What is this substance, Loren?

"It's called asphalt, and it's used to pave streets. Like they one you're standing on right now."

What is the purpose of a street?

"It's what our cars travel on. And, before you ask, cars are a type of vehicle that we use."

Ah, a type of ground-bound transport.

"Yeah, exactly."

They fell silent, and Loren watched as they passed by long rows of parked cars. She started to get the feeling that she had been to this place, this particular neighborhood, before. Once she had come to that conclusion, other familiar things began to jump out at her, until she realized that this was her neighborhood.

This was where she and her mother lived. In fact, her house was just five houses down from where they stood right now. She grinned, maybe – just maybe – this funhouse-mirror vision of Earth wouldn't be so bad after all.

Soon, they stood in front of something that resembled Loren's house so much that she could have sworn that she was back on Earth.

"Hey Elfangor, stop here."

Why? What is so important about this place?

"This is where I live," Loren said, pointing to the house on the left.

You live there? How?

"Me, my mother and my father all live in there together."

Inside? Oh, you mean that that structure is hollow?

Loren laughed a little, but soon regained her composure and answered.

"Yes, Elfangor, it is hollow inside. That's the whole point of houses, in fact. So that we can live inside them."

Humans are strange.

"So're Andalites," Loren said with a laugh to show she was kidding.

So, how does one enter these hollow creations?

"You see that big rectangles on the front?"

Yes.

"They're called doors. You just open one of those and you can go right inside," Loren said, deciding not to mention that you needed to have a key to open most doors.

That part would be a bit too hard to explain to an alien. As Elfangor, with Loren still on his back, came up the red stone path that led to Loren's dwelling, his attention was focused of the beautiful green grass that was growing around her house. He had seen it around all the houses that they had passed, sometimes with flowers and shrubs to lend a bit of variety to the landscape.

Your planet must have very hardy grasses, since they are able to feed whole families and still remain this lush and green.

Loren blinked at his statement. Ookay, well that came completely out of left field. She slid off of Elfangor's back and jogged up the steps that led up to her porch. Elfangor for his part, wondered just what purpose those little rectangles stacked one on top of the other served.

He also wanted to tell Loren that his own home had been empty, and so she should not expect that much from this place that was modeled after her own. But she seemed so happy, so content and hopeful right now, did he really want to take that away from her? And so he stayed silent, hoping that Loren would have better luck with her home than he had with his.

Loren crouched down by the welcome mat, pulled up one of the corners and got the spare key that her mother had bought for her when she had turned ten. Turning the key in the lock, Loren let herself in and waved for Elfangor to follow her.

Elfangor looked down at the sort, pale tan grass that grew inside the hollow house. He ground a hoof into it, wondering what it tasted like, and also why they would grow grass inside their house when they had a perfectly good patch of tasty-looking grass just outside. Maybe this patch tasted different.

But when he tried to get a taste of it, Elfangor found that he could not eat it. He looked down, wondering why they would grow a patch of inedible grass in their home. He was just about to ask Loren about it when they both heard a voice coming from somewhere out of sight.

"Mom?" Loren called out, recognizing the speaker.

"I'm in the kitchen, sweetheart!" the person, whom Elfangor could only assume was Loren's mother, called back in a loud voice.

Loren smiled widely, and Elfangor was glad to see her so happy. She gave his hand a quick squeeze, then made her way toward the kitchen. Wherever that was.

Loren practically ran through the living room, eager to see her mother or whatever was currently pretending to be her. Okay, so this place isn't really Earth, and it has some very unattractive and downright nasty looking parts. But, all in all, I think I could get used to it. Loren finished her thought just as she came into the kitchen.

There was her mother Maureen, looking just the way Loren had remembered her during the times she had been homesick aboard that flying saucer. The same flyaway blonde hair, the same kind brown eyes, and the same wide smile that had always made Loren glad to be home. Wow. Just…wow. Then Loren did something that she hadn't done since she was ten.

With a cry of "Mommy!", Loren threw herself into her mother's waiting arms. She felt the other woman's limbs encircling her in turn, and she leaned her head against her mom's chest. Elfangor came in right then, his hooves slipping a bit on the tile floor.

He wondered who this new human was, but then realized that she must be Loren's mother if she was so happy to see her. Just then, the other human looked up and saw Elfangor staring at her. She smiled and turned back to Loren.

"Loren honey, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

Loren felt her mother pull back a bit, and she took a half step backward herself. Well, she thought, this is certainly going to be interesting. Composing herself, Loren decided that honesty was the best response for a situation like this.

"Mom, this is my friend Elfangor. You don't have to be afraid of him, he's my friend."

"Why should I be afraid of him? He's just an Andalite, like any other."

Oh, he's just another… Wait, what did she say? Loren wasn't really sure that she had heard her mom right. She had always known that her mother was very open minded, but aliens were probably not something that most sane people took seriously.