ESCAPED

ESCAPED

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say, but they are wrong. I heard the screams as they were sucked into the void. I remember like it was yesterday and I don't imagine that I will ever make it back.

I like it here, up on the roof top, where I can transform into my natural state. Human skin is not near enough porous and I cannot breath properly; like a fish kept moist out of water. And the smells, the smells were hard to adjust to at first, but I have almost come to enjoy them now. As I grow more and more human, the life I once knew fades further and further away into an unknown and yet undiscovered universe. It is a truth that I will most likely never have the chance to reveal.

“Sam” a voice calls out. My limbs are quick to slither back into their casing as I look to the left where Carol is standing in the distance, with a perplexed look on her face. It is my greatest fear to be found out and I immediately worry that she may have seen me. “What is it with you and this roof ” she asks with disdain “I hate having to come up here to find you, its Colind, he needs you”.

I reluctantly roll my body up from the dirty pavement and brush off my clothes. Carol shakes her head with disapproval. We pass through the aluminum door which I keep propped open with a steel bar and head down an echo filled stair case to the 18th floor. Colind's Apartment is the first door to the right as soon as you enter the corridor. I can already hear him screaming.

I walk down a long hallway toward his room as he calls out for me. He is insane and barely coherent most of the time. I seem to be the only one who can calm him and I wonder if his insanity is really the ability to see beyond. If I were a human and could see what I know to be true, I would go insane as well. However, I truly can not know for sure what he sees, telepathy is not one of the gifts of my species.

“Colind” I call out in a gentle manor as I enter his room ... What kind of name is Colind I wonder. I know nothing of his childhood or family. He has been a child of the State since he was two, a horrible and uncontrollable child left on the door steps of a hospital ... “Its me, Sam, it's ok, shhhhhhh”. His screams turn into whimpers as he rocks his body back and forth in his favourite and only chair. “Shhhh, shhh, shhh” this is the sound that soothes him, we sit for about 20 minutes and he finally calms down.

It was, what humans like to call serendipitous, that I found this job. I had no skills and very little knowledge of the species. I spent the first year of my landing on earth wandering and trying to stay unnoticed. Needing to observe the culture and nuances of the primitive people of this planet, coffee shops were the best places I could find for such research. It wasn't until a weary woman entered the coffee shop one day, with Colind in tow, that anyone seemed to even look at me. He had a stare that seemed to penetrate what would be my soul if I had one.

When it was time to leave, Colind started to kick up a fuss and resist the guidance of his companion. His voice became more and more amplified as the flustered women tried to calm him. His gaze looked back at me with eyes that seemed to be calling for help. He could see me and I felt as if there was no choice. As I walked toward him, his disturbing grunts and calls quieted.

I had no idea what to do or say, I only knew I had to move toward him. There I stood looking into the eyes of a wild animal. I felt a strange rapid pumping in my chest and my breathing became very shallow. The women, who was at her wits end, looked in disbelief. “What is your name and what do you for a living” she asked. “Sam” was the word that came out of my mouth, the name of a dog I had met earlier in the park “what is a living?”

They took me home with them immediately. I was housed, fed and now had the ability to observe actual humans close up. Their everyday rituals where fascinating and I enjoyed Carol at first. She, of course, found me to be very odd but was so relieved to find someone who could get through to Colind, that it was of little concern. She had been appointed by the state as his guardian and could only be there twice per day to check on him, as there were two other clients in her care as well. It has been difficult for me to understand the concept of being unhappy to make money in order to eat and pay for things. Carol found pride in her hard work however, and saw me as having it pretty good to only have to keep Colind calm and get a free meal and room in exchange for it. If she only knew who I really was and how incredibly superior my life was to this. If only someone knew.

There was a prophecy that had been long told and long forgotten of the decimation of my planet and the end of our people. The elders knew and remembered and paid attention. They had a curiosity about this planet called Earth and had looked upon it with hope for some time as a possible escape. In secret they planned, gathering those of the highest orders in our society. They would have been labelled fools and been outcast from civilization had the officials known what they were doing.

Only 3 pods had been made as prototypes and only one survived the decent into earths atmosphere. In my world I was what you call here an astronaut. I mean really its quiet different, but to explain it would be light years beyond human knowledge. I was assigned to come to Earth for the purpose of gathering information and samples, without interfering. However, the end came much sooner then expected and what was suppose to be a research mission, turned into an escape mission. The last image I saw was white flames shooting out into a black sky and chunks of debris flying in all directions. Three of us made it out, one of us survived. Like I said, I don't imagine I will ever make it back ... how could it be possible ... I don't see how.