Mountain Man's Bride

by Lauren Wood

“No I agree, I didn’t know you had parents you were supporting.” She answered. “I can see your thinking, and I don’t have to worry about parents to look after either. So if I’m not working on Earth it’s not a big deal. Oh by the way what kind of work will I be able to do on your home planet?” She questioned.

  “Work, oh you can’t do that. You don’t know our language; most people don’t speak any language but our mother tongue.” He explained.

  Liz thought about how lonely it would be to not talk to anyone. She wondered if it was such a good idea to agree to stay on his planet, perhaps year round.

  “You can learn it, or we can look at getting you a translator. It can be implanted and you’ll be able to understand everyone. You talk and it will change your language into Hasastashian” He stated. “But I’m not sure how much they are and if we can afford it right away.” Allen could see the look of fear in her eyes about loneliness being overwhelming. He wasn’t sure how to make her feel better; he tried to search his mind for an easy answer.

  “I don’t know, I mean if you are around at least I could have you to talk too. Is there any way to at least visit Earth once in a while?” She queried.

  Allen looked down. “I’m not sure. I get free passage because of my job. If I’m not working on the ship it costs a lot of money. I’m not a rich person. I have some money, but my parents take a lot to care for, they aren’t healthy.” He explained.

  Her fear of completely changing her life and leaving behind everything she ever knew was building at a rapid pace. She could feel her heart as an ache settled inside of it. Will this work, she wondered, but didn’t ask.

  “If it wasn’t for my parents I wouldn’t mind being on Earth more. The half a year at my planet and half a year on Earth would only work with a really good paying job. I’m not sure if I can find that, I only have a certain set of skills.” He admitted. “But Liz I don’t want to lose you either because of whatever it is your feeling. Please let’s just try to work it out in a way that will be fine for both of us?” He pulled her chin up to look deep into her eyes.

  Liz could see his eyes as they changed color, one of the signs of his love. She just wasn’t sure what she wanted to give up being with him. Jason had been human, so this question of living on another planet would never come up. Perhaps she was dumb to ever get involved with an alien, yet alone fall in love with him.

  “I don’t know. I can’t lie to you and say that I’m okay with it, because I’m not sure if I am or not. I lived on my planet my whole life; it feels like my safe place in a way. I haven’t ever been on your planet, will I like it? I’m not sure yet. I guess the only way to really be fair is to say, let me see your planet first. After that I can think a little bit more about this decision.” Liz finally said.

  He looked down sad that she couldn’t make up her mind. “I understand it is a lot to ask you, especially since you’ve never been to my planet yet. But we’ll be there soon, and you’ll see it. I’ll try to not push you or confuse you anymore.” He stepped away from her, no longer standing close to her and touching her.

  She felt lost without him close to her, but she knew why he was doing it. If she didn’t want to live on his planet, they may not be able to make their relationship work out. He wanted to prepare himself for a pain that might come all too soon. Plus she knew that he was trying to help her out as well, but it hurt for him to move away and not touch her.

  Liz could feel the tears as they threatened to slip from her eyes and take a stroll down her cheeks. She tried to hold them back, but the sadness was so overwhelming. “I feel so lost right now.” She cried out as the dam broke and tears ran down her face.

  Allen saw her crying and came to her side. He wrapped his arms around her and said, “Shh, its okay, everything will be fine.” But she could hear the uncertainness in his voice. “I love you nevertheless, and I can’t see you be in such pain.” He held her and let her cry a bit longer.

  Liz felt Allen rocking her in his arms and soon felt her eyes closing shut. Her head was heavy from being so tired and the confusion. Her mind didn’t want her to be prepared for happiness, but a disastrous ending. Her dreams guided her into a scene where she was telling Allen, “I can’t live her. No I’m sorry, I just can’t do it. I have to leave.” She heard her mouth saying in the dream. Liz could feel the tears in the dream and the moment seemed so real,

  “Hey are you okay?” Allen shook her awake.

  She looked around confused and saw that they were still on the ship. “It was just a nightmare, it was horrible. I hope it isn’t a sign of what’s to come.” Liz sighed heavily.

  “Dreams are often based more on our fears, over anything else. You can’t let your fear control you.” Allen said as he patted her head.

  “It just seemed so real.” Liz commented. But as her mind began to wake up she realized it was simply a bad nightmare.

  Allen pulled her closer and lowered his mouth to hers. Liz sighed deeply as his kiss deepened and he probed her mouth with his tongue. But he pulled away, “I don’t want to cloud your mind with sex, we shouldn’t do this again.” Allen said.

  She didn’t want to admit that he was right, but in her mind she knew it was the right thing to do.

  “Hey I’ll tell you what, how about I show you some pictures of my parents?” Allen said.

  “Sure I’d love to see them.” Liz perked up a bit.

  He pulled out an album and was flipping through the pages showing her the pages and explaining them. “This is my mom and dad.” He said.

  “Oh you look a lot like your mother!” Liz commented.

  “This picture is of when I was little.” He stated.

  “Oh you have a sister?” She asked when she noticed a younger girl in the picture with them.

  “She died a few years ago. It really broke my mom and dad up. Ever since then they aren’t the same. I swear I don’t even know if they talk to each other now. When I visit them, they barely say two words to each other.” Allen explained.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that. Death of a child has to be hard on parents.” Liz said.

  “This is why I can’t leave them; all they have left is me.” Allen said.

  Liz knew he was right. They had lost a daughter, how could they lose a son too? “I understand, really I do. So tell me about your planet, what is it like? Is it green? What is the weather like? All those things that will help me make up my mind.” Liz asked.

  Allen thought of the best way to explain his planet. “Really it’s a lot different than you could ever imagine. We don’t have the same types of flora or fauna as Earth. I think it’s beautiful, but this is what I grew up with. The weather is decent year round, you don’t need coats. I think the best thing is for you to see it, and then decide.” Allen stated.

  “Alright, so how close are we now?” She asked, excited yet nervous about her first views of the planet that may soon be her home.

  “About 10 minutes and we’ll go out of warp drive, you’ll see the planet and then we’ll be there. It’s all very quick near the end of the trip. I hope you like it.” Allen said and hugged her.

  She wanted to kiss him and have him make love to her, just in case it was the last time. But she tried to think about her life in a positive way. Instead they stood by the window and looked at waited for the ship to come out of warp drive.

  “Watch this it’s really neat.” Allen said as they heard a shift in the ship and suddenly they seemed to be stopped in the middle of space. “We aren’t really stopping, it’s just we were moving so quickly it seems like we stopped.” He explained.

  Liz watched and was speechless as so many stars showed up in the window in a second. They did appear to be stopped. “It’s amazing out here.” She commented.

  “There’s the planet below us.” He said and pointed out the window.

  She looked down at the planet. It was a purplish color from here and looked amazing. “It looks so nice from up here, is it the same on the surface?” She asked, her hopes
rising up.

  “I told you I love it, but I grew up here.” Allen stated. “Once we are on the surface you can look around. But we have to go and visit my parents too. I do it after each trip. That way I can make sure they are both okay. Often times when I leave they wonder if I’m coming back or not.” He said.

  “I’d love to meet them. I’m so nervous right now, this means so much to both of us. I just wish I could easily say yes I’ll stay. But I don’t want to say that and then change my mind.” Liz explained.

  “I know, I get it, really I do. It would be like you asking me to only live on Earth. Perhaps if my parents were not living I could stay there part of the time. But I would really miss my planet. I’m asking you to give up everything you’ve known your whole life, just to be with me. Liz I’ll understand if you don’t want to do it. I’ll be heartbroken, and I might still try to make it work out, but in the long run I’m not sure if it will.” Allen explained.

  “I know it would be far too hard if I didn’t move. I will admit I’m worried about it. After all you did tell me that not many people speak my language. Not that I wouldn’t be happy talking to you, but what about when you aren’t home? What will I do?” Liz asked.

  “You can study the language and learn it; really it may not be hard for you. I don’t want you to feel lost though. Really I’m willing to think of other alternatives if we need too. I really would love to have you as my wife. I don’t know I’m so confused and just hoping you’ll love the planet.” Allen admitted. “But I’m fearful that you’ll find it too odd and unusual to like.”

  “We’ll see.” Liz commented. Hoping that he was wrong and that she at least liked it enough to see herself being stuck there for who knew how long before visiting her home.

  “We’re here. Let’s find out.” He said as they heard a noise of engines dying down and shutting off.

  “Your right that was quick, I didn’t even know we were landing.” Liz commented. She took a deep breath and grabbed his hand. “I’m ready.”

  They stepped off the ship and she looked around, unsure how to register what she was seeing. It looked nothing like Earth, or even science fiction shows. But it was amazingly beautiful. “There are so many colors, how could you not point that out about it?” She asked. “Oh wow, there’s the blue you were wearing at the expo!” She exclaimed as she pointed over at a bush type of tree thing. But not a tree, it was something else. “I love it, really I do. I don’t think I would ever tire of seeing this out our window.” She stated.

  “So that means you won’t mind staying?” Allen asked cautiously.

  “Yes I will gladly stay here with you. But can we try to go back once in a while? How about a wedding and my friends? How will I tell them?” Liz rattled off a row or questions.

  “I’ll talk to the captain and see if we can hitch a ride back to Earth and hold at least a little wedding there. It will give you a chance to say your goodbyes to people you love. Don’t forget though, if I stay with the ship and get promoted maybe we can visit more often.” He said.

  “But I can’t go with you for now. Let’s figure it out later which way we’ll do this. I think I would love to stay here for a while. I can help care for your parents too! And of course learn the language so they’ll understand me.” She added.

  Allen kissed her hard on the lips. “You’ve just made me the happiest man in the whole solar system and more!” He said. “Come on let’s go meet my parents and tell them the good news! They’ll be shocked I can tell you that, they didn’t think I’d ever get married!” He stated.

  “Maybe we can bring them some grandchildren too!” Liz smiled.

  “I think we’ll have fun trying to see if our DNAs will match up and create life!” He gave her a wicked look.

  Liz turned red and smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.

  THE END

  DAMAGED HEART

  CLEAN ROMANCE

  Night had fallen and darkness filled the small house. The only light illuminated off of the small candle Annie carried around the room. She grabbed for only what she considered to be the necessities and stuffed them into a bag. A small photograph of her late father, spare undergarments, hair rollers, some bread, and a notebook. Annie scanned the room trying to take it all in. This may be the last time she stood in this house let alone her bedroom. She had spent the last twenty years wallowing away in this room. Her small bed with a hand sewn quilt draped over it looked extremely inviting right about now. The past week she spent laying on her bed crying into that quilt in mourning over her father’s sudden death.

  This place was no longer a home for her without him. Her mother would always scoff at her and her brother’s rendered her useless. Only her father truly cherished her and adored her. He would come home from the farm and sneak her bottles of sweet milk from the cow. He would wink at her and make her swear not to tell her brothers. Of course she wouldn’t tell them, that would only mean she had to share!

  Her father was a hardworking man. All of his life he spent working in the fields. He earned an honest living for his wife and three children. Annie couldn’t say they really ever had much rather just enough. There was always enough food at the table that her mother would cook. When Annie or her brother’s needed new shoes, there was always just enough money saved up to buy some. When the mule had broken his leg they had just enough put away for the vet to come and mend it. However, when father unexpectedly fell ill, they no longer had enough. Money fell short for the doctor and with every passing day their love fell even shorter than their money. Annie’s love for her father grew stronger but her mother and brothers became estranged. This is why she could no longer stay at home. She had to go.

  Annie hiked her leg up over the window sill and bustled her skirt up around her waist before swinging her second leg over as well. She sat on the edge of the sill with her feet dangling over the edge for a moment. Looking back over her shoulder she searched the room, waiting for her mother to come rushing through the door begging her not to go. Annie knew that would never happen. With that, she dropped herself out of the window and slid the glass pane closed behind her. She had about five hours before anyone would realize she had gone.

  Even though the sun was nowhere in sight, the air was still warm on Annie’s face. She trudged her way through the darkness with no plan of what she would do next. After an hour of walking Annie’s feet became swollen and sore. She was going to have a long journey ahead of her if she didn’t figure out some sort of transportation soon.

  As if to answer her prayers, Annie could see a horse and cart appearing in the distance. She was walking alone in the desert in the middle of the night with no civilization around her. What was this horse doing in the middle of the dessert with no one around to attend to it?

  “Hello? Is there anyone there?” Annie called out in her rich Southern drawl. “Hello, my name is Annie Buckner. Does anyone out there own this horse? Hello?” Her calls rang empty and there was no one in sight. It appeared as though the horse had been abandoned.

  “Well hello there, angel.” Annie stroked the horse’s face and kissed him on the top of the head. “Did my Daddy send for you?” She giggled to herself, happy to have the company. “He’s always looking out for his baby girl, even from heaven.” Annie tilted her head back and looked up into the sky. The stars appeared to shine brighter than any night before this one. “Do you have a name?” Annie waited and nodded toward the horse. “I will call you Puppet.” She continued to stroke the horse’s nose. “Now, Puppet. Do you have a family? I don’t see anyone else around. You poor soul, out here all by your lonesome. I don’t have a family either. Well, I suppose I do but they won’t exactly miss me.” Annie looked around again in search of this horse’s owner. There was nothing but desert for miles. “Say, why don’t you come with me? I don’t exactly know where I am headed to yet but I sure am excited to find out. I certainly could use your company.”

  The horse whinnied as though to answer Annie’s question. She squealed
and threw herself onto his back. A few hours later as the sun began to reveal its face, a small town appeared in the distance.

  “Oh, Puppet! This might be our new home.” They approached the town just as the townsfolk began stirring in the streets. It was still quite early but people were making their way out to work and the children poured into the streets on their way to school. Annie always loved children. Her mama always said it was because she was still a child herself. Annie didn’t like it when she said that.

  “Well hello. Good morning. Pleasure to see you. Hello. Good day!” Annie greeted everyone she passed in the street. Most politely smiled back at her. The rest looked at her with puzzled expressions. Who was this chatty stranger?

  Annie lead Puppet to the nearest tavern. A large wooden sign hung over the door that read Wilty’s Tavern and Inn. “Well doesn’t this look like the perfect place to rest?” She stroked the length of Puppet’s neck. When she dismounted Puppet, she tied his lead tightly around the fence next door. She ensured her belongings were safe in the cart and pulled a blanket over them to hide them from wandering eyes. Not that she had brought much with her but it was everything she had left.

  The tavern door creaked open and Annie skipped her way inside. Other than a few drunken locals who had clearly been there since last night, the tavern was entirely vacant. Annie marched her way up to the bar and threw herself onto a stool beside a burly looking man. He was hunkered over the counter with a half empty pint in his hand. His eyes were narrow likely due to the alcohol. He couldn’t keep them open. His face was scruffy and hair a mess. His clothes appeared as though they hadn’t been washed in months.

  “Well hello there!” Annie piped. “My name is Annie.” She enthusiastically jolted her arm in his direction with her hand outstretched. He didn’t budge. “You know, Annie as in Oakley!”

  “You’re Annie Oakley?” He grunted in a harsh raspy voice.

  Annie Oakley had to be at least fifty at this point. Annie felt quite offended. “Well no sir. Of course I am not. I am just telling you that my name is Annie, just like Annie Oakley.” She jabbered on. The man didn’t appear to be too impressed. “What is your name?”