Regular human aliens
This is an entry in Junior Dispatch’s alien short story contest. The effort earns the writer a free book from the York Emporium and a chance to win a $50 movie gift card and a $50 gift certificate from The York Emporium. The submission deadline was Aug. 1.
By Alex Connolly
Age 13, York
What are aliens, exactely?
Little green creatures with antennas? Weird beings with mystical powers that don’t exist? Anything that comes from another planet? It all depends on a person’s view of extraterrestrials. In this story, the “aliens” are regular humans.
Well … they look like regular humans, talk like regular humans and act like regular humans. However, they are from another planet, with mystical powers unknown to many of the human race. These are … the Its!!!!!
~~~
Phil ran among the forest. For reasons unknown to him, he had always been faster and stronger than the other neighborhood kids. Phil pondered that as he ran faster, deep into the undergrowth. He had been playing with his friends in the forest when they were swarmed by a group of strange, armed men that Phil automatically assumed were deer poachers hunting illegally. Phil, like the rest of his friends, ran. But he was pretty sure he was the only one who hadn’t been caught yet. Phil darted into his village, and into his house.
“Phil! Good, we have something to discuss with you,” his father began, but stopped as soon as he caught a glimpse of his son’s face. “Phil, what happened?”
Phil babbled the entire story. A few moments passed as his parents looked at each other. “Mom, Dad!’” Phil almost screamed. “We have to rescue them!”
Was … Dirk with you at the time?” Phil’s father asked calmly.
“Um … yeah,” said Phil, confused. “So were Joey, Jason and Steve.”
“Phil,” his father said. “What did these ‘poachers’ look like?”
“Well … they … uh … had … black hair and -”
“All of them?” Phil’s father interrupted.
“Uh … yes. Wait, no! One of them had flamboyant red hair.”
Phil’s dad closed his eyes momentarily. “Continue with your description.”
“They were wearing long coats, made of some sort of fabric. It was black and silvery and shiny. They each had a gun, one that I had never seen before. The guns had a hint of black and purple. They were big guns, and when I was running, I heard them go off; more of an explosion than a bang. The scent of burnt plastic filled the air, and someone screamed.”
For a moment. no one stirred. Then Phil’s mom moved beside him.
“Honey, there’s something we need to tell you,” she said, tears filling her eyes. “You aren’t a human.”
Phil stopped and stared at her.
“What?”
“Phil,” his father pleaded, “I know this must be a lot to take in, but we must ask you to stay calm. I should probably start at the beginning.”
Phil’s father told him the story that changed his life forever.
“Long ago, before your grandfather was alive, Earth wasn’t the only planet with life on it. Two more planets, Trof and Fla, also were inhabited. Trof was the planet of the Its. Neither he nor she; the Its. The Its were a fantastic race. They looked and acted like humans in every way, except … one. The Its … had powers. Mysterious, awesome, and potentially deadly powers. Not all the Its gifts were the same. Some could fly. Some could control fire. Some could reincarnate. Every It had only one power. The power identifies the It. You, Phil, are an lt. That is why you are stronger, faster, and taller than most other 14 year olds on Earth.”
What about the other planet, Fla?” Phil said, dumbfounded.
“Fla was the home of another race, which became known as the Thats. The Thats envied the Its powers, even though the Thats were very strong and fast, too. All of the Thats had black hair, except for their leader, who had fiery red hair. They wore jackets made of the fur of a Flumpalumpalope. Flumpalumpalopes were great, powerful beasts. Their fur was said to contain immense Function. The wearer would become the strongest and most capable being in the universe. Fortunately, the Flumpalumpalopes were almost impossible to kill. Then, the Thats invented a gun. It has no name, but is extremely dynamic. It has several different levels, the weakest stunning or merely pricking the target, and the strongest disintegrating the target to the extent that no one ever remembered them. The Thats killed Flumpalumpalopes, took their coats, and became some of the strangest beings in the universe. Then the leader of the Thats killed the leader of the Flumpalumpalopes. He became immortal. No one could kill him while wearing the fur of the leader. The leader of the Thats has been the leader for 3 centuries.
“So … I nearly got assaulted by an old man?” Phil quipped.
Yes, but it gets worse,” Phil’s dad said grimly.
“The Thats never got over their jealousy of the Its, and since they had the gun and the fleeces to destroy a planet, that’s what they did. The Its put up a terrific fight, but the leader was too strong. Many Its fled to other planets. Several Its came to Earth, many, many wars ago. We have reason to believe that all of the other Its that fled to other planets are now dead. The last its are on Earth. We are descended from those Its. So is Dirk. You have to go save Dirk, before they do something dreadful to him. We don’t know how long he or your other friends will survive under torture. We don’t know any of your powers bu …”
Phil’s father was interrupted by a crash. The front door exploded and Thats poured in. The red-headed leader named Noofla, stormed in. Noofla turned his gun on Phil, and said: “Prepare to join your friends.”
Phil closed his eyes and waited for the deadly shot.
“No!!” Phil’s mom jumped at Noofla, her body doused in flame.
“Aaghh!” Noofla fell backward, his hand on the trigger. Laser beams flew everywhere. disintegrating Thats.
“Run! We’ll hold them off!” Phil’s dad yelled, as fur grew on his body, and he fell on all
fours.
“Dad!” Phil yelled as his father morphed into a human-sized wolf.
“Go!” the wolf growled. Phil ran out of his house, his last glimpse of his mom as a human torch, and his dad as a furry beast. Within minutes, his beloved home was out of sight.
Phil lurked into the forest, and stopped when he heard voices.
Phil hid behind a tall fir tree and risked a glance. He saw many, many people tied to wooden stakes. Some he had never seen before, from cultures all over the world. Others were people from his own town that he didn’t know very well. Some were his friends.
“Is that all of them?” a That spoke.
“No, Palk 3,” another That said. “There is still the boy and his parents, descended from
the two most powerful Its on Trof.
“Is this them?” Palk 3 questioned. Phil gasped as his parents were dragged in.
“WHERE IS THE BOY?!!!” Noofla thundered.
“Ummm … he escaped,” a That said quietly.
“He escaped, huh?” asked Noofla. “Well, escape THIS!!!”
Noofla raised his hand, and the That writhed in pain and then ceased to exist. “So, every It captured except for the most powerful, hmm?” said Noofla.
“FIND HIM NOW!!”
Phil stepped forward and said, “Noofla, release them at once!!!”
“I don’t think so!” Noofla said, maniacally.
He raised his hand and sent a hundred iron daggers flying at Phil.
Noofla gasped as they just bounced off.
“You are an Iron Skin!!!” Noofla exclaimed.
“Am I?” asked Phil. “Cool!”
Phil sent off a powerful beam of light that scattered or incinerated the Thats. Noofla vanished.
The Its’ cages broke open, as Phil’s light flooded everywhere. The Its smiled and thanked him, and were sucked into a vortex to go back to their homes.
Phil sprinted to his mom and dad; they were hurt, but not dead.
“So, what’s an Iron Skin?” Phil asked, after he made sure they were OK.
“An Iron Skin is an It with skin that is so tough and tenacious that it is almost impossible for them to be killed. That is your It power, Phil. You are almost invincible!!!” his mom exclaimed.
“What about that light I released?” Phil asked.
“All of the Its that were held hostage noticed you, and they were so thankful and full of hope that some of their power filled you, and released the light that is called the Hope,” his dad explained. “Using the Hope, you sent Noofla and his Thats far away, and some experienced death-by-It.”
“But you are alive, and that’s all that matters,” his mom said.
Indeed, Phil and the rest of the Its were alive, and could live to fight another day.
But for now, they needed to rest.
