by A. J. Low
“Okay, let’s—”
“ARRRGGGHHH!!!” Jimmy screamed, interrupting me. “It’s that scary thing from Watson’s film!”
The creature’s head snapped towards us when Jimmy screamed. Everyone else scrambled to run away, but I knew this might be my only chance to have my very own alien encounter! I gave chase!
The creature ducked behind some trees but I was determined not to lose it. I was breathless and sweating, and I could really have used a cool fresh coconut right at that moment, but I had it in my sights and there was no way I was going to let this opportunity go!
And then I slipped. Well, tripped would be a better description. I stumbled headfirst onto a rotting tree trunk that was lying on the side of the path and fell with a wet plop on my belly.
How irresponsible to leave a fallen tree trunk lying around in the forest, I thought to myself as I painfully turned over. I tried to reach for the walkie-talkie I had clipped to my belt but it must have fallen off during the chase.
Suddenly, the creature with the glowing red eyes appeared. It hesitated, but then purposefully made its way towards me, lumbering almost. It had four limbs, like a humanoid, but it had four more appendages coming out of its head! And it was the colour of tree bark! Rough, dark tree bark! Was the green goo excretions made by this creature? Perhaps that was its sap! Its eyes glittered red as it came closer.
Then everything went black.
“GREEN GOO!” I cried out, my arms flailing about.
I opened my eyes and found myself lying on my back, with a pebble lodged disagreeably under my left buttock. I had to wriggle to get it free.
The alien! I shifted quickly into a sitting position. A wave of pain shot through my head. Where was the alien? Where was I? Also, OUCH.
I turned my head gingerly and looked around, finding myself inside a tent. It had very comfortable pillows. I was lying on a thin cotton blanket. I realised that it was Eliza and Wendy’s big tent. That would mean that I was back at Jelutong Beach campsite! What had happened? Did the alien have transporter technology? Did he beam me back here? Or was this simply a recreation of our campsite on his spaceship to make me feel at ease?
I crawled out of the tent carefully.
“SAM!” a girl’s voice called out. “Sam! You’re here! You’re okay!”
Wendy came running towards me and enveloped me in a big hug.
“I was so worried when I realised that you weren’t with us!” Wendy said, still hugging me. She was choking me a little around the neck.
“I met the alien!” I announced when Wendy finally released me.
“WHAT?!” everyone exclaimed. Except Watson of course. But he did flush to a shocking yellow.
“And it is highly likely that it came from an advanced civilization,” I continued. “I believe that it used as-yet undiscovered transporter technology to transport me back to this campsite from the place where I fell.”
“If-it-is-as-yet-undiscovered-how-did-the-alien-use-it?” Watson asked.
I glared at Watson and then winced when I felt a tinge of pain on my forehead.
“I think it is more likely that you have a concussion, Sherlock,” Nazhar said, looking at me closely. “Follow my finger with your eyes.” He held his index finger in front of my eyes.
“Then why did I get here before you when you all ran towards the campsite?” I asked, swatting Nazhar’s hand away from my face.
“Because everybody ran off in different directions and got lost. I had to find them all and lead them back to camp,” Eliza said.
“Not-all-of-us,” Watson said. “Some-of-us-higher-life-forms-have-excellent-senses-of-direction.”
“Yes, we do,” Eliza smirked. “I think you lower life forms wouldn’t be able to find your way out of a paper bag.”
“Sherlock, I really think you need to re-evaluate your hypothesis,” Nazhar said, changing the subject. “You have a dinosaur plaster on your forehead. Unless aliens use dinosaur plasters, I think you encountered a human being.”
I reached up and touched my forehead. I had not even noticed that I had a plaster on.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure that bump hasn’t made him any weirder,” Eliza said.
“I-do-not-know,” Watson said. “It-is-supper-time-and-he-has-not-asked-for-Khong-Guan-biscuits-yet. He-is-clearly-not-himself.”
“Maybe we should tell Mom and Dad you hit your head, Sam,” Wendy said. “We should get you to a doctor.”
“Why won’t any of you believe me?” I said angrily. “I don’t need a doctor! I met the alien that has been causing all the strange occurrences on Pulau Ubin!”
“Sherlock, be LOGICAL,” Nazhar said, putting his hands on my shoulders and giving me a gentle shake. “Look at the evidence like you always do.”
“I have been!” I exclaimed. “There were the green lights in the sky.” I held one finger up. “Then we found the crop circle.” I held a second finger up.
“Moss circle!” Jimmy chirped.
“Right, the moss circle,” I continued, still holding two fingers up. “Then there was the green goo.” I lifted a third finger. “And finally, I actually saw the alien!” I held four fingers up triumphantly.
“And could any of these things have terrestrial explanations or origins?” Nazhar asked.
I pursed my lips and frowned.
“He’s right, Sam,” Wendy said. “There could be many different explanations for what we’ve seen.”
“The lights could have something to do with the air base that’s nearby…on the main island,” Eliza said.
She was talking about Changi Air Base, and she was right. There could be a government conspiracy to cover up the existence of aliens!
“Plus, when I was trying to find you, I noticed that the ‘alien’ left the tracks of a man,” she continued.
“The moss could be hermit crabs dancing the funky chicken dance, Sherlock!” Jimmy said. He proceeded to do the funky chicken dance to illustrate his point.
“And the green goo could just be—” Nazhar said.
“Normal green paint mixed in with a sticky substance,” I said.
“Right,” Nazhar replied. “Exactly.”
There was a chance that Nazhar was right. Had I been behaving like my heroes Sherlock Holmes and Batman, or like an easily excitable alien fanboy?
“Spock would probably not approve,” I muttered to myself.
“WOOF!” Jimmy said, startling everyone.
“There is a chance I got carried away because I’ve always wanted to prove the existence of aliens,” I added. “It’s all that Dad and I talk about sometimes.”
“You might have to just admit to yourself that they don’t exist,” Nazhar said.
“I said there is a chance. Clearly, we just need to investigate some more.” I needed to dig deeper. However, I was stuck in the middle of nowhere. How was I going to do any research? Then it struck me.
“Tomorrow morning, we’ll surprise Mom and Dad,” I said. “They’re at the Celestial Beach Resort.”
“We don’t even know what room they’re in, Sam,” Wendy asked.
“They are in Beach Hut One,” I replied. “I spied the key sticking out of Dad’s pocket.”
“Why-do-we-need-to-visit-your-parents? Is-this-a-ploy-to-get-buffet-breakfast?” Watson asked.
“No, it’s to use the Internet to do some research, Watson,” I said. I did not add that the buffet breakfast would be an added benefit.
“If we want to surprise them, we’ll have to wake up early,” Eliza said. “And I will also check out your head bump before we go to sleep. I took a first aid course with my mom. It’s likely nothing, you big klutz, but better safe than sorry.”
“Why is she being so nice?” Wendy whispered to me.
“Gee, Wendy. You’re really sunburnt,” I replied. “I can see how burnt you are, even at night.”
My sister winced and made her way to the toilets mournfully to wash up and then slather entire bottles of soothing aloe ve
ra gel and insect bite ointment on herself. As she walked away, I heard her muttering about how she didn’t realise it was possible for mosquitoes to bite the soles of her feet.
Soon, we were all in our own tents. The night was cool and breezy. The waves were lapping gently against the shore. I could hear the crickets too, a comforting chirping sound in the night. Exhaustion slowly crept over me. It had been a day filled with excitement, and a previous night of very little sleep. I even had to run today! Plus, I was eager to get connected to the Internet tomorrow so I could start my research. In fact—
“HNNGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHRRRRRR.”
The sound was back and louder and more ferocious than the previous night!
We spent the night huddled in Eliza and Wendy’s tent again, playing scissors-paper-stone and hoping that we would make it until morning without being eaten.
What was this fearsome creature and where was it hiding?
“Daaaaaad!!! Moooooom!!! We’re here!” I yelled as I knocked vigorously on the door of their hotel beach hut. It had once again been a long, sleepless night. We were all exhausted and looking forward to sleeping in our own beds tonight. But not before I solved the mystery!
There was no answer. I knocked again. “Dad? Mom?”
“Maybe they went for breakfast already?” Eliza asked.
Watson extended his arms and legs, and pulled himself onto the roof. Mom and Dad’s hotel room was actually a small individual stand-alone villa right next to the beach. It had atap leaves on its roof, just like a traditional house back in the olden days.
“What are you doing, Watson?” Wendy asked.
“I-am-checking-for-any-openings-on-the-roof,” he replied. He disappeared from view.
“Why would there be any openings on the roof?” Nazhar asked. “It’s not like they need chimneys here.”
“Maybe they really did go for breakfast,” Wendy said.
The door suddenly opened, and Watson stepped out. “They-are-sleeping. We-should-probably-not-disturb-them.”
“What?” I asked. I pushed past Watson and entered the room. Sure enough, my parents were sleeping quite comfortably in their king-sized bed. Dad was wearing the Albert Einstein pyjamas that he had specially made, and Mom was wearing the Commander Shepard pyjamas that she had specially made. They each had two pillows and nice sheets. Dad was even hugging a bolster.
And they made us sleep out in the wilderness!
“Dad! Mom!” I shouted.
They woke with a start.
“What the what!?” Dad shouted. “What’s happening? Are you kids okay? Is it time for breakfast?”
“What’s that on your forehead, Samuel?” Mom asked. She was still blinking sleep from her eyes. “And how did you get in? And why do you look so terrible, Wendy?”
“Watson jumped on the—”
“That-is-not-important-right-now,” Watson said, interrupting Jimmy. “Let-us-focus-on-the-matter-at-hand. Namely-why-Sherlock-has-woken-you.”
“We’re fine, Dad,” Wendy said.
“Are you two enjoying your ‘camping trip’?” I asked, making quotation marks with my fingers when I said “camping trip”.
“Oh, immensely, son,” Dad said, smiling. “Did you all need something?”
Before I could say anything, Nazhar spoke first. “We were wondering if we could use the Internet for a short while.”
“Now kids, you know this weekend is to unplug from technology,” Mom said, yawning. “It’s for sand dunes and salty air.”
“But Mom!” I interrupted. “It’s for the case!”
“Well! If it’s for the case then—” Dad said. “Oh no, wait. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t. Mom didn’t let me bring my laptop.” Dad looked at Mom mournfully.
“I wasn’t the one who forgot to bring our smartphone chargers,” Mom said in return, glaring at Dad.
“Our handphone batteries are flat too.” Dad grinned sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders.
“Awww,” I said. “Well, since we’re here, how about that breakfast buffet?”
It was my turn to be on the receiving end of Mom’s glare.
“Why don’t you kids go pack up and meet us back here in two hours,” Mom said.
“How about some breakfast first?” I said as Wendy and Eliza dragged me away.
Dad waved at me cheerily as we left, tossing me two more chocolate bars. Mom had already fallen back asleep.
We started walking back to the campsite. I really needed to investigate all the signs of alien encounters that we had come across. The best way to do this was to research expert opinions on alien sightings and patterns. Nazhar had shaken me last night. Not physically, but mentally. Well, I mean, he did shake me physically, but that wasn’t the important shaking. The important shaking was reminding me that I needed to be more logical about all this, and not jump to conclusions.
Suddenly, a wild boar appeared on the pathway in front of us. The pathway was surrounded by tall grass, so it seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Jimmy gasped. “A hairy piggy! So cute!” He started to run towards it, and Watson extended his arms to catch him. Eliza had reacted faster, however, and reached Jimmy before Watson’s arms did.
“Jimmy, I know you love animals, but it really isn’t a good idea to run at all of them,” she said. “Wild boars can be very territorial, especially the girls.”
“How do you know that’s a girl?” Jimmy asked.
“If you look closely in the grass, you’ll see this boar isn’t just a girl, she’s a mom.”
We peered at the tall grass where Eliza was pointing, and saw three boar piglets clambering on top of each other. “If you run at her, she’ll think you’re trying to hurt her babies, and she will try to hurt you so as to defend them,” she continued.
“But I would never hurt an animal,” Jimmy said. “Especially not babies!”
“I know that, Jimmy. We all know that, but she doesn’t. She just sees something larger than her and her babies running at her, and she thinks it’s a threat.”
“How do you know all this nature stuff?” Nazhar asked.
“I go camping with my dad a lot,” Eliza said. “It’s kind of my favourite thing to do. Also, my mom was in the National Cadet Corps when she was in secondary school. I can’t wait to join when I’m old enough.”
Wendy’s eyes bugged out. She mouthed the letters “NCC” at me in astonishment when she thought Eliza wasn’t looking. I shrugged. Eliza seemed full of surprises.
We decided to take a small detour so that the mama boar wouldn’t see us as a threat, and made it back to camp.
We packed everything up. Well, actually, Eliza did most of the packing. She finished putting her tent away very quickly, and then saw how much trouble the rest of us were having, so she ended up putting our tents away as well.
Wendy assisted by using up the sunscreen and mosquito repellent. I helped by eating the last of the yoghurt bars.
On our way back to Mom and Dad’s hotel room, the chubby uncle from the first day met us on the main road. He was in a light brown polo shirt, shorts and slippers, and had a fishing pole slung across his shoulders.
“Hello there. You are the boy with the name card!” he said. “Are you all leaving already? Not going to look for the aliens you were talking about?”
“Hello, Uncle,” I replied. “Yes, unfortunately we are leaving. I was hoping to investigate the suspected alien sightings but we don’t have access to the Internet.”
“You can call me Uncle Chin! I have a computer in my house,” Uncle Chin said. “But why doesn’t your robot have the Internet inside him?” He squatted down to take a closer look at Watson.
“I-am-not-connected-to-the-World-Wide-Web,” Watson replied.
“The world web what?” Uncle Chin said. “You can come and borrow my computer if you want. My son got it for me to email him but I can’t remember how to turn it on. It keeps making all these weird beeping noises too.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind us usin
g it, Uncle?” Nazhar asked. “We promise it won’t take very long.”
“Can, can. Use it as long as you like,” Uncle Chin replied. “If it helps solve the mystery behind all the strange things that have been happening, it would make Uncle very happy. My son keeps telling me to move into his HDB flat with his family because of all this nonsense. But I don’t like lifts! It’s a box going up and down! So scary. And I can’t go fishing every day in an HDB estate! Uncle is happy staying here, even with green goo everywhere.”
“Don’t worry, Uncle,” I said. “I’ll definitely solve this case!”
“I like having people come visit us,” he continued. “My son is a doctor, always so busy. Do you want some fresh coconuts?”
“YES!” we said.
Coconuts and computers! An excellent combination!
I should have known it was too good to be true.
“Umm, Uncle Chin?” I said. “Your computer has no power.”
As it turned out, Uncle Chin lived in the big green wooden house that was right before the turnoff into our campsite! He had unlatched the gate to let us in. There was lots of space to run about. He had told us that he and his wife, the auntie from the restaurant, had lived here for more than 50 years.
In the backyard, Uncle Chin had a small wooden charcoal stove. We had never seen one before so he let us take a closer look. There were two old Milo tins filled with a thick translucent liquid right next to the stove. There were also two very excited chickens that started playing with Jimmy.
Uncle Chin had led us into his spacious living room and told us to make ourselves at home while he prepared the coconuts for us. We could hear the rhythmic chop-chop-chop of the blade hitting the coconut husk.
“What? No power?” Uncle Chin said, his head popping out from the kitchen entrance. “Oh! I forgot. You must use the extension cord. Wait ah.”
There was the sound of things being shuffled around and then Uncle Chin came out with an orange extension cord. He unplugged the fan that was using the only socket in the living room and plugged the extension cord in. He then uncoiled the wire and dragged it over to the computer which was at the opposite end of the room and finally plugged it in.
