Out Of This World

by Annette Mori

  A third man rushed out from behind the massive tree with a Taser in his hands. I opened my mouth to warn Celeste, but it was too late just as Celeste whirled around and directed a burst of energy in his direction the Taser jolted her. The two energy blasts each hit their target, and as the Taser went flying, following the same fate as the guns, Celeste twitched like a grotesque form of modern dance. The magenta light started to fade to the soft purple light I was more accustomed to, but not before the third man held his head and grimaced. All three men were now on their knees.

  Celeste collapsed to the ground and I ran to her side cradling her head in my arms. Her eyes rolled back and her state of unconsciousness alarmed me. I tried to check for a pulse, but I didn’t even know if aliens had a heart to pump blood to their life giving organs. She remained motionless in my arms.

  All three men seemed to be in a trance-like state and they sat placidly on the ground.

  “What the hell just happened?” Sydney called out.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know. Celeste isn’t moving and I can’t feel her pulse. I don’t know how to help her.” I started crying.

  “She’s always gotten better after a few hours in the sun. Maybe if we just lay her out on a blanket in the sun, it will help.”

  “I don’t think that’s enough this time. Oh God, this is all my fault. I knew they would come looking for us,” I blubbered.

  Sydney came over and kneeled on the other side, picking up Celeste’s hand and holding it while she caressed my cheek. “No, hon, it’s not your fault. You have to trust that Celeste knew what she was doing. I don’t think she could live with herself if something happened to you because of her.”

  Gizmo who had been crouched on the ground slithered over and jumped on top of Celeste while I cradled her in my arms. I was just about to gently remove my cat, when she started licking her face. I was openly weeping and Sydney was crying right along with me, when Celeste opened her eyes.

  “What is the big hairy deal, you crybabies?” Celeste asked with a smirk on her face. “I am particularly fond of that figure of speech.”

  I smacked her arm. “Jesus, don’t ever scare me like that again.”

  Celeste sat up, and although she was still a little wobbly and her skin tone lacked that healthy glow, she was upright and talking.

  “Damn, Celeste, I thought you were a goner for sure. What happened?” Sydney asked.

  “As I explained before, everything has an energy signature that can be read and focused, even emotions like love and sadness. I did not realize this until I met you, sweet Bella. We are a dispassionate race and that will be our ultimate downfall unless I am able to bring back all I have learned. Your emotions, along with the emotions of Gizmo, flooded my system with life-giving energy. I absorbed the love from both of you and your furry friend, enough to continue my survival until I am able to properly recharge,” Celeste explained.

  “I don’t think you’re as dispassionate as you think. Don’t forget, I’ve heard you talk about your energy mate. You may not have realized what it was, but it sure sounded like love to me with a side order of passion.”

  “Perhaps you are correct. My reaction to the demise of my energy mate was similar to this emotion you call anger. At the very least, the guardians were not pleased and considered it a rebellion. They gave me the choice of space exploration or temporary placement at a re-education center. I am sorry I did not confess the whole story earlier. I let you believe I followed in the footsteps of my caretaker rather than a forced option. The truth is that I refused to seek out another energy mate. It was an unacceptable reaction. On my world, they categorize those who do not seek out energy mates as mutants and outcasts. I was not a fully functioning member of society. It is unfortunate that I had to travel hundreds of light years away to open myself to another energy mate and, just my luck, your signature is more suitable with another. I will miss you, Bella.”

  We were still somehow connected and I could feel her anguish. It felt like my heart was breaking right along with hers. I don’t know what Sydney was feeling, but she placed a protective hand on my back and started rubbing.

  “You’re going to leave us, aren’t you?” I swiped away my tears.

  “I cannot survive on your planet long term with only one sun and no energy mate. I would not last one of your Earth’s years.” She looked up at me and the tears in her eyes fell freely down her face.

  “What about if we can find you an energy mate? I don’t want you to leave. I just found you. We still have so much to learn from each other. You made me feel beautiful. I know I can’t be your energy mate, but I can be your friend. Remember when I told you there were many different kinds of love. I love you, Celeste. Please stay.”

  “Oh, Bella, I will never forget what you taught me. I understand love now. I love you, too, but I don’t think my love is the same as yours. Love hurts, but it is also the most wondrous feeling. I understand the saying, it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. I am twice blessed and twice cursed, but as your people would say, three times is a charm. I will search for love on my own planet and I will teach others.” Celeste picked up two rocks and closed her hand as her purple light transformed them into two perfect diamonds. She opened her hand and offered them to us. “Use these for your ritual of love and remember me fondly when you recite your vows.”

  “I know I will never forget you. Thank you, Celeste.” I took the offered diamonds. “We will cherish these gifts. I don’t know if the Kindle will work on your planet, but it seems like you really are enjoying our slang. I’ll load a bunch of other books about love on the reader for you.”

  “I would like that,” she graciously responded.

  Giving her my Kindle seemed like such a lame thing to do. I wanted to give her something more personal to remember us by, but I couldn’t think fast enough to know what that might be. Nothing I owned was valuable or sentimental. Then I got an idea that might seem entirely outrageous and ridiculous to some, but ended up being the perfect gift in the end.

  “Celeste, you asked me to go back with you, right?” I asked.

  Her eyes brightened. “Oh yes, I did.”

  “Does that mean you could take Gizmo with you?”

  Celeste smiled. “Yes, of course I could, but she is your special companion. Wouldn’t you miss her?”

  “More than you know. She’s been my everything since I adopted her, but now I have Sydney and I won’t feel so alone anymore. Gizmo is very friendly and usually gets along with almost everyone. I can tell she’s really bonded with you—more than any other. She’s fixed so she can’t have any kittens or anything, but I think she can teach you about another kind of love.” I picked up Gizmo and placed her in Celeste’s arms.

  Celeste brought Gizmo to her chest, hugging and kissing her. “Oh, Bella. I will take such good care of Gizmo and I will give her the energy needed to have baby kittens. This gift will not only be for me, but for my planet. I will treasure her always.”

  “Do you think that maybe you will be able to come back someday and visit?” Sydney asked. “Um, I don’t really know how long it takes to travel from Sisterna to Earth,” she added.

  “I cannot promise anything, but it is not outside of the realm of possibility,” Celeste answered.

  “When will you have to leave?” I asked.

  “I will need to fully recharge before attempting to make the journey back home. One more day under the sunshine should be sufficient.”

  Sydney glanced over to the three men who remained nearly catatonic. “What about the three stooges there?” She pointed at our attackers.

  Celeste frowned. “I am sorry. I let my anger control my reaction to them. I do not know if the memory removal will be permanent or temporary. However, I would guess the current state they are in may last for several weeks.”

  “Hmmm. How ironic that Greg may end up in the very place he claimed to want to take you back to. Karmic justice is a bitch. Sydney, do you have any
ideas about how we can get someone to take them to a hospital or something until they recover?” I asked.

  “I suppose we could make an anonymous call about three strange guys roaming around in the mountains and provide the authorities with the general location after we pack up in a day or two. Will we at least be able to feed them until we’re ready for the forest service to find them?”

  “I believe they will be able to follow rudimentary commands,” Celeste answered.

  “I’m not giving up my sleeping bag, so I hope they like sleeping under the stars on whatever extra blanket or pad we have to offer. Too bad they’re catatonic. I’d pay money to see the bear come back and scare the shit out of them.” I giggled.

  “You’re evil, but I like it,” Sydney stated.

  I smacked my hands together. “Well now that we have everything settled, I do believe it’s time to pull out the meat for dinner. I have a confession to make.”

  Sydney raised her eyebrow.

  “I’m so glad tomorrow will be our last day camping because I don’t think I can make it two whole weeks without you know…uh…taking care of my biological needs. I refuse to dig some hole in the ground and squat like a heathen over it while I do my business. It was touch and go this morning, but I managed to avoid the necessary evil after my coffee. I was trying to come up with some reason to take the Jeep and head to the nearest town.”

  It’s amazing how our brain signals can convince our bodies of just about anything. My locked up tight sphincter muscles were obeying me. Nothing was coming out that I didn’t want to release until I was good and ready. I giggled to myself because only a nerd would talk about their sphincter muscles, but no matter how much of a doofus I was, Sydney still loved me.

  “You’re kidding, right?” Sydney asked.

  “Nope, I’m really not, so for future reference, two days is my limit,” I said.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next day I woke up to a cloudless, brilliantly blue sky. Good fortune was shining down on us for the third day in a row and I celebrated Celeste’s ability to soak up the sun’s life-giving rays.

  I stretched and crawled out of my cozy cocoon. Celeste was still lightly snoring, but Sydney’s sleeping bag was empty. I poked my head out of the tent and watched as Sydney was brushing her teeth while stoking the fire that I assumed she’d just built. She was a multi-tasker. Good to know.

  Greg and his buddies were mumbling to themselves using nonsensical words. If we hadn’t recently experienced their wrath, it might have been comical. I noticed that their eyes still had a vacant, unfocused look. I wondered if Sydney led them all to the camping chairs in front of the fire this morning because they were sitting in a semi-circle and babbling like babies who haven’t learned to talk yet. Was this some kind of side effect of the memory removal Celeste inflicted on them—taking away their most basic memories like rudimentary language skills? They reminded me of their Neanderthal ancestors who grunted in conversation as a mode of communication, but I wasn’t sure whether they understood each other.

  I wish I’d taken a picture of the trio when I braved the night chill and wild animals for my nightly pee, because they had been spooning each other like sardines in a can. I burst out laughing and Sydney looked at me to see what was so humorous. Like my bladder, I could hold my laughter in only so long before it exploded out of me. I pointed to the men and she chuckled. Too bad we couldn’t show their bosses the touching picture.

  Sydney pointed to the French press and I shook my head. I was serious about my vow not to get my system started this morning. She shrugged and I thought I saw her shaking with laughter as she turned around to rinse off her toothbrush.

  It didn’t take us long to get ready, and this time we insisted that Celeste accompany us on our hike. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with her before she had to return. Celeste readily agreed to our plans for the day.

  “I will be happy to follow your bootelicious self,” Celeste proclaimed.

  I snorted and laughed out loud as Sydney smirked and mouthed bootelicious to me. “I bet you’re pretty proud of yourself right now, using slang and all, but where in the world did you get that adjective. I’ve certainly never heard that one before.”

  Celeste grinned. “Your reading device is very informative, but I may have combined a few words to create my own slang.”

  †

  Sydney did a good job of leading us on a path that would allow Celeste to remain in the sunshine.

  Celeste had an uncanny ability to find the beauty in not only the wildflowers, but also the weeds. In a way, I felt like that weed she noticed and pointed to, bringing out the beauty for others to see. She knew the names of most of the plants that Sydney drew our attention to. I could tell by her grin that she already knew what they were when Sydney would proudly point them out, but she never revealed her knowledge. She was content to let Sydney be her guide. When we came across a Purple Dead Nettle she asked about it.

  “Oh that’s just a weed.” Sydney waved her hand away as if the weed was not worthy of a name.

  “The weed is beautiful. Why do you wave it off with disdain?” Celeste asked.

  Sydney squatted next to the purple flower. “You know, you’re right, this Purple Dead Nettle is beautiful. I guess we are extremely arbitrary and capricious when determining which plants are beautiful flowers and which are noxious weeds.”

  “I like your saying, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If a person on your planet is not considered beautiful, are they also considered unworthy?” Celeste asked.

  “Wow, Celeste you’ve really hit the nail on the head. Our society does place far too much emphasis on appearances, so because I never felt beautiful before, I also never felt worthy.”

  Sydney tilted her head in my direction. “Did you really believe that? God, Mabs, you have the whole package because not only are you beautiful on the outside, but your soul is just as exquisite.” Sydney got this look like she’d just figured out the meaning of life. “You know, I just realized that what I really fell in love with is who you are inside. Remember how I told you I fell in love with you the minute I reached puberty? Well, you’ve definitely blossomed since then. No offense, Mabs, but your coke bottle glasses and that extensive metal mouth weren’t exactly the most attractive accessories, yet I still fell for you. I guess I’m not as shallow as I thought I was.”

  “Well too bad I can’t say the same thing about myself. I am completely shallow because you, Sydney, are a complete hottie, and Celeste is out of this world gorgeous,” I teased. “Seriously, Celeste, you just reinforced a very important lesson. Every living thing is worthy and should be treated as such. I’ll never look at another weed in the same way. I always thought I was more accepting of people because of my own experience in high school, but you’ve taught me that even I have biases.”

  I wasn’t in any hurry to get back to the campsite because I knew it would mark the end of Celeste’s visit to our planet, so we meandered along the path in no particular hurry to end our hike. I avoided the topic like the plague, lest I turn into a sobbing ball of hysteria.

  On our journey, we came across a black SUV and I assumed this was the vehicle Greg and his companions used to travel to our location. It wasn’t too far from where we pitched our tent, definitely in walking distance. I thought it might not be a bad idea to walk the guys closer to their car so that when the authorities went looking for the strange men hanging out in the mountains, they would find the vehicle.

  With each hour, Celeste improved and by the time we made it back to the campsite, her healthy glow had returned. I was pleased to see Gizmo curled up on the blanket I’d placed in front of the tent.

  I didn’t know how to suggest one last dinner before the impending goodbyes, so I didn’t say anything. I felt like I would be suggesting something like the last supper. How depressing is that? It turns out that Celeste was on a similar wavelength.

  “Do you think we could cook up another meal and have the s’more
s for dessert again? I will miss the Earth food almost as much as I will miss you.”

  “I think those chicken apple sausages would be the perfect thing to roast over the fire. No prep needed,” I replied.

  There were so many things I would miss about Celeste. Her humming while enjoying a tasty meal was something I would never forget. It was a whole lot better than a loud belch when expressing your satisfaction over a meal. I’d read somewhere that in some cultures a burp or passing gas was a high compliment to the chef. I preferred not to receive that type of accolade. She didn’t disappoint me this last evening as she starting humming almost immediately after a bite of the sausage.

  We made the guys eat those awful reconstituted meals. No matter what Sydney said about them, she would never convince me that they were almost as good as a fresh meal.

  Sydney licked her fingers after devouring her second s’more and stood as she stretched her long frame. “I better start tearing down the tent and packing up before it gets too late. I hate unpacking in the dark.”

  Celeste looked over at me and her mournful expression was my undoing as I burst into tears. “I am sorry, Bella, but it is time.”

  “I know,” I sniffed.

  Sydney busied herself with packing up our campsite and gave Celeste and me some privacy to say our goodbyes.

  Gizmo could sense something monumental was about to happen and strolled over weaving her body in and out of our legs.

  “How will you get back to your ship?” I asked.

  “Do you know this show, Star Trek, that is on the black box?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “We are able to use energy to transport ourselves from one place to the next. As long as I have Gizmo in my arms, I will be able to transport us both to my ship,” she answered.