Over the writing hump
Still on schedule, believe it or not. I probably could write more, but I have to make sure I get up for church tomorrow. Night all!
Wordcount: 25,167
She noticed as they walked along the pod studded hallway that each alien was paired equally. Military with military, scientist with scientist, maintenance with maintenance. Mara looked at her little alien companion and wondered sadly if that meant he had lost his status if he was going to be paired with her.
They finally came to an empty one. Mara swallowed, "Um, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not be plugged into anything anymore." She'd only just started to feel warm. It seemed like it was a law or something to heat their ship, they always kept it cold.
Yuyu noticed her hesitation. "It is necessary or safe landing cannot be acheived." He pushed the button for the plastic door and it melted away into nothing. Mara backed up. "I don't know. I mean, has anyone ever tried landing without being in there?" she asked. But the guard's gun was prodding her in the back. Mara debated, be shot or get plugged in again. Which was worse?
With a sigh, she finally stepped in on her side of the enclosure. There was a kind of small seat to sit on either side of the capsule area. Yuyu had already strapped himself in. Mara was rather glad she wasn't large for a human, looking at the small seatbelt thing before strapping it around herself. Yuyu told her how it attached to the wall behind her, there didn't seem to be anything to click it into. It just attached as if magnetized. "So," Mara said. "Now what? We play cards till we get there?"
Yuyu was awfully quiet and Mara felt bad for him. "I'm sorry," she said in a low voice. "I'm sorry you got stuck with me."
The guards had already sealed the door shut and left. Mara thought of Chris still stuck in the computer simulation. She almost wished she was back in there but apparently she wasn't compatible for some strange reason. While that did make her happy in a way, it did prevent her from going back to explain what had happened.
"Poor Chris, he must be so confused right now," she said aloud.
"...ccrrrissss...." Yuyu tried it out. Mara smiled at that. "Yeah, that other human's name was Chris."
Suddenly, she felt something cool and slimy against her bare feet. She looked down and saw the capsule was starting to fill with a strange gel substance. "Um, is it supposed to be doing that?" she said as she pointed down at it.
Yuyu seemed willing to sit there and watch the gel coming up more and more in the capsule. Mara on the other hand was getting panicky again. She wanted out. But the belt that held her in her seat wasn't coming loose like it had before. She was stuck. The gel was covering her knees by now. "I changed my mind, I want out now!" Mara said, tugging at the belt that held her in place. Instead of coming loose, two more straps slid down crossways across her chest, fastening her to the wall behind her. The same had happened for Yuyu.
Mara wasn't about to give up so easily. She was pulling and moving about as much as possible while the gel was coming slowly up her waist. "Please, Yuyu! Get me out of here!"
He looked at her with his unblinking white eyes and he seemed sad for some reason. "I do not understand," he said. "I do not understand what you are speaking. Why do you not hold still?"
The gel was coming up her sides and approaching her neck. Mara tried to fight harder against her bonds but it was getting tougher as the gel was quite thick. "I don't want to drown, I have to breathe! Breathe do you understand!" she called out, wishing someone, anyone would hear her and understand. Just then, Yuyu's head went under. "No!" she said, struggling to reach over and pull him up. "Yuyu!"
The gel was at her neck and she was getting quite cold again. Tears were running down her face at this point. "I'm gonna die..." she said shutting her eyes. "I'm going to die in a vat of jello..."
"Come on boys, it's time for the campfire!"
Both boys groaned loudly at Mark's father's voice calling from the fire pit area. They hadn't realized the sun was starting to go down. James tossed the journal to Mark who stuffed it in his bag as they both jumped out of the back of the pick up truck. "I think your dad has that sixth sense about interrupting the best part of a story as well," said James. Mark agreed as they came up to the circle who had started sticking marshmallows on makeshift cut sticks from the trees around the church. Someone had brought a guitar and soon they were singing cliché campfire songs as the sun dipped below the horizon.
"Cool that you get to stay over tonight," Mark said, unrolling the sleeping bag his mom had put on the floor for James.
James was hauling up a black overnight duffel bag with "Steelers" printed in yellow on the side up the stairs.
"Yeah, I didn't think my folks would have gone for it. Who knew?" he said, plunking his bag down in an empty spot on the floor. He picked up one of the text books on alien sightings and jumped onto Mark's bed while Mark was finishing up making James' bed on the floor. "How's the paper going?" he asked, flipping through the book and stopping at an interesting picture of a crop circle.
"Slow," said Mark, tossing some clothes into a corner to make a little more room to walk. "I've been too caught up in that journal." He sat down in his computer chair and leaned back with his hands behind his head. He chewed his bottom lip as he looked at his best friend sprawled on his bed. "You know," he started slowly. "Someone might be looking for that journal. Maybe we ought to return it."
James gave him a look. "Are you kidding? We haven't even finished it yet!"
"True," said Mark. "But we could get into real trouble if someone caught us with it. Especially if that someone was the person who wrote it."
"How are they going to catch us?" James said incredulously. "There's a whole school of people and the community that use that library. Miss Eva didn't see us take it so there's nobody else who could know about it."
Mark nodded, "I know...I just...I'd feel bad if I lost a journal or book like that. All that writing missing..."
James sighed. "Ok, ok, fine. We can put it in the lost and found box in school. BUT!" He sat up in the bed with his finger pointed upward for emphasis. "Only after we finish it, agreed?" That seemed alright to Mark. "Ok, so long as we don't get caught with it," he said. The two friends shook on it as if it was a secret pact or something.
There was a footstep on the stairs. Both boys jumped for their respective beds. They were under the covers or sleeping bag equivalent by the time Mark's mom made it to the top of the stairwell. "Ok, lights out you two. You both have school tomorrow."
"Yes, mom," they chorused as if rehearsed. She smiled and shook her head at them before flicking off the lights and walking back down the stairs. There was a moment of silence in the dark. Mark spoke first. "Great," he whispered. "How are we supposed to read now? Mom confiscated my flashlight."
A circle of light hit the ceiling above Mark's bed. It moved around crazily against the wooden slats that made up the attic ceiling. "You mean, a flashlight like this?" James' hand came up from the foot of the bed holding a green flashlight by the handle.
"How did you...?" Mark asked as loudly as he dared. "Snuck it in with my stuff as I was packing," James said. "You never know when a flashlight is going to come in handy." He handed the flashlight up to Mark who had the journal in hand already. "Your turn to read," said James, settling down in his sleeping bag to listen. "You let me know if there's any cool pictures to look at, ok?"
"Ok," said Mark, turning to the scene they left off at. "Although, if this Mara girl drowns there probably won't be much more story."
"She can't drown, she wrote it or the character supposedly wrote it. One or the other," said James. "How could she write it if she's dead?"
"That's true," said Mark. "Ok, I'll read, you watch and listen for Mom to make sure she doesn't sneak in on us."
"Roger," James said, pretending he was a lookout scout taking up his observing position. "Ready and waiting."
Mark began reading again...
Mara took a deep breath before going under. Her limbs were too cold to move at this point. In fact, the cold felt like it was seeping in, right to her very core. She kept her eyes closed as it seemed like the gel was freezing her solid inside their pod enclosure. It was getting stiffer and more solid around her. Her lungs weren't hurting yet for some strange reason. It was as if everything was slowing down around her. She could almost feel her heart rate slowing down.
Finally, as the pod finished filling up, all was quiet and still around them.
Mara could see Yuyu, which was strange because she was pretty sure she still had her eyes shut. It was as if she was sensing rather than seeing him. The world was freezing into darkness around her and she could see Yuyu better and better as it did. Ok, I think I get it, Mara thought. The aliens stay in some kind of stasis until the ship lands.
As she watched, Yuyu looked from side to side and then reached out to push a button in midair in front of him. A small grid appeared between them. A few different sized pieces began to appear on opposite sides from each other. "I do not know if you know how to play No-Hi. I do not know if humans play games."
Mara couldn't figure out how to talk back but she figured that wouldn't have made much sense anyway. Yuyu seemed eager to teach and they didn't have anything else to do at the moment.
The game wasn't too hard to learn. I had to get over that weird feeling that I wasn't really moving my arms to reach out and move the pieces. It was more me imagining myself doing that. Yuyu was patient enough to teach me the basics of the game. It seemed like a cross between chess and othello but there were some strategies I couldn't pick up about it. Yuyu won the three games we played. I'm not sure how long each of them lasted. I kept thinking about Chris and wondering what kind of planet we were about to land on. And most of all, how were we going to get back?
Wordcount: 25,167
She noticed as they walked along the pod studded hallway that each alien was paired equally. Military with military, scientist with scientist, maintenance with maintenance. Mara looked at her little alien companion and wondered sadly if that meant he had lost his status if he was going to be paired with her.
They finally came to an empty one. Mara swallowed, "Um, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not be plugged into anything anymore." She'd only just started to feel warm. It seemed like it was a law or something to heat their ship, they always kept it cold.
Yuyu noticed her hesitation. "It is necessary or safe landing cannot be acheived." He pushed the button for the plastic door and it melted away into nothing. Mara backed up. "I don't know. I mean, has anyone ever tried landing without being in there?" she asked. But the guard's gun was prodding her in the back. Mara debated, be shot or get plugged in again. Which was worse?
With a sigh, she finally stepped in on her side of the enclosure. There was a kind of small seat to sit on either side of the capsule area. Yuyu had already strapped himself in. Mara was rather glad she wasn't large for a human, looking at the small seatbelt thing before strapping it around herself. Yuyu told her how it attached to the wall behind her, there didn't seem to be anything to click it into. It just attached as if magnetized. "So," Mara said. "Now what? We play cards till we get there?"
Yuyu was awfully quiet and Mara felt bad for him. "I'm sorry," she said in a low voice. "I'm sorry you got stuck with me."
The guards had already sealed the door shut and left. Mara thought of Chris still stuck in the computer simulation. She almost wished she was back in there but apparently she wasn't compatible for some strange reason. While that did make her happy in a way, it did prevent her from going back to explain what had happened.
"Poor Chris, he must be so confused right now," she said aloud.
"...ccrrrissss...." Yuyu tried it out. Mara smiled at that. "Yeah, that other human's name was Chris."
Suddenly, she felt something cool and slimy against her bare feet. She looked down and saw the capsule was starting to fill with a strange gel substance. "Um, is it supposed to be doing that?" she said as she pointed down at it.
Yuyu seemed willing to sit there and watch the gel coming up more and more in the capsule. Mara on the other hand was getting panicky again. She wanted out. But the belt that held her in her seat wasn't coming loose like it had before. She was stuck. The gel was covering her knees by now. "I changed my mind, I want out now!" Mara said, tugging at the belt that held her in place. Instead of coming loose, two more straps slid down crossways across her chest, fastening her to the wall behind her. The same had happened for Yuyu.
Mara wasn't about to give up so easily. She was pulling and moving about as much as possible while the gel was coming slowly up her waist. "Please, Yuyu! Get me out of here!"
He looked at her with his unblinking white eyes and he seemed sad for some reason. "I do not understand," he said. "I do not understand what you are speaking. Why do you not hold still?"
The gel was coming up her sides and approaching her neck. Mara tried to fight harder against her bonds but it was getting tougher as the gel was quite thick. "I don't want to drown, I have to breathe! Breathe do you understand!" she called out, wishing someone, anyone would hear her and understand. Just then, Yuyu's head went under. "No!" she said, struggling to reach over and pull him up. "Yuyu!"
The gel was at her neck and she was getting quite cold again. Tears were running down her face at this point. "I'm gonna die..." she said shutting her eyes. "I'm going to die in a vat of jello..."
"Come on boys, it's time for the campfire!"
Both boys groaned loudly at Mark's father's voice calling from the fire pit area. They hadn't realized the sun was starting to go down. James tossed the journal to Mark who stuffed it in his bag as they both jumped out of the back of the pick up truck. "I think your dad has that sixth sense about interrupting the best part of a story as well," said James. Mark agreed as they came up to the circle who had started sticking marshmallows on makeshift cut sticks from the trees around the church. Someone had brought a guitar and soon they were singing cliché campfire songs as the sun dipped below the horizon.
"Cool that you get to stay over tonight," Mark said, unrolling the sleeping bag his mom had put on the floor for James.
James was hauling up a black overnight duffel bag with "Steelers" printed in yellow on the side up the stairs.
"Yeah, I didn't think my folks would have gone for it. Who knew?" he said, plunking his bag down in an empty spot on the floor. He picked up one of the text books on alien sightings and jumped onto Mark's bed while Mark was finishing up making James' bed on the floor. "How's the paper going?" he asked, flipping through the book and stopping at an interesting picture of a crop circle.
"Slow," said Mark, tossing some clothes into a corner to make a little more room to walk. "I've been too caught up in that journal." He sat down in his computer chair and leaned back with his hands behind his head. He chewed his bottom lip as he looked at his best friend sprawled on his bed. "You know," he started slowly. "Someone might be looking for that journal. Maybe we ought to return it."
James gave him a look. "Are you kidding? We haven't even finished it yet!"
"True," said Mark. "But we could get into real trouble if someone caught us with it. Especially if that someone was the person who wrote it."
"How are they going to catch us?" James said incredulously. "There's a whole school of people and the community that use that library. Miss Eva didn't see us take it so there's nobody else who could know about it."
Mark nodded, "I know...I just...I'd feel bad if I lost a journal or book like that. All that writing missing..."
James sighed. "Ok, ok, fine. We can put it in the lost and found box in school. BUT!" He sat up in the bed with his finger pointed upward for emphasis. "Only after we finish it, agreed?" That seemed alright to Mark. "Ok, so long as we don't get caught with it," he said. The two friends shook on it as if it was a secret pact or something.
There was a footstep on the stairs. Both boys jumped for their respective beds. They were under the covers or sleeping bag equivalent by the time Mark's mom made it to the top of the stairwell. "Ok, lights out you two. You both have school tomorrow."
"Yes, mom," they chorused as if rehearsed. She smiled and shook her head at them before flicking off the lights and walking back down the stairs. There was a moment of silence in the dark. Mark spoke first. "Great," he whispered. "How are we supposed to read now? Mom confiscated my flashlight."
A circle of light hit the ceiling above Mark's bed. It moved around crazily against the wooden slats that made up the attic ceiling. "You mean, a flashlight like this?" James' hand came up from the foot of the bed holding a green flashlight by the handle.
"How did you...?" Mark asked as loudly as he dared. "Snuck it in with my stuff as I was packing," James said. "You never know when a flashlight is going to come in handy." He handed the flashlight up to Mark who had the journal in hand already. "Your turn to read," said James, settling down in his sleeping bag to listen. "You let me know if there's any cool pictures to look at, ok?"
"Ok," said Mark, turning to the scene they left off at. "Although, if this Mara girl drowns there probably won't be much more story."
"She can't drown, she wrote it or the character supposedly wrote it. One or the other," said James. "How could she write it if she's dead?"
"That's true," said Mark. "Ok, I'll read, you watch and listen for Mom to make sure she doesn't sneak in on us."
"Roger," James said, pretending he was a lookout scout taking up his observing position. "Ready and waiting."
Mark began reading again...
Mara took a deep breath before going under. Her limbs were too cold to move at this point. In fact, the cold felt like it was seeping in, right to her very core. She kept her eyes closed as it seemed like the gel was freezing her solid inside their pod enclosure. It was getting stiffer and more solid around her. Her lungs weren't hurting yet for some strange reason. It was as if everything was slowing down around her. She could almost feel her heart rate slowing down.
Finally, as the pod finished filling up, all was quiet and still around them.
Mara could see Yuyu, which was strange because she was pretty sure she still had her eyes shut. It was as if she was sensing rather than seeing him. The world was freezing into darkness around her and she could see Yuyu better and better as it did. Ok, I think I get it, Mara thought. The aliens stay in some kind of stasis until the ship lands.
As she watched, Yuyu looked from side to side and then reached out to push a button in midair in front of him. A small grid appeared between them. A few different sized pieces began to appear on opposite sides from each other. "I do not know if you know how to play No-Hi. I do not know if humans play games."
Mara couldn't figure out how to talk back but she figured that wouldn't have made much sense anyway. Yuyu seemed eager to teach and they didn't have anything else to do at the moment.
The game wasn't too hard to learn. I had to get over that weird feeling that I wasn't really moving my arms to reach out and move the pieces. It was more me imagining myself doing that. Yuyu was patient enough to teach me the basics of the game. It seemed like a cross between chess and othello but there were some strategies I couldn't pick up about it. Yuyu won the three games we played. I'm not sure how long each of them lasted. I kept thinking about Chris and wondering what kind of planet we were about to land on. And most of all, how were we going to get back?