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Visitors

our home is expansive

By SouluminosityPublished 2 years ago 7 min read
1
Visitors
Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash

“He’s out there again. I feel sorry for him.”

“He’s a creep. Don’t feel sorry Casey.”

“He’s just a lonely old man.”

Casey, Farrah, and I are gathered around my front window staring into my neighbor’s yard. His name is Alberto. He stares up at the sky every single night even during heavy rains. He says he’s one of the chosen ones. One day after celebrating our final exams being over with pizza and cheap wine, Casey mustered up the courage to take a stroll across the street to have a “heart-to-heart conversation”.

“Farrah,” Casey says with a strand of blonde hair stuck to her lipgloss,” I don’t care what you say. Have a heart for once! This isn’t some cheesy 90s coming of age movie where you’re the weird goth kid that hates everyone.”

“Except this is cheesy”, Farrah says grabbing a slice of pizza, her talons barely hanging on to the crust, “and I am the weird goth kid that hates everyone. So suck it.” She sticks her pierced tongue out then takes a bite of pizza. The cheese strings get covered in red lipstick.

“Casey, he’s just lonely. Didn’t his wife die a few years or something? I’m sure you’d stare up at the sky every night if you were senile and alone. Just let it go.”

“If I was senile and alone, Shar, I’d want company”. Casey pivots on her heels and marches toward the front door. “Open it for me when I get back, yeah?”

Farrah and I raced to my front window and quickly pulled the yellow curtains aside. Casey may have been on a good-hearted mission, but we were ready in case my neighbor, Alberto, was not. We watched her peppy trot to the other side of the street. Her pink sneakers drowned in his overgrown lawn. She waved as she approached the old man, but he just sat in his rocking chair on the porch staring at the sky. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him blink.

“What do you think she’s gonna say?” Farrah asks me, still nibbling on pizza crust.

“Hi, I’m Casey. I know I look like your stereotypical rich bitch but I swear I have a heart. I’m just not too sure you do. So I came over here to see” I say in a few octaves higher than my normal voice. Farrah snickers.

A loud knock cascades from the door and slams right into our eardrums. Farrah and I both jump and look quickly back out the window that we’d taken a second to look away from mocking Casey. She was gone, but the old man wasn’t. My heart was pounding as I approached the door. I wish so badly this door had a peephole.

“Wait” Farrah whispered loudly. She rummaged in her pocket and pulled out a knife, then motioned for me to proceed. Why she didn’t hand me the knife instead of wielding it from behind me, I still don’t know to do this day. Then the doorknob starts jiggling ferociously. Another loud knock echos off my walls. I hadn’t looked at the clock in a while but I was sure it was well past visiting hours. Then

“Shar! Farrah! Are you guys making out in there or something? Open the door, I have to pee”.

We both let out a sigh of relief as I turn the knob to let Casey in. I’m greeted with a pout and crossed arms. “What took you so long?” Then, Casey darts off to the bathroom. Farrah and I followed her.

“So, what happened?” we both said in sync as the sound of her urine ricochets off the toilet bowl. She gives us a grimace.

“Wow. Now you care huh? I was out there for hours and you guys didn’t even check on me once. I’ll tell you what he said, but I just want to say that it kind of hurts my feelings.”

Farrah and I turn toward each other with a look of confusion on our faces. “Hours? Well, what a hyperbole. It couldn’t have been more than 15 minutes Case.” Farrah said.

Casey looks up at us with a wad of toilet paper in her hand. “Oh, I get it. You guys are still drunk.”

“You were the only one drinking”, I said.

“I suppose I’m the only one in this bathroom right now too?” Casey snickers. “Maybe you guys got high when I left. That has to be it. That’s why you thought I was some killer or something knocking on the door. All makes perfect sense now. Anyway, I’ll tell you what happened.”

Still, in a state of confusion, I turned the tap on for Casey to wash her hands. She always mixed up the cold and hot knobs for some reason and I didn’t want anything at all interfering with this story, especially scalded hands.

“Basically, he told me he’s one of the chosen ones. The USA picked him up from Mars one day and tried to assimilate him here on Earth. He said people on other planets are just reincarnated souls. Some from Earth, some from other planets. He passed a few years ago but his travel to earth aged him back into an old man. The government wanted to see he could just act like a regular citizen again. That way, all the Mars humans…or aliens…could be taken from Mars and other planets, placed here, and all of the Earth aliens-erm-humans could be taken from here and placed on Mars and all the other planets. Ya know with climate change and everything and this Earth going to shit apparently. I don’t know, I don’t watch the news. Anyway, he says he stares up at the night sky every night to watch the green light. He says it’s his home planet, Mars. And only the chosen ones can see it. He says he stares because he longs to go back. But he knows he never can.”

“So, he’s a nutcase like I said,” Farrah said cackling. “I’m going outside for a smoke. See ya ina

little.” As soon as she closes the door behind her I turned back to Casey.

“Do you believe him?” I asked in a low tone, almost whispering.

“Babe. You need sleep,” Casey said putting her tiny hands on both my shoulders.

---

We decide to turn away from the window to watch a movie when Farrah gets a call. It’s an old flame wanting to hook up and of course, Farrah being Farrah, she accepts. “See ya ladies”, she says with a sly smile walking out the door.

“I think I’ll go too Shar. I actually have a hike with Caleb in the morning. Love ya” Casey says and kisses me on the forehead. I wave her goodbye and watch from my front window as she trots over to her pink Toyota Corolla, then drives away. I peer across the street and I see Alberto staring up at the sky as the moonlight washes over him.

Tonight is the night.

I walk slowly out of my house over to his. I don’t say anything as I approach. It doesn’t seem like it would matter anyway. To my surprise, he lowers his eyes to meet mine as I stand at the bottom of his porch. I’ve never seen him break eye contact with that green light before.

“I’ve been waiting for you. How has it been?”

“Tough.”

“Yeah. You miss it. You miss home?”

“Yeah. A lot.”

“Me too.”

“Why don’t you ever look at the green light? It’s comforting.”

“I can’t see it, Alberto.”

“Wh-why?”

“I’m not a chosen one. Not the one that you are anyway. My light’s red.”

Alberto sits back in his chair and smiles. “Red?”

“Yeah.”

“Red gets to go home, you know that though.”

“Yes, I know. I feel bad that I get to go back and you don’t.”

“That’s okay. I have a friend there. Darla. Take this with you when you go back.” He reaches in his pocket and without looking down at me dangles a locket in front of him. I take a few more steps up the porch and grab it.

“Can I open it?”

“Sure.”

I take the heart-shaped locket in my hands, cold now from the chill of winter. I open it and see a picture of Casey. I look up bewildered at Alberto. “My friend?”

“Yes. Nice girl. Give her that locket, will ya?”

Sci Fi
1

About the Creator

Souluminosity

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