I was going about my regular business at home on a regular Tuesday evening. I just got off work, I was thinking about what I would do for dinner, and I was just changing out of my work attire into something comfier. My rats were chattering away in their cage, waiting for me to bring them a treat. That’s when she showed up.
“AAAMMBEER!!! THERE IS SOMEONE AT THE DOOR FOR YOU!!” my mother called from upstairs. Confused, I ran upstairs to see what the commotion was about. Did I have plans? Was someone stopping by to say hi from church or something? Is my boyfriend playing a prank on me?
I walked towards the porch and spotted her: Alara. The beautiful, intense, powerfully confident figure that I created. Instinctively, I checked for her lightsaber. Assuringly, it was strapped to her belt.
“YOU. Are you this Amber girl I’ve been sent for?” Alara squinted at me, overlooking my appearance too.
“Uh.. Yeah.. Come with me,” I grabbed her arm and ran her down to my room.
“YOU DIDN’T TELL ME SOMEONE WAS COMING, AMBER. I WOULD’VE CLEANED UP!” my mother yelled with a tinge of embarrassment in her voice.
“IT’S OKAY MOM, SHE’LL JUST BE IN MY ROOM AND NOWHERE ELSE,” I yelled back. Alara cocked her brow at me as we fleeted into my bedroom.
I slammed the door shut, briskly locked it, and spun around. Alara was already inspecting every inch of my room, rolling her eyes at pictures, and cocking her brow at my rats.
“What are you doing here? Better yet, how did you get here?” I questioned her.
“Well, first of all, I’ll answer the questions I want to answer,” Alara stated plainly.
“Of course,” I rolled my eyes. I placed my hands on my hips as I awaited her explanation.
“I was sent on a mission to ... “ she looked down on me, “to get to know you better.”
“Okay.. I’m not interesting. I have five rats that live in my room, and I work an office job. That enough?” I gestured towards the door.
“First of all, I don’t understand this Earthen world, or any of those words you just used. Secondly, aren’t those creatures rabid? Thirdly, you are nothing like I imagined,” Alara pointed out, looking skeptical.
“Yes. I know. I’m a 5 foot 2 miniscule form of a human. I’m not impressive. As for my rats, they are NOT rabid! In fact they are amazing creatures that have similar brain patterns to that of dogs! They are highly intelligent, and mine are even litter trained. Well, partially… you see --”
“Enough! I’ll learn all this for myself, thank you. I’m going to be here for a day, after all,” Alara eyed her cuticles after speaking.
“WHAT!! A WHOLE DAY!?!” I panicked, trying to add all the scenarios together.
“Yes. A day. I’m to inspect whatever life you carry out, and once I have enough information, report back to the Brotherhood.”
“Of course. They sent you, of all people, to inspect me! You’re probably the second most critical person I know; and I created you,” I scoffed to myself, holding the hair out from my eyes.
Alara watched me for a moment, as if processing out scenarios as well, ``ANNNnyyywaayy. It took me quite a long time to get here. I`m rather famished. Do you have something I can eat?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes. Err.. I think. I’ll go check. For now, chew on these bugles,” I hand her a bag of snacks from my desk, “oh, and make sure to give one to each rat. They’ll get jealous.” Before hearing her response, I walk out of the room, shutting the door behind me. I walk up the stairs, and inspect the pantry, wondering what I can feed a Dark Jedi.
“Who is your friend, Momo?” my niece and nephew ask, wondering why I’m going through the pantry.
“Her name is Alara. She’s visiting for a while,” I respond quickly.
“Well have you guys eaten Dinner yet?” my mother asks.
“No… sorry. This guest was rather unexpected. Want me to call a pizza?”
My mother scoffs, “Yes. I don’t have enough to go around.”
“No problem,” I grab some apples from the counter, and head down the stairs again. I pull out my phone and quickly order some pizza from the local Pizza Hotline.
“Okay Alara, I managed to order us some food.. For now, here are some apple----WHa?!” I walk into the room only to find Alara on the floor, cuddling one of my rats in her hand.
“You were right, Amber. These rats are pretty cool,” she cuddled my rat Cedric into her cheek. He gave her an approving kiss. Unable to process this demeanor, I stare at the scene for a brief moment.
“Right.. I guess I created you to get along with animals, didn’t I?” I spoke tentatively.
“I’ll just pretend I can’t hear you when you talk about me as if I’m a painting or something,” Alara kept cuddling and petting Cedric, “What did you bring for food?”
I throw her an apple, “This is a fruit that grows on trees. Very sweet tasting. You’ll like it. I’ve ordered a food called ‘pizza’ to be brought to us. It will arrive here in about 30 minutes.”
“Ahh.. fruit. I love fruit,” Alara spoke happily, “What is a pizza?”
“It’s ... “ I tried to think of the best reply to that question, “It’s a form of thinly sliced bread with a thicker crust. It is usually dressed with meat and cheese…” her face showed slight confusion, “Err… animal milk aged and formed into slices..”
“That sounds.. odd,” she replied, “I hope it tastes good.”
“Getting back on topic here,” I said, “What is this inspection process for? Will I be graded on my ...er.. qualities?”
“Not really. The Brotherhood just wants to know a bit about you. They also want me to get to know you better, like I’ve stated before. No need to worry,” she then chomped on her apple.
“No need to worry..” I chuckled, “Except I will worry that you will think differently of me. Whatever assumptions you would have on my life, I will not match their standards.”
Alara seemed to ignore that statement, and kept chomping on her apple. She then bit off a piece and offered it to Cedric, “So. Tell me what you do. What is your occupation?”
“I..uh..” I was trying to think of what to say when Alara pointed out a huge flaw I knew about myself.
“Uh… UHh!?! Do you have an actual vocabulary? Or do you just stutter before every word you say? Are you that unsure of yourself that you can’t even form a sentence without trusting yourself?” she frowned at me.
“Yes, actually, I am. I work at a radio station. Radio is basically a form of entertainment that is broadcasted using tall towers. We emit music, talk shows, and news over air waves. We also put merchant messaging over the air so that merchants gain more business. I am the one who makes paperwork for the business to look at and decide if they want their messages broadcasted,” I answered, glaring at her.
She stared at me for a moment, “That’s peculiar. I guess I’ll just have to see myself when I go with you tomorrow.” she continued playing with my rat.
“You’re what? Coming with me tomorrow? To work?” my eyes bulged slightly out of my head.
“Yep. Stop questioning everything I say like I didn’t say it right the first time,” she responded. With that, I sat down next to her, inspecting her play with Cedric. We sat there for a few moments in slience.
“AMMMBBERRRRR… YOUR PIZZA IS HERE!” my mother screamed from above.
“Be right back,” I hopped up. I grabbed the pizza, along with some cups and a bottle pop. “Here,” I handed Alara a glass. She exchanged the glass for Cedric. I placed him back in his cage with the others as Alara poured herself a glass. She took a sip and her face soured. Hitting her chest, she managed to swallow quickly.
“AH! It’s so sweet. How do you people drink this stuff!?” she shook her head.
“It’s called Pepsi. I dunno.. we just do. In some places on Earth, it’s cheaper than water.”
“You Earthlings are rather odd. Pass me a pizza.”
I handed her a piece. Before eating it, she overlooked it carefully, “You said the dairy stuff was sliced.. this is stringy.”
“I’t melted due to being cooked. Just try it. You’ll love it.”
She eyed me skeptically, and went in for a bite. Her eyes began to widen and she started to gobble the rest of the piece down. “This is amazing,” she said between bites.
I laughed, “I knew you’d like it.”
After she was done eating, she went back to asking questions.
“So what else do you do in your spare time?” Alara asked, looking at me tentatively.
“Other than playing with rats, and working on fiction about you?” I paused, “Not much. I just play computer games, meet with my boyfriend, and a random craft here and there.”
She peered at me for a moment, and then looked away, searching for another piece of pizza, “You seem like the kind of person who requires a mate.”
“It’s not quite like that, but sure. I wouldn’t do life without him.”
“Never had time for that sorta thing. How odd,” she responded.
“Well I created you not to require the love of another… or at least I created you accustomed to not having it.”
We spent the rest of the evening discussing odd-ball topics, playing with rats, and using my laptop to review Alara’s progress. The next morning was rather hard for her to get up, but she managed to survive the early morning. Alara was definitely bored while at the office, but enjoyed meeting my elderly coworkers. When it came to the end of the day, Alara decided she had to say her goodbyes.
“Well Amber, it’s been rather fun. Thank you for showing me a side to you that I did not know about,” Alara shook my hand.
“Thank you Alara, and thank you for showing me to be a little bit tougher by stating what I think,” I shook her hand back and nudged her with my arm.
“Aye. Anytime, Earthen lass. Until next time.”