Page 3 of Orange Sky
I looked down. Nope, my body is not on fire. My throat feels dry though, but I cannot cough. The leftover pizza and soda I left on my bedside table are still there. I suddenly felt hungry and thirsty. But all I can do is just look around. The time reads 8 am and I need to be early for my new job today! My heart starts to gallop a mile over a minute thinking of being fired on my first day for being late. This is a promotional job. Something my former boss encouraged me to apply for because she believed I am ready to lead my own team of engineers. That was a dream I wanted. But knew I couldn’t have.
A movement caught my eye at the doorway. Two huge aliens are stomping their way into my bedroom coming from her hallway making gibberish sounds. Aliens that looked grotesque with long arms and bulky shoulders. But their faces are blurred. I can suddenly hear my next-door neighbor, Jinnie, is screaming. I scrambled to get away, but I can’t move.
Can’t move.
I can’t move.
Why did it sound familiar?
All of a sudden, one of the aliens looked at me straight in the eye and slapped me hard.
The movement jolted me and I screamed. All too soon I realized that I just woke up from a nightmare. Or did I wake up to a nightmare?
A large guy is towering above me. Or is this a guy at all? Is he one of the aliens in my dreams? He looked human enough. But his eyes. They are Prussian blue with hints of metallic silver in his irises, slits like a tiger’s or a cat’s when there’s too much sunlight. His eyes are surrounded by a heavy kohl liner that made his glare look stronger and frightening. Judging by the way his hand is poised, I could guess that he was the one who slapped me hard. I want to scream again but the guy was quick to shush me by pointing a claw near my lips.
A claw.
I was seeing double vision because my eyes zeroed in on his claws.
2
Brynn
My eyes went big. Aliens on this planet have claws? He has a pointed forefinger shaped like a claw that is a darker shade compared to his eyes.
The slap hurt so this is real.
Trying hard to breathe normally, I waited and looked at this guy again. Really looked at him. In a matter of less than a minute, I came to a conclusion that - one, I’d been abducted by aliens and possibly landed on this planet. And met the first native of this planet staring at me calmly.
Two, I’m still alive because judging by the hurts in my body, I definitely feel alive and hurting. Even cold. Am I losing blood somewhere?
Three, I felt vulnerable because I’m lying down and still strapped to the lifepod. However, the lifepod’s glass is shattered and has jagged edges towards the lower part of my body. Above me, I can’t see any remnants of the lifepod’s protective glass.
I waited for the alien guy to what he will do next. He put his clawed hand away from my face.
Or maybe not. He started slashing on the straps on my body. It freed me but moving proved too painful and I moaned. The guy stopped, turned towards me, and glared. What does he expect me to do?
He continued to glare at me then turned away to unhook the rest of me. He saved the strap towards my head. I tried hard not to breathe while he hooked one of his claws towards my left ear. The snap and force of it sounded 100 times worse than it actually is so I closed my eyes and tried hard not to move and breathe slowly.
However, when I felt that he started to remove my clothes, I erupted. I tried to move away from him. I think I broke an arm when he grabbed me and hurled me out of the lifepod. I was screaming in torture. My whole body felt like a million ants were coursing through my veins. The fire ants kind. The arm he is holding felt broken.
Yet, he continued to drag me away. I was thankful my knees and feet can support me. I saw down when he pushed me downwards. I looked down. The sun is too bright, I have a huge headache that is turning into a migraine. I don’t have any pills with me to ease the pain. Is this where the torture starts?
The guy crouched down to my level, his knees spread far apart, and I tried hard not to look beyond his knees. I kept my head lowered but he used his hand to force my chin upwards towards him.
“You are burned. I am trying to save you,” he grumbled out the words.
I gasped inwardly. Well, what do you know, I can understand him!
I have a translator and it’s working perfectly. His words are much deeper than the previous aliens and soothing to my ears. Not too scratchy. He uttered a different language yet I can understand him.
“Thank you,” I breathed out. The air smelled clean mixed with something burnt.
His reaction told me that he did not understand. Grabbing my arm tightly, I am sure I will have more bruises on that particular arm, he asked rather forcefully, “Where did you come from?”
“I’m from a planet called Earth. Where am I? Who are you? Do you - “
He cut me off by placing his hand on my mouth. His hands are rough against my lips. Before he took it away, I saw they were just regular palms. No claws, no anything.
