The mind invaders
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 Joanne Ezibe
Age 13, Dover
Today is a very big day. Well, it is if you’re an alien who just finished the 4-day alien college. I know what you’re thinking: what kind of a college is only 4 days long? Here on Mercury, 4 days is about 232 earth days. So, it is actually pretty long.
Anyway, alien college teaches alien teenagers about one thing: earth. They teach them about earth’s amazing qualities and cultures, its beautiful scenery, and, earth’s wonderful variety of foods. So by the time the alien’s come out, they are supposed to be more sophisticated about the planet Earth.
“Mom, we’re home!” came the sudden shout from Ooflak, Gelatin, and Stacey, three alien college graduates.
“I’m in the kitchen!” Karaoke, their mother, replied.
“Oh, mom, we really missed you. Those four days were extremely tough,” Ooflak said.
“Yeah,” Stacey said. “I pooped my pants, like, four times during orientation because I didn’t have anyone to tell me to wear my super-absorbent diaper pads.”
“Um, actually, Stacey, we told you to wear your diaper pads; you just didn’t listen to us,” Gelatin said.
“Well, whatever. The important thing is that we made it home in time to eat dinner.”
That night, after Karaoke made her sons dinner, the three boys gathered up enough courage to ask their mom an important question.
“Hey, mom,” Ooflak said, “tomorrow night a spaceship is coming to take alien college graduates to earth for a chance to go sightseeing, and Stacey, Gelatin, and I were just wondering if we were allowed to go.” Ooflak expected their mom to have a shocked expression on her face, but there was none.
Karaoke took a long sip from her iced larvae gut smoothie. “Well, since you asked me so politely, no.”
“What?!” they said in unison.
“Look,” Karaoke said, “I don’t want you to leave, because no one will be able to play Just Dance Alien Kidz 2 with me. I never even wanted you to go to alien college; your grand-alien-mother forced me to
let you go.”
“But-” Ooflak started.
“But nothing. We will no longer have this discussion again.” And with that, she walked away.
The next day, Ooflak, Gelatin, and Stacey kept quiet about the argument the previous day. However, when nightfall came, Gelatin hit both his brothers on the head with a hammer.
“Ow! What was that for?” Stacey said.
“I was trying to wake you up. Unfortunately, you snore loudly; I had to hit you with a hammer.”
Stacey rubbed his forehead. “Well, I’m awake now. What do you want?”
“I was thinking that we should sneak onto a spaceship and go to earth. We’ll be back before mom knows we’re gone,” Gelatin explained.
“But how are we going onto the spaceship if we don’t have tickets?” Ooflak said.
“We could always sneak aboard an unattended spaceship,” Gelatin said.
“But how are we going to fly it?” Ooflak asked.
“I took a How to Fly an Airplane course in alien college,” Stacey said. “A spaceship is made just like it. It’ll be easy.”
“Fine,” Ooflak said. “I mean, what’s the worst that can happen?”
30 minutes later, they were dressed and onto the spaceship. Gelatin held up a manual. “Don’t you need to read this? It has all the important information,” he asked Stacey.
“Nah, besides, it’s not like they have a warning in the book that says `Do not press this red button.’”
45 minutes later, there was a red flashing light going on in the spaceship. There was no way to escape the ship, and there was no way to land it safely on a nearby planet. They were going to crash.
“I love you guys!” the three brothers hugged each other as the spaceship went down.
“Where are we?” Stacey asked as he looked around. There was no one in sight but his brothers, a giant screen, and three chairs.
“According to the manual,” Ooflak said, “we’re inside someone’s mind. Because you accidentally pressed the red button, the only way we could land the ship was if we were transported into someone’s mind.”
“How do we get back?” Stacey asked.
“The only way to get back is by solving a problem in the person’s life.”
“Okay, but how do you explain the screen and chairs?” Gelatin asked.
“It says here,” Ooflak gestures to the manual, “that all we do is sit in the chairs and watch what’s going on outside from the screen.”
Suddenly, the screen came on, and a girl appeared in front of the aliens.
“Who are you?” the girl said.
“Greetings, earthling,” Ooflak said. “We are humble aliens who accidentally got transported into your mind as we tried to fly our spaceship.” Ooflak explained the reason of their arrival.
“So, are you going to tell me your names, or what? I’m Summer.”
Stacey cleared his throat. “I’m Stacey; this is Ooflak and Gelatin.”
Summer thought for a moment. “Why can I see you guys if you’re in my brain?”
“That’s because you’re speaking to us through you’re conscious.”
“Oh. Well, if you’re here to fix my problem, you aren’t going to find it at my house. It’s in my school.”
20 minutes later, Summer was walking towards a large, gloomy building.
“So this is what middle school looks like,” Gelatin said as Summer walked into school. “It seems very ominous, don’t you think?”
Suddenly, a tall, menacing figure began to approach them.
“Who’s that? I hope she’s not our problem.”
“That,” Summer’s conscious appeared before them, “is Jordyn; a.k.a. `the Problem.”‘
“Oh. Glad to know,” Stacey cowered in his seat.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Jordyn sneered at Summer. “I hope you brought your lunch money today, cuz you know what’ll happen if you don’t,” Jordyn laughed and walked away.
“Great. Looks like I won’t be getting any lunch today,” Summer’s head hung to the ground.
“Why can’t you not give Jordyn your money,” Ooflak asked.
“I can’t, because she’ll do something to embarrass me in front of the whole school.”
“Like what?”
“The last time someone stood up to Jordyn, she hung him up the 20 ft. flagpole.”
“Well I have an idea that will stop Jordyn from bullying you ever again.”
The next day, Summer nervously walked into school, looking for Jordyn.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” she asked them.
“Positive,” they said in unison.
Summer kept looking for Jordyn. During lunchtime, Summer walked around the cafeteria until she finally saw Jordyn sitting by herself at a table.
“I can do this,” Summer said to herself.
“Yeah!” Stacey said to her. He looked at his brothers. “She can’t do this.”
“Hey, Jordyn. I saw you sitting here by yourself, and I thought I should come sit with you.”
Jordyn’s expression was of complete shock and surprise. “Why would you sit with me? I’ve been nothing but mean to you this entire school year.”
“I know. I mean, what I meant to say was, I know you’ve acted a little strange when you’re dad died. But that doesn’t mean you have to take out your anger on others.” Summer expected a nasty remark from her, and was surprised when she got none.
“Look, I’m really sorry for bullying you, and for threatening to hurt you. My friends just ditched me, so I’m not in the mood to talk to anyone.”
Summer began to stand up, but Gelatin and Stacey told her to sit back down.
“Jordyn is hurting. Have lunch with her. Why not be friends?” Stacey said.
“Hey, Jordyn?” Summer said. “Is it okay if I sit with you today? You seem like you need a friend.”
That night, as Summer lay in bed, she drifted into her conscious to see her beloved friends go off to their planet.
“Are you sure you have to go? What if I have another problem? Maybe your mother isn’t awake yet. You can stay for another couple of days.”
“Sorry Summer, we hnave to go back home. But we’ll sneak out another time and visit you again,” Ooflak promised.
“Bye, I’ll miss you guys,” Summer gave each of her friends a hug and watched them board the ship.
“I really will miss Summer,” Gelatin said. Ooflak and Stacey nodded their head.
“Well, our adventure is over. Next stop: home.”
The three aliens barely made it home in time. Just as they hopped into bed and pulled the blankets over their heads, Karaoke opened the door and turned on the lights.
“Thank goodness you boys are still in bed. I just had a dream that you snuck out, flew a spaceship to earth, and crash landed into some girl’s mind.”
“Thank goodness we didn’t though,” Ooflak said.
Suddenly, the alien police knocked on the front door. “OPEN UP! We’re here to investigate Ooflak, Gelatin, and Stacey for the usage of a spaceship.”
“BOYS!” Karaoke screamed.
They looked at each other. “Uh oh.”
It was going to be a long night.
The End
