, he'd barely even looked at me, before hustling upstairs as soon as I'd gotten in the door!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Yeah. Thanks for making supper." I replied sarcastically. My excitement from seeing the spaceship fell to the back of my mind as my annoyance at Richard peaked. My jacket finally came off, and I wrung as much water out as I could. Once they had stopped dripping, I put everything in the washer and took a nice hot bath./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"a name="_Hlk505157256"/aspan lang="EN-CA""Wow! What that was the most, weirdest evening ever!" I sighed, the hot water relaxing my mind. I recalled the last hour, thinking about how the aliens had come just to see the plant life. I tried to think about why the men and their dogs could have known about the spaceship landing there, and how they got there so fast. I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up with cold water and no bubbles left. Sighing, I dried off and headed up to bed. Richard was already passed out and snoring when I sneaked under the blanket and came in for a cuddle. As my cold arms wrapped around him, he started to stir./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk505157256;"span lang="EN-CA""Mnm, baby, not right now." Richard sighed in his sleep./span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk505157256;"span lang="EN-CA""Hey, when do you want to carve that pumpkin?" I murmured in his ear. Richard was so tired he couldn't even form a reply. So I just tucked my head into his neck and tried sleep./span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk505157256;"span lang="EN-CA"-/span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk505157256;"span lang="EN-CA"Four hours later. . ./span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk505157256;"span lang="EN-CA"I couldn't sleep. I guess that the nap I had earlier in the bathroom was enough for my brain. I couldn't stop thinking that there was alien stuck here in town and that it was so lost and alone. I didn't know what I would do if I was on an alien planet and I had been abandoned by my /span/spanspan lang="EN-CA"fellow space-people./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Sighing I crawled out from under the warm blankets and went downstairs to get a glass of warm milk. The night was dark as black billowing clouds covered the moon. The rain had yet to start up again, and the night was quiet, I could hear the chirping from all the way down the street./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"So, when the crickets stopped their song, and I could hear a bit of shouting and a distinctive bit of squealing. I stood up, looking out the window and tried to see where it was coming from. After a few tense moments, I gave up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Shit!" I ran to get my sweater and pulled on my soggy tennis shoes. Running out the door, I went down the street where I thought I had heard the shouting. A car whizzed past me labeled 'Pizza' on the side and stopped to listen for any more alien noises./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""God, what am I doing? Searching for a lost alien in the middle of the night. And now I'm talking to myself, like a crazy alien chaser. . ." I turned the corner, where the street went up on this little hill. I could hear a swing creaking from behind one the houses. Some kids, partying because it was a Friday night, glanced out the window. I became very uncomfortable and I was starting to get a little cold as I realized I was just standing there, on the sidewalk like a creepy stalker or something./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I casually walked down the path that led to the little park and the street beyond./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"A glance at the party-goer's backyard, revealed a boy staring into his shed. He was stock still. Almost like he was afraid of whatever was inside. At first, I thought that it was just a skunk or something. But then he threw his ball into the open door. My eyebrow quirked a bit, before the ball rolled back out the door./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I gasped. I was not expecting that. And neither did the boy. He was so surprised that he didn't even hear me. He was in his zone, concentrating on whatever was in the shed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Now, I was hoping that it was the alien and that the boy would leave so that I could get a closer look at the herbivore alien in his backyard, but he sat down in his lawn chair and curled up for the night./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"The poor alien was stuck in the shed until the boy moved. And my curiosity was killing me, because I really wanted to see the alien again. But I hadn't the courage to wake the boy. So, I waited, standing as still as the boy was. Waiting for the alien to do something, anything. Show its face from its hiding place, or even make a noise. But nothing. Not even a single sound./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I was there for three maybe four hours, eyes locked onto that little shed. My legs were cold, and my knees were locked when I finally shifted. I blinked, in what seemed like forever, glancing at the still silent boy. And realised that he was passed out on the lawn chair./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"And the alien had seen this as well. And was trying to sneak out of the shed. His hiding place no longer safe as the sun started to rise./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I crouched down, watching the alien from between the boards of the fence. Slowly I crawled to the back of the boy's lawn where a metal gate was clinking quietly as the wind started to blow again. As slowly as I could, I lifted up the latch and squeaked open the gate, wincing at every loud noise that the rusty gate was making. With a squeal of his own, the alien ran straight at me, and through the open gate. I realised that that was all it was looking for - an escape route. The alien had not wanted to stay in the shed all night, and I was glad to help it escape, though where he would go next might not be any safer./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Just then my stomach rumble, reminding me that I hadn't had supper last night, or breakfast this morning./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Shit, I've got t' get home!" I said, shivering slightly as the wind continued to gust right though my sweater. Crossing my arms, I noticed that the boy was warm looking under a blanket that was cocooned around him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-CA"'He'll be alright.'/span/emspan lang="EN-CA" I thought as I headed home. I had felt that I had walked so far last night, but it was only six houses away. Feeling out of sorts, I came into my home, where I was hit with the mouth watering smell of toast and eggs./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Oh, wow! Richard, that smells awesome!" I exclaimed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Hmn, where were you?" He inquired, turning around with plate full of food. "I was so worried!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""I saw an alien last night!" I told him, quite excited. Not only having seen the alien the once but twice. "I was so close I could almost touch it!" I told him, showing him with my fingers pressed closely together how close I came to it. "They came to look at our plants. I guess they're special or something." I shrugged looking behind him at the stovetop to see if there was more of this deliciously smelling food for me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Whoa – where?" He asked me, disbelief and sarcasm dripping from those two words. His mouth was full of scrambled eggs. He didn't seem to believe me, though I wouldn't have believed me either yesterday if I hadn't seen it for myself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""So, did you make me any food? I'm starving." I told him, scraping the bottom of the pan as I felt my stomach rumble./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""No, babe. I've got to get to work in a minute, but. . . we-we'll talk more about these aliens when I come home, O.K.?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Y-yeah, yeah, um have fun at work dear!" I smiled, kissing him on the check as he finished his breakfast. Richard tucked his shirt in, smiling and giving me a quick wink as he went out the door./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I sighed, hugging a little. I was starting to regret going out alone, and not sharing my experience. I knew, saying 'Yes' to Richard meant being in a partnership. Sharing everything equally. Sharing everything about me and what experiences makes me, well me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Digging out last nights supper from the fridge, I could only sigh./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"God, I've been sighing a lot lately./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Why did he have to make spaghetti?" Yawning, I rolled my neck and stretched out my shoulders. My back cracked, and I could feel the tension run out with each little pop./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-CA"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span'I wonder if that little alien is alright? Well, hope he found a safe place to hide during the day, cause all those kids running around, well, he . . . ooh, he's probably going back to the forest where I first saw them. Hmmn, maybe his friends will come back got him! Ohh! I would love to see that!'/span/emspan lang="EN-CA" I thought, reheating the spaghetti. It smelled so good./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"As I ate my breakfast, I planned on taking a small nap, and then going out there again to find the little guy. But this time, / br / To be continued in Chapter Three. . ./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"As I entered my home, my fiancé Richard, sat up from his slump on the couch./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Hey babe! How was work!" He exclaimed, turning off the t.v./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Oh man! Work was boring . . . With the usual customers and all. . . You know boring stuff and all, but. . ." I answered trying to shed my jacket. It was sticking to my arms, making the job that much more difficult./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Cool, man. So, supper is ready for you in the fridge, but I'm going to bed, Sarah. Goodnight!" Richard yawned and started to head upstairs, his heavy feet making loud thumps. I could hear him head towards the back where the single large bedroom sprawled along the whole back of the house./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I sighed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I had been dating Richard on and off for about five years, ever since we met in eleventh grade and became high school sweethearts. The summer we graduated, Richard asked me to marry him, but I'd already had the next year planned out./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"So that summer, I traveled around the countryside, visiting my many family members that have, over the years, spread out into ten different states. From New York all the way to San Francisco, I spent driving the highways and more scenic routes of the U.S.A. I thought about my relationship with Richard and how I wanted to spend my days with my life-long partner. And in those long summer days, I deluded myself into thinking that I was in love./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Hell, I wish I had taken a little bit more time on that particular decision. Like asking for familial advice or waiting to see if there was anyone else in my life that could be any better at loving and being loved in return, than him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"It was two more years, with an on-again, off-again dating before he'd asked me to marry him, again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I'd said yes, only because there was no one else in my life. But I was really starting to regret it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I mean seriously! I had just seen aliens, for God's sake! And I'm soaking wet, and he didn't even try to offer to help me out of my wet things, warm me up or even warm the supper he'd made for me!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"No, he'd barely even looked at me, before hustling upstairs as soon as I'd gotten in the door!/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Yeah. Thanks for making supper." I replied sarcastically. My excitement from seeing the spaceship fell to the back of my mind as my annoyance at Richard peaked. My jacket finally came off, and I wrung as much water out as I could. Once they had stopped dripping, I put everything in the washer and took a nice hot bath./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"a name="_Hlk505157256"/aspan lang="EN-CA""Wow! What that was the most, weirdest evening ever!" I sighed, the hot water relaxing my mind. I recalled the last hour, thinking about how the aliens had come just to see the plant life. I tried to think about why the men and their dogs could have known about the spaceship landing there, and how they got there so fast. I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up with cold water and no bubbles left. Sighing, I dried off and headed up to bed. Richard was already passed out and snoring when I sneaked under the blanket and came in for a cuddle. As my cold arms wrapped around him, he started to stir./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk505157256;"span lang="EN-CA""Mnm, baby, not right now." Richard sighed in his sleep./span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk505157256;"span lang="EN-CA""Hey, when do you want to carve that pumpkin?" I murmured in his ear. Richard was so tired he couldn't even form a reply. So I just tucked my head into his neck and tried sleep./span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk505157256;"span lang="EN-CA"-/span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk505157256;"span lang="EN-CA"Four hours later. . ./span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk505157256;"span lang="EN-CA"I couldn't sleep. I guess that the nap I had earlier in the bathroom was enough for my brain. I couldn't stop thinking that there was alien stuck here in town and that it was so lost and alone. I didn't know what I would do if I was on an alien planet and I had been abandoned by my /span/spanspan lang="EN-CA"fellow space-people./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Sighing I crawled out from under the warm blankets and went downstairs to get a glass of warm milk. The night was dark as black billowing clouds covered the moon. The rain had yet to start up again, and the night was quiet, I could hear the chirping from all the way down the street./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"So, when the crickets stopped their song, and I could hear a bit of shouting and a distinctive bit of squealing. I stood up, looking out the window and tried to see where it was coming from. After a few tense moments, I gave up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Shit!" I ran to get my sweater and pulled on my soggy tennis shoes. Running out the door, I went down the street where I thought I had heard the shouting. A car whizzed past me labeled 'Pizza' on the side and stopped to listen for any more alien noises./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""God, what am I doing? Searching for a lost alien in the middle of the night. And now I'm talking to myself, like a crazy alien chaser. . ." I turned the corner, where the street went up on this little hill. I could hear a swing creaking from behind one the houses. Some kids, partying because it was a Friday night, glanced out the window. I became very uncomfortable and I was starting to get a little cold as I realized I was just standing there, on the sidewalk like a creepy stalker or something./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I casually walked down the path that led to the little park and the street beyond./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"A glance at the party-goer's backyard, revealed a boy staring into his shed. He was stock still. Almost like he was afraid of whatever was inside. At first, I thought that it was just a skunk or something. But then he threw his ball into the open door. My eyebrow quirked a bit, before the ball rolled back out the door./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I gasped. I was not expecting that. And neither did the boy. He was so surprised that he didn't even hear me. He was in his zone, concentrating on whatever was in the shed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Now, I was hoping that it was the alien and that the boy would leave so that I could get a closer look at the herbivore alien in his backyard, but he sat down in his lawn chair and curled up for the night./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"The poor alien was stuck in the shed until the boy moved. And my curiosity was killing me, because I really wanted to see the alien again. But I hadn't the courage to wake the boy. So, I waited, standing as still as the boy was. Waiting for the alien to do something, anything. Show its face from its hiding place, or even make a noise. But nothing. Not even a single sound./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I was there for three maybe four hours, eyes locked onto that little shed. My legs were cold, and my knees were locked when I finally shifted. I blinked, in what seemed like forever, glancing at the still silent boy. And realised that he was passed out on the lawn chair./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"And the alien had seen this as well. And was trying to sneak out of the shed. His hiding place no longer safe as the sun started to rise./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I crouched down, watching the alien from between the boards of the fence. Slowly I crawled to the back of the boy's lawn where a metal gate was clinking quietly as the wind started to blow again. As slowly as I could, I lifted up the latch and squeaked open the gate, wincing at every loud noise that the rusty gate was making. With a squeal of his own, the alien ran straight at me, and through the open gate. I realised that that was all it was looking for - an escape route. The alien had not wanted to stay in the shed all night, and I was glad to help it escape, though where he would go next might not be any safer./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Just then my stomach rumble, reminding me that I hadn't had supper last night, or breakfast this morning./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Shit, I've got t' get home!" I said, shivering slightly as the wind continued to gust right though my sweater. Crossing my arms, I noticed that the boy was warm looking under a blanket that was cocooned around him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-CA"'He'll be alright.'/span/emspan lang="EN-CA" I thought as I headed home. I had felt that I had walked so far last night, but it was only six houses away. Feeling out of sorts, I came into my home, where I was hit with the mouth watering smell of toast and eggs./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Oh, wow! Richard, that smells awesome!" I exclaimed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Hmn, where were you?" He inquired, turning around with plate full of food. "I was so worried!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""I saw an alien last night!" I told him, quite excited. Not only having seen the alien the once but twice. "I was so close I could almost touch it!" I told him, showing him with my fingers pressed closely together how close I came to it. "They came to look at our plants. I guess they're special or something." I shrugged looking behind him at the stovetop to see if there was more of this deliciously smelling food for me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Whoa – where?" He asked me, disbelief and sarcasm dripping from those two words. His mouth was full of scrambled eggs. He didn't seem to believe me, though I wouldn't have believed me either yesterday if I hadn't seen it for myself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""So, did you make me any food? I'm starving." I told him, scraping the bottom of the pan as I felt my stomach rumble./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""No, babe. I've got to get to work in a minute, but. . . we-we'll talk more about these aliens when I come home, O.K.?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Y-yeah, yeah, um have fun at work dear!" I smiled, kissing him on the check as he finished his breakfast. Richard tucked his shirt in, smiling and giving me a quick wink as he went out the door./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"I sighed, hugging a little. I was starting to regret going out alone, and not sharing my experience. I knew, saying 'Yes' to Richard meant being in a partnership. Sharing everything equally. Sharing everything about me and what experiences makes me, well me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"Digging out last nights supper from the fridge, I could only sigh./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"God, I've been sighing a lot lately./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA""Why did he have to make spaghetti?" Yawning, I rolled my neck and stretched out my shoulders. My back cracked, and I could feel the tension run out with each little pop./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-CA"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span'I wonder if that little alien is alright? Well, hope he found a safe place to hide during the day, cause all those kids running around, well, he . . . ooh, he's probably going back to the forest where I first saw them. Hmmn, maybe his friends will come back got him! Ohh! I would love to see that!'/span/emspan lang="EN-CA" I thought, reheating the spaghetti. It smelled so good./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-CA"As I ate my breakfast, I planned on taking a small nap, and then going out there again to find the little guy. But this time, / br / To be continued in Chapter Three. . ./span/p
