Crash Landing: An Alien's View

     I work for a man named Dr. Sloth. You've heard of him, haven't you? I can tell by your face. Neopian emotions are hard to decipher, but I've gotten the hang of it over the last two months.

     My mission is top secret, and I confide this to you, and only you.

     My race is not unknown. But we are not considered an immediate threat.

     My name's Delli; I'm a Alien Aisha. And this is the story of how I lived on this world.

     They never expected it at the time, and only the highest officials in Neopia knew about it. Even though many saw what happened, their memories were soon wiped. You see, my spaceship malfunctioned. Must have been hit by a meteor or a space cow or something. Whatever it was, it sent me crashing into Neopia faster than the speed of sound. I didn't realise till it was too late, and by then my ship crashed into the ground as a pile of metal and fire. I was terrified. One moment, I was out in space, minding my own business, when suddenly BAM. I'm sent flying into this strange planet. And strange it is. When I awoke, I made sure my helmet and space suit were in place and undamaged by the crash, before sending up a signal to the Mother Ship saying that I had crashed, but I was okay. I knew it would take around two weeks before they got back to me, as distance in space was very, very long. I was stuck here, no food, no water and nowhere to go. Stranded on an alien planet.

     Being me, I was of course curious of the outside world. I can all remember it quite clearly, me in my dark, cramped quarters with only the odd blinking bulb as my light source. I had tried a few breathing exercises that the on-ship Doctor had told me to do in times of stress. It wasn't helping. My four green ears were picking up noise from the outside world, a sort of mindless chatter that I didn't understand. I heard them moving around my craft, and felt a spasm of fear at the thought of them getting in.

     Back then I was foolish, naive to what they wanted me to do. It took them only four days to get back to me, all the time I was living off life support, hoping my naturally slow metabolism would guide me through the nutrients I needed. I was so relieved when I got it; the sounds were getting worse and I just wanted to get out...

     I was expecting them to send a repair robot or maybe even a rescue shuttle. But no. Their message was simple;

     "Distress Signal 4.0 revised. Verification Number 34820.8

     Data Rank: CLASSIFIED.

     Commencing Stellar message.

     Scout Unit No.47382910 Code Dellifi, your distress signal has been received. While we are all concerned for your safety, we ask a task of you. So far none of our other Scouts have managed to gain access to Star Quadrant 7.8903, more commonly known as Neopia. We ask that you explore your surroundings and get to know the dominant beings that live there. This information will be used for ultimate world domination.

     Oh, and Delli? For the good of Sloth, don't screw up.

     Stellar Message terminated."

     At the time, the message baffled me. Why was it classified? Why could they not gain access before? I sighed, placing my helmet in my paws. I was outraged, as well. I was starving and trapped, and they hadn't even bothered to send one tiny little repair robot! No. I was not going to mess this up. And with that thought, I opened the doors.

     There was a hiss of steam, and for a moment I thought the single walkway that opened up was broken, but a few seconds later it shot up, and I was blinded by white light. I cried out, shocked. Gasps and screams were coming from all around me, but the blistering heat and glare of the sun was not something I was used to. I curled up into a ball, feeling the crumbly earth beneath me and just wanting to go home. Everything was new; I had grown up in metal walls all my life and the shock of this was drastic. I stayed like that for a very long time, till I took a brave peek through my eyelids.

     At first I thought it was some sort of space monster. I didn't move, frozen in terror. There were lots more around him, all staring at me in awe. The space monster looked reptilian; he had no hind legs and looked quite fierce. He had an emotion on his face I did not recognise. I later learned it was concern.

     "Are you all right?" he asked, as I jumped back.

     I understood him, where the words that shot through my mind as I stupidly replied, "Y-Yes."

     There was a lot of commotion as more strange creatures gathered around me. I stood up on painful legs. They hurt after having sat down for so long. I gasped. Suddenly, all the noise was drowned out, and I could no longer feel felt the tugs of the space monsters on my suit. It was so... beautiful.

     A sky of clear blue was above my head, where white balls of fluff seemed to wander dreamily through it, effortlessly gliding as if they too were in space. And oh, the greens and reds and pinks and all the shades together in a never ending swirl. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. And suddenly, all this new wasn't so bad. Sure, space was pretty with its stars and nebulas and the odd comet shower that seemed to light it up, but this was warm and friendly. It felt like home.

     But I was pulled back to the present with a sharp tug. They were swarming all around me now, some noting things down, but most yelling at me.

     "Where are you from?"

     "Do you have a name?"

     "Are there more of you?"

     I wanted to answer, I really did. But there were so many questions and clicks and flashes that my head started to swarm again. I felt ill, and suddenly the surroundings were not enough to tempt me to stay. I pushed myself past the crowd and into my shuttle, slamming the door shut behind me.

     I'm going to stop the story there. I'm indeed sorry if you were hanging onto my every word, and were expecting some grand finale, but we must come back to the present. I was stuck there for two months, and was treated like a freak. Hounded wherever I went, by anyone I met. I had my photo everywhere and anywhere. I write this report back to you now, Commander, and I implore you, I beg of you not to invade Neopia. For while it's good, with blue skies and green grass, it's no place for an alien.

     Scout Unit No.47382910 Code Dellifi Reporting Out.

The End