Nova

         Now, let’s be clear here. I am not some sci-fi space junky. I don’t really care for it. Never really have. But how do you react when your life suddenly becomes a sci-fi movie? Would you scream? Would you faint? Would you jump at the chance to make the most of it?
Well, I screamed, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Here, we go.

         The sun had climbed high when mom yelled into the kitchen from the front door. “Honey, I’m going now! I love you!”
         “Uh huh!” I called back, preoccupied by my homework, aka: the internet. I heard a huge sigh before the door slammed shut, and felt guilt tugging at my heart. I couldn’t help being the teenager of the iPod generation. So I did what any good daughter of my generation would do. I sent mom an “I u 2” text. What else could I do? I mean seriously, I was browsing the internet. I was busy.
         Something outside in the backyard clanked loudly. When I peered out the window from my seat at the table, I saw nothing. So, I went back to my beloved internet. But there it was again. The sound. And something else. A light wispy sound. Convinced it was a stray cat I grabbed the broom and walked to the back door, hoping I could scare the stupid thing away. As I opened the door, I noticed something black at the far end of the yard. What the heck? That wasn’t there before. What could it have been? Maybe someone got into our yard and graffitied the fence. Sighing in frustration, I put the broom down and approached the fence. The idiots who did this were going to get a piece of my mind if I ever found them.
         Inching closer, I noticed the black spot on the fence was moving! Wait, what? Moving?! That wasn’t right. The whirring got louder and louder as I got closer. Assuming it was coming from the large black spot, I inched closer. Just then, my feet started going forward on their own. Panicking, I dug my heels into the ground, falling over in my attempt. I was still being pulled toward the fence though. Terror gripped my throat as I tried so desperately to scream for help, for anything, anyone! My hand scrabbled frantically for a handhold, but came to a tiny weed that pulled out two seconds later.
         “Help me!!” I finally screamed, but it was too late. The black spot pulled me in, screaming ferociously around, swallowing me whole. And then everything went black.

         Sniff, sniff, sniff!
         “Nnn!!” I moaned as I woke to something smelling me. “Go away.”
         Are you alright? A voice in my head asked. My mind banged around as I sat up, groaning with physical pain.
         I must be really hurt if I’m hearing voices that don’t sound like my own, I thought. Checking my head for injuries, I came up with nothing. Then I noticed it. Some sort of being standing next to me. As my gaze climbed the ginormous thing, my terror intensified and once I met with the face, my limbs were frozen with fear.
         Hello. It said. Or thought. Or whatever. At the very sound, I screamed with horror, picking myself up and running in the opposite direction. Wait! Came a cry in the back of my head. He was speaking in my head. How the freaking hell was that possible?!
         Something grabbed my hand. In a split second, I went from running for my life to eating dirt. Not fun. Coughing, I looked up, seeing the creature on the ground beside me. Now that I was getting an uncomfortably close look at him, he looked like those Egyptian statues of that god… who was it?
         Are you alright? The words rang in my head like a bell, forcing my hands to my ears as if I could snuff out the sound. It is okay. You will get used to it. It is called telepathy. My name is Alaxos Reif.
         Obviously, I wasn’t really paying attention. As I twisted around surveying my surroundings and trying desperately to find a way out, I felt very light headed. The air. It was thinner here. There wasn’t enough of it. All at once, my brain started up panic mode. “The air! There’s not enough! How am I going to survive?!”
         Calm down, young… um… you. The dog thing next to me said, patting me gently on the shoulder. I just stood there awkwardly, like okay…what else was I supposed to do? I assumed he wasn’t going to kill or torture me, which was good, but where did I go from there? As I stared at him, he lowered his hand, the awkwardness between us steadily increasing. I can help you with your breathing problem, He replied. At least, I think I can. I don’t know what you are, so I don’t know how the herb will affect you. It is right before my village.
         “Really? Hmm… My name is Nova and… well, I suppose I could try it…” I muttered uncomfortably. What the heck! What could it hurt? Besides me… I sighed in resignation as I walked in sync behind him, trudging through the untamed jungle with its new weird sounds and even weirder wildlife.
Alaxos pointed out a vixo, a green, extremely furry bunny type thing that had large ivory tusks that grew upward just past the top of its tiny fluffy head. I didn’t understand how that thing could see, let alone use those things to hunt! And then he showed me a tree called a Himuncune. Its leaves have wonderful healing powers and can cure any ailment, but the tree itself is a very rare sight.
         In this forest alone, there are only three known Himuncune, Alaxos recalled.
         “I know what it is!” I cried, startling Alaxos. I looked up at the alien creature, and all at once, it hit me. Anubis! That’s what it was. That’s what he reminded me of. “Are you an Anubis?”
         A what? He recoiled. This time his voice inside my head was more bothersome than painful. That didn’t mean I liked it. I had a hard enough time with me in my head!
         “An Anubis? A big dog god thing that rules over the people of ancient Egypt. Am I in ancient Egypt?” Looking around, I doubted it. I was surrounded by lush, overcrowded trees, bushes, and other jungle fauna. Last time I saw pictures of Egypt, it was all desert.
         I do not know what that is, but I do know I am not what you think I am. I am an Ixi.
         “A what?!” What the hell was that? I was more confused than a cat stuck in a clothes washer.
         An Ixi. Do you not know what that is?
         “Well, if I knew, I’d have been properly prepared.”
         That is my race. We are a peaceful people. We harm no one. It is against our laws. I mulled this over in my brain. I supposed that if this guy hadn’t attacked me yet, he wouldn’t any time soon.
         As we walked, Alaxos told me of his people, the Ixis, pronounced eeksai apparently. Kind, honest, harmless Ixis that never really put a mark on the world. They stay in their own little camps and never really harm anything except to eat it, and even then they feel guilt. They pray to their goddess Neithiren, the mother of all, that the souls, or unes, are safe on their journey through the five realms to Povali, the land of peace.
         “Hold on, hold on, hold on.” I cried as I swiped a tree branch out of my way. “Your people have to go through five realms to get to Heaven? What for?”
         It is a test, he replied as he pushed another branch out of my way, for those who are less worthy.
         “Then why does everyone have to go through it?”
         If you are worthy, you will pass each test easily. If you are not, then you will stay in the realm you have not passed until you can.
         Huh… it was interesting to hear about someone else’s culture, but an alien? Well, I thought wryly, I’m really the alien here. “So, what is the name of this planet, anyway?” I asked as I kicked a rock with my foot.
         This planet is called Ilawei. It is a wonderful planet. Someday, I wish to see the rest of it. At one point in time, I had wished the same thing about my planet. Traveling all over the world, seeing the sights, walking on foreign soil. It seemed like a dream. Then I fell through something and it landed me not in another country, but on another planet. After this, I thought, I’m not going anywhere else. I’m staying with Mom.
         As we walked on, I noticed my breathing was still bad, but it began to get easier.
         “Wait a minute!” I cried. “How is it I can breathe better now?”
         Alaxos seemed to smile. It is because of the pollen of the Gengri flowers that you seem to keep petting as we walk. I looked down at my hand. It lay upon a glorious blue flower that sort of looked like a mix between a lily and a daffodil. Long blue petals wrapped around a pale blue flute.
         Alaxos was right. I was petting them. And even weirder, they seemed to like it, even lean into my touch. “Is that a normal thing that happens?”
         Well, the Gengri flowers like to be petted, and in some cultures, it is believed that the Gengri flower can sense a problem, and like an emen, it will try to alleviate that problem. They release their pollen to alleviate any breathing problems. That is really all they are good for.
         “How long does it last?”
         At least a few days. You will need to come back every so often to breathe in more.
         Hmm, I thought, and then noticed something in front of us. The trees were filled with tree houses. At least twenty that I could see. Such a beautiful sight. The rough looking tree huts were painted green with vines and bordered by foliage. If I weren’t really paying attention, I’d have walked right past it.
Alaxos’ people littered the ground below, hovering around a fire with meat hanging from a stick over it. There had to be more than fifty of them, and a lot of them were little Alaxos- I mean, ixis. One of them, and older one it seemed, saw us and stood, prancing over on his doglike legs. This ixi had long flowing hair that had been French braided back and then braided into smaller braids. A brightly colored necklace of feathers covered his chest and a leather loin cloth covered his male parts. When he stepped closer, I noticed long ivory vixo tusks hanging on a sting from his ears. Most interesting, I thought. He must be the leader.
Father, Alaxos said, gesturing to me, this is Nova. Nova, this is my father, Chief Mindu. Chief Mindu, this is Nova. She is-
-Human, Mindu finished.
“How did you know?” I asked, intrigued. I had never actually told Alaxos what I was in terms of species, so how did he know?
I am all knowing. Mindu replied, stretching his arms out beside him. Next to him, I saw Alaxos roll his eyes and huff. Mindu laughed, which was weird, because it was a combination of a doglike huffing to my ears and a humanlike laugh inside my head. There were humans who passed through here not long ago. They crashed onto our planet after their own planet burned up in their sun.
“Which planet was that?” I asked, my heart dropping every two seconds. In my head, I kept chanting please not earth, please not earth, please not earth.
I believe they called it… Gaia. Yes, that’s it. Gaia. They said it was a colonized planet after their Earth had gotten too populated. They also said it was about four hundred light-years away from their planet Earth. It is interesting how one species can overpopulate a planet.
“Well, that’s not really a surprise. It has been a long time coming.” Then his words actually sank in. “Hold on, hold on! Whoa, whoa, whoa. The planet is overpopulated? No it’s not! That’s not possible. And we’ve barely gotten past sending people to Mars to research, let alone go four hundred light-years away to find a planet to colonize. That can’t be true. They’re lying to you.”
I do not believe so. But who really knows. Well, enough heavy talk. Let us eat. Chief Mindu held out his hand in gesture to the fire. Alaxos was already on his way to it, and so I followed reluctantly.  I couldn’t believe someone would lie to a nice old man like him. It burned my blood just thinking about it.
Nova, Alaxos called from across the fire, come.
And so I did. He handed me a wooden plate with a big burnt leg on it. It is called Gaho, he replied to my suspicious look. The other humans said it tasted exactly like their… chicks? I believe that’s what they called them.
I chuckled at him, “Chickens. But you were close. So it looks like dog and tastes like chicken. Interesting.”
What is dog? He asked, his eyes brimming with curiosity. I looked around and noticed everyone else was listening in on our conversation. So I decided to speak a little louder.
“Well, a dog is an animal on our planet that we treat as companions. They have back legs like yours, but they can’t stand on only two legs.” I started drawing a rough picture of a dog in the dirt. “Some of them have long snouts, some have short, some are big, some are small, but they all have this general shape. They are incredibly loyal and immensely hyperactive. They love to be petted, played with; they like getting attention, like many things. They are one of the most beautiful animals on our planet.”
Everyone sat in awe of my story of a beautiful creature from another world. They continued asking me questions about other life on my planet, how I lived on it, what were the conditions like, was there as much water as the other earthlings said. It got to the point where my head was banging on the inside from all the voices. I had to excuse myself.
Walking to the edge of the village, I felt that ever-near presence of the one person that has been watching over me this whole time.
I am sorry about all of them, Alaxos said. They can be… overzealous.
I huffed, smiling. “It’s okay. I just needed a break. I’m not used to this, you know.”
I do, and I am still sorry. I should have remembered.
I stood there, breathing in and out slowly, thinking about everything that had happened. How I came through some sort of wormhole or portal or whatever, dropped onto this weird planet, and then befriended a dog on two legs. Strange, huh?
Are you okay now? Alaxos asked, a long spindly hand on my arm. Concern blanketed his features, and I couldn’t help but feel a little less lost. I smiled lightly.
“Yeah, I’m good.” And I was. At least for now I was content. Maybe tomorrow I could go and find these other humans. Maybe tomorrow, I’ll get some actual answers.
Alaxos led me to a big hut that looked to be several small tree huts sewn together. This is the hut of Chief Mindu and his companions. A Chief is allowed three companions to maximize the odds of having children.
“Is it so hard to have kids in your species?” I asked, a little hesitant at the idea of having more than one spouse, but never mind that.
Yes. He replied matter-of-factly. Out of seven women, only two may have children. It is a terrible thing to find you cannot produce a child.
“Yeah…” I’ve never really thought about it that way before. Really, I’ve never had an interest in having kids. With my personal history, it seemed out of the question. My mind went back to that day, and a cold sheet of depression fell over me.
What is it that you are seeing now? Alaxos interjected, cutting my thoughts off quickly.
“Oh, nothing.” I replied quickly, and then pointed at the huts. “So, where do you live?”
Alaxos pointed at the one closest to the middle. As the oldest child of the Chief I live next door to him.
“Hold on! You’re‒”
‒You continue to say this “hold on” phrase. I’m afraid you might not understand what it really means.
“Yeah, I know what it means. You’re the Chief’s son?!”
No, that is not what it means.
“I know that’s not what it means!” I cried, frustrated. “How come you didn’t tell me that before?”
He shrugged. I did not know it was important.
I stopped in mid-inhalation, my finger pointed at him. “Well,” I muttered, rubbing my neck awkwardly, “it’s not, but I would like some more information about you.”
When we get inside. He replied, gesturing to the hut. Sighing, I resigned to walking in front of him climbing up the staircase that twisted around the tree and up to his little apartment.
The huts themselves wrapped around the trees quite shabbily, but it was a cute shabby. Shabby chic, I guessed, chuckling to myself. The inside was as shabby as the outside with foliage lining the ceiling. Three wooden plates were stacked on a tiny shelf next to a couple of cups. It was a quaint little home. I liked it.
You may sleep here, if you like. Alaxos said, pointing to a bed next to the door. It was huge! My eyes grew wide as I stared at it, which apparently made Alaxos feel uncomfortable. I’m sorry, maybe I should have you sleep with my mother. It might be more appropriate.
“No, no! This is fine.” I didn’t want to offend him. He and his people have been so hospitable to me. “Umm…. Where will you sleep?”
On the floor. He replied casually, taking a blanket from a small closet and rolling it out onto the floor. As I got comfortable on my new (temporary) bed, I watched Alaxos try to fit himself onto his small blanket.
“Would you like a pillow?” I asked as I turned around to choose one of the several pillows he had up here.
Oh, no. You may use them. He replied, putting an arm under his head.
“Seriously? There’s like a million pillows here. I’m sure I can spare you one.” I chuckled and threw him a rather large one. He caught it instantly, giving his thanks.  “Did you really think I need so many?”
Well, the last time I was in the human village, they had many pillows all around. They even had ones to sit on. Quite strange really, not very comfortable. Alaxos lay there for a moment and then sat up, looking at me. Tell me something about yourself.
“What is it you want to know?”
Tell me about your family. He smiled, or at least I think he was smiling. I couldn’t really tell.
I bowed my head. “Well, it’s a difficult story…” Alaxos cocked his head, but didn’t interrupt. The smile had been replaced by confusion and something dark. “My mom is pretty awesome. She’s been there for me forever. My dad… when I was twelve years old, my father had an episode of some sort and tried to kill me. He almost succeeded.” I lifted my shirt to show him the huge, jagged scar that crawled from the very top of my hipbone to my bottom rib bone. The cut was wide and still looked like it hadn’t really healed even after all these years.
Every time I thought about my father, thought about forgiving him, my scar would ache dully. Then I would go back to hating him once more. It wasn’t a furious hate. More like an old hate. Like an old scar. It’s seared in your memory, and with everything inside of you, you just can’t seem to let go. That was how I felt most days about my father.
I am deeply sorry. I should not have brought it up. Alaxos decided to end the conversation by laying down and rolling into his blanket.
“Every so often I think about writing him.” I murmured. Alaxos looked up at me. “Every week I get a letter from him from prison, telling me how his day was and what he ate and what book he read, and how his therapy was really helping. And I want to respond. It’s just… hard. It’s hard to try to be happy about all of this and not remember his face as he tried to stab me.”
I am so sorry for this. Were you close with him before?
“Yeah. We were always together. He would take me everywhere. He always had something fun up his sleeve. He was good. Was always good until…” Without any notice, tears started flowing down my cheeks. Alaxos lifted from his blankets and sat next to me, pulling me into his side. He was incredibly warm. His pitch black skin was covered in fine, plush charcoal fur. His long spindly fingers captured my shoulder in a tight but gentle side hug. For a moment, I didn’t feel like a lost little girl.
You should sleep. Tomorrow, we will explore. There are more Ixis for you to meet. Alaxos stood and slipped quietly into his bedroll. Contemplating sleep, I pulled the large animal fur blanket over me, noticing for the first time the lights in the hut were not actually lights. They were glowing bugs in cages. Alaxos clapped his hands and the lights