Page 6 of Orange Sky
“You do not waste water,” he angrily said. His face is too near and I could clearly see his large irises. His eyes looked both eerie and beautiful. Scary with the way his eyes are not normal for human beings. And right now, he seemed furious. Those furious eyes remind me of winter snow in metallic grey. He has long black eyelashes tipped in white.
“Do you understand?”
I nodded and he seemed a bit surprised that I did so.
“Do you understand me?”
When I nodded again, he gripped my arm tighter. I noticed belatedly that he changed his tone. I remembered the way he saidDo you understand methe first time and it differed with the next. His eyes narrowed to slits for a bit before he relaxed his grip and released me.
He threw the flask into his leather bag and walked a few meters away from me. I could tell his lips were moving but I cannot hear the words. He probably realized I was looking intently at his lips because he stopped and turned around.
I looked up just in time to see him narrow his eyes.
Of course, he doesn’t trust me. If our situation is reversed, I will probably feel the same. And most likely abandon him and just call 911.
I turned my back on him and took this time to take a tally of myself.
Even though the water is salty, I felt energized. I straightened and stretched a bit. Doing my normal warm-up routine before taking a 5-mile run. Well more like a 5-mile walk. I still have lots of extra pounds I want to lose. Too bad my earlier ordeal did not make me lose some. When I tried to bend a little, that’s when I felt pain in my lower back and part of my upper shoulders. I can see small and big violet bruises scattered all over my body. If I have a mirror, I probably look like a personal punching bag. My oval face is most likely rounder.
Overall, I think I survived a miracle. Entering any planet’s atmosphere in what looked like to be a small lifepod looked impossible. I made a great entrance to this world! I do not want to imagine what terrors will befall me on this journey. I will only do the one good thing humans are good at. And that is to adapt. I will try to adapt and maybe, one day, I will learn how to get back home.
3
Brynn
“We need to leave.”
I visibly jumped. Goodness, he moves like a real cat! I did not hear him approach me. I turned slowly. My lower back hurts a little.
I looked at him and just nodded. He seemed surprised then suspicious.
His only saving grace, in my opinion, is when he urged me to put on a black jumpsuit that covered me from neck to ankle. It is long-sleeved. I doubt this belongs to him because it’s only a few inches bigger than me. I had to fold in the loose ends because whoever owns this has longer limbs. For the shoes, he gave me big black combat like shoes that were heavenly to my bruised feet. Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury to take a bath anywhere before I donned this fresh-looking jumpsuit. I am still debating whether I’ll feel comfortable borrowing his leather pants and undershirt. At least this one hides my skins and bruises.
How I wished for water to wash away the dirt and dried blood on my skin. I think the aliens who abducted me injected me with something that makes me horny but already I can see my wounds drying up. Amazing. Or it could be the environment here. The ground feels steady as I walk and follow the big guy. At least gravity on this planet is the same as Earth. However, the air feels different. Very very dry that is making me cough a little.
We’d been traveling for years, that is what I thought. Without any watch, I could not tell. All I know is that the two suns are still in the same position as to when we walked. Maybe, it’s been just ten minutes since we left the crash site. I do not know why the big guy refused to talk to me. I will make noises and he will just ignore me. He seemed confident I would not kill him. His back, devoid of any backpack, is accessible within my reach. The first time he walked, he either had super boots or he has superhero powers to make him walk that fast. That, or I’m still damaged from my ordeal. Maybe on this planet, surviving a crash from outer space is normal.
He refused to leave me though and he will slow down his steps so I can catch up to him. It’s not like I can run anyway. We are in a wide-open space littered with orange dusty land. It’s like a desert. When I look back, I cannot see the wreckage from before so maybe we achieved quite a distance already. I cannot see any mountains or hills. Just tons and tons of dusty orange sand.
A few distances away, I do not know how to ask for more water. Ok, granted it’s salty, but I was sure it gave me some strength earlier. A few sips may give me some extra boost because I think I’m beginning to see things. I was positive we were in an open desert but I saw a huge forest up ahead. Tall mushroom-like trees were up ahead in a blink of an eye. And when I looked from side to side, they were all lined up as far as I could see.
I shivered a little and went to close the distance between me and the big guy that I bumped into him. I looked up and he was looking into my face as well. I could tell he was trying to read my thoughts. I pointed to the trees and asked, “What are those?”
He just looked at me and back to the trees. When he tried to walk, I tried to glue myself to him. I can the lines on his forearms with fur stand up on end. He is wary of what lays beyond those trees. We both tripped when I accidentally placed my left foot when he was walking. He was able to catch his step. And caught me at the same time. He looked pissed. As soon as I’m up, he gingerly removed my arm.
When he motioned for me to walk in front of him, I vehemently turned my head side to side hoping it’s the same on Earth and it’s the universal sign for ‘No’. He looked puzzled, his brow creased. Maybe he understood because he went to walk ahead of me again. Without looking back, he grabbed my left hand and placed mine at the edge of his long bag. I do not need to be told that he wants me to hold onto him. Making me feel safe. But at the same time, I have that distance so I won’t hamper his movements.
How intriguing.
When we passed the first row of mushroom-like trees, I noticed how innocent they look. Just some oversized trees, nothing harmless. But the way they are so big and compressed into tiny spaces made me think of Alice drinking the shrinking potion. I tried to keep positive. Then I noticed something strange. What’s lacking is that there’s no noise. Only our footsteps. Are there no animals in this place? Even the wind is quiet. I’m not perspiring.
I looked down and instead of moss or grass, I saw orange sand. And orange trees that are like the date trees from the Middle East. Or cactus of some sort that can thrive on dry land. I remembered when I was in space, I saw an orange planet. This must be what the planet is like all over?
When I tried to look back and see if we made some footprints, the big guy tugged me and warned, “Don’t look back. Whatever you do, do not look back.”
Okay. Think happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts. Because what he said made me really want to look back just to see what will happen. Yet, at the same time, I had goosebumps all over my body thinking, what if.
Happy thoughts. Just look forward. Be mesmerized by the way the big guys’ arms are muscled and bunched up when he tries to move his way around the trees. Even though he had stripes that are actually small furs, or barely noticeable hair, spiraled over his skin that I can see, he still looked human to me. He does look human except what I thought was his tattoo looked like condensed barely noticeable hair or fur. Looking down, I can see the outline of his ass on his leather pants. And they look mighty fine to me.
