As we entered the city, a sense of fear crossed me, a feeling that made me very nervous. "Lizzie, I've got a surprise for you", my father said as he took his eyes off the road to look at me. I glanced over at him, wondering what it could be. "Well, the thing is, before your mother passed away." he paused, "We had plans to move to Roswell, meaning we already had our home and work situation sorted out" I still wasn't paying much attention, but I didn't want to say anything that may discourage him. "Mmm hmm," I nodded, waiting for him to go on. "Well you know how I've always dreamed of running my own restaurant." I turned to him, "Yeah.." A smile formed on his face, it was actually kind of refreshing. "Well Liz, it's all happening. There's a restaurant, called the Crashdown, and your looking at the proud new owner." My eyes widened as my mouth dropped. "What??" I inquired, still confused. "Well I got in contact with the old man who owned it, and get this, he had been wanting to sell if for a while, so I bought it." His mood had suddenly become uplifting, and he looked at me for approval, but I just smiled, still overwhelmed. As we pulled onto Main Street, my dad slowed down and parked as he pointed across the street. "There it is"; he pointed across the road.



We got out of the car and I looked around, only to see what looked like a normal town. As we walked up to the entrance, above was a sign shaped like a spaceship with the words Crashdown Cafe flashing. I pushed open the door to see a room half full, and among them waitresses dressed in green outfits with grey collars and sleeve cups. With the ensemble came a silver headpiece, in the shape of antennae. I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh as I took a seat at a booth. My father went in the back to sort out some business with the owner.



I glanced up at the walls, which were covered in alien images, only to be interrupted by one of the waitresses. "Can I get you something?" I turned quickly to her, somewhat startled. She had straight blonde hair, down to her shoulder, and was probably a little bit taller then I was. "No thanks, I'm just waiting for my dad," I smiled. She gave me a weird look, raising one eyebrow; probably wondering why I'd be sitting here if I didn't order anything. "Are you sure you don't want anything? Saturn Rings? Asteroid Pie?" She insisted, as a smile crossed her face. I started to laugh when I heard the names of some of the food. "Wow..this place really is fixated on aliens" I commented as I looked up at her. "Ah a first timer I see. Well stay away from the Chili Orbit Rings, and you'll be fine" She winked, and put her order pad away, realizing I wasn't going to buy anything. "So if you don't mind me asking, if you're not ordering anything..why are you sitting here?" She let out a small laugh, trying not to sound rude. "Well uh..my dad..he bought this place, so he's just sorting everything out." I told her as I nodded my head. "Oh my god!" she squealed. "Finally, Old man River is leaving," she laughed, but quickly stopped as she looked at my puzzled expression. "I'm Maria DeLuca"; she said holding out her hand. "Liz Parker" I stammered as I shook it. "Welcome to Roswell, you're going to love it here" She beamed.



Maybe it wouldn't be so bad here after all, but there was something about Roswell that gave me a creepy feeling that everything was not as it seemed.