Page 17 of Orange Town
I totally could not understand their conversation now. It only means they are probably speaking in the rock guy’s language.
At some point, the rock guy crossed his arms in front of him and Roqs still had his cool look on him. The rock guy sighed and pushed one huge hand towards Roqs.
Roqs pulled something from his cloak, and I caught the bright small things that looked like diamonds and handed it to the rock guy. The latter closed his hand and turned around.
I tried not to make a sound. There’s a huge growth of small grass in his back. Is that why he was only wearing pants? Roqs had a sad look on his face when he watched the rock guy walk away. Is that a sign of sickness for his kind? Maybe they are friends?
He glanced at me, and it felt as if he couldn’t believe he was caught in a weak moment. Yes, I can easily blend into a background. People rarely knew I existed unless I really made noises.
“Come on, our vehicle should be safe here until we find Zirc.”
He turned around and expected me to follow him.
I got a glimpse of his tail which is almost as long as Zirc with a bushy tail at the end. Zirc’s tail is lighter in color at the end though. While Roqs is blacker making it easy for him to blend when it’s too dark.
He paused. His tail continued to switch back and forth at a leisure pace.
I looked up and saw him glance back at me. “Little one,” he said in a grave tone. “It is not proper for one to look at one’s tail. It normally signals an, how do you say, interest to mate with me.”
Oh. Damn, I must be blushing again. Mate is a strong word.
“I understand your kind doesn’t have one. But in this sector of the galaxy, most of the inhabitants do have tails.” He faced me fully and took my hands. I was surprised by the rough texture of his hands. Harder in some areas. Like what you would feel from a cat’s or dog’s paw. Same when Zirc held me.
“You should also know that some of my kind will give you pitying looks because you don’t have a tail. Centuries ago, to shame one of us, their tail was cut off. Now there are others who were born with short tails, a birth defect. And parents lament on that but still they celebrate because a child is a child. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “I’m sorry for staring. You are right, we don’t have tails.” I stopped before I said that animals from our planets have tails. And our pets.
He let go of my hand. “Don’t stray too much away from me. We’ll go check in our room and I’ll try to see if Zirc is in town.” He looked as if he wanted to say more but stopped again. He turned and walked. I tried not to look at his tail. I just glance at it so I don't step on it by mistake. It looks strange to see it from the slit behind his thighs.
We turned at the corner to the right.
Yup, just like in the old West. Though the ground is flat, there are some small rocks and dust when we walk by. At the front of the building, there is an elevated plank of wood covered by wood planks on top. Some buildings look dilapidated while others look brand new. There is also a tumble of some brown colored grass as the hot wind blows. Nobody paid heed to it. I was fascinated and curious to explore. I always wanted to travel now that I’m more secure in my life. Who knew the universe would grant me this grand adventure?
There were others walking, all of them Roqs’ kind. I haven’t seen other aliens like the rock guy I saw. We’re now onto the second building, no glasses in front that I can peak through. I tried to keep pace with Roqs’ long steps but this time I slowed down.
The billboard looked futuristic. The only thing that stands out of this town in my opinion. Like the stretcher, there were flashing lights all around it. The colors are more subdued. No neon lights except for the thin red light surrounding it.
Roqs continued ahead but I stopped in front of it. I can only describe it either of two ways. It is either a roster of the deputies of this town or a wanted list poster which is the more ominous of the two. There are eight giant pictures of their kind. No other aliens. Besides those eight pictures is a scroll bar of tiny little pictures with something written below their names. For me, they all looked alike. Big, burly, non-smiling faces. Grim looking actually. Each has different shades of fur color. Some with a combination of colors like blue and white. I bet they all looked cute when they were babies.
There are more of those strange letters that make up their language scattered across the billboard. The squiggly worms as I called it. Then the rest are all pictures with more squiggly worms underneath it. Speaking of worms, I noticed those glowing worms I saw are actually swimming towards the transparent tube that made up the lights.
I pointed my forefinger towards one of the worms swimming along the edges.
A hand clamped tight to my wrist. I stiffened then relaxed when I heard a sigh from Roqs on top of my head.
“What did I tell you about straying away from me?” he grumbled loudly. I could hear him reverberating against my back.
“I’m sorry,” I said timidly. “I got curious.”
“Come along then.” He let go of my right hand but took hold of my left wrist. He tugged me forward and did not let go of me until we stopped on the fourth building. It was three stories. Or the top part looked smaller so maybe just an attic.
There are more people lurking near the doors. There were tables and a small beat-up lounge chair near the counter. It looked like an inn.
Roqs conversed with one of the guys manning the counter. The other looked at me strangely, probably wondering what kind of alien species I am. Now I wished I wore some type of hat to shade my face. I tried to hide half of my body behind Roqs.
“Isn’t he too young?” the other guy pointed at me.
Roqs laughed. “He’s an alien beyond our galaxy, Snarz. You know me.”
