{"id":12612,"date":"2023-03-24T02:06:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T02:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/?p=12612"},"modified":"2023-12-09T17:05:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T17:05:39","slug":"alien-bloom-982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/alien-bloom-982\/","title":{"rendered":"Alien bloom 982"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h2>\n

Alien bloom 982<\/span><\/h2>\n

by Jeff Fleming<\/p>\n

One evening in late October, I thrashed my old rusty scythe at my overgrown lawn, whilst practising the odd golf swing. That’s when the flying saucer arrived. It hovered, casting shadows. Startled, I struck my foot, saved only by the scythes bluntness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The saucer hovered, then lurched sideways, then sedately landed, flattening the grass. I kept the scythe anyway. I\u2019ve watched alien abduction movies!\u00a0 The saucer bounced a while, then a door opened. There stood the alien, for real, space suit, ray gun, no helmet. Very, very, 1950’s scfi B movie. I raised the scythe. The alien watched me. Whatever they say, she, definitely a she, wasn’t grey but bright chlorophyll green.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"She waved her gun, I pointed my scythe. She stepped onto the top stair, then back. At last she spoke.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Can you hold the steps for me.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Unthinking I did so. Near the bottom, those stairs collapsed. I grabbed hold, her weight dragged me down,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018My antigravity isn\u2019t right.\u2019 she turned a knob on her sleeve and would have floated away, but I held on.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘Technology never works!’<\/span><\/p>\n

Feet firmly planted, she was much too close. She took ten steps backwards, her eyes never leaving the scythe, then tripped into the fish pond. I tried to help. She waddled on her backside further away.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Let me get out or I will take root. Step back!\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I did so.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Why aren\u2019t you a green Arcturan? What\u2019s happened? This brochure said…\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Is this,’ gulp, ‘an invasion?\u2019 I asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018An invasion?’ ‘Erm, maybe. Take me to your\u2026\u2019 she hesitated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018\u2026 My leader? Is that what you mean?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018No\u2026 one of the big\u2026 big…erm…\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now I was helping an alien invader with her vocabulary. \u2018The Big Brass?\u00a0 Army?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018No\u2026 a big book, no-one ever opens.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018A Bible?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018No lots of words in it.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018The Bible has lots….\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018A dictionary.\u2019 She smiled at last. I fetched my Collins. She leafed through\u2026 \u2018It\u2019s like invasion…\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Should I call the police, or try do-it-yourself alien culling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018Oh, wrong word! Vacation! Not invasion, stupid language. sounds the same\u2026 anyway…That\u2019s the word.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018A cup of tea, perhaps?\u2019 How English could I get? How inane, spoken to a creature from space. She nodded. Tea and biscuits followed in my kitchen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vacation or not, I kept the scythe by my side. She watched my tea making distrustingly. Well, how could we trust each other,\u00a0 a bright-green alien girl, with long green hair and a dull pinkish human. Finally,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s my holiday, but my rental ship is awful, things keep falling off. It never points where I want to go. I wanted the Galaxy\u2019s pleasure resort of Arcturus.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Um.\u2019 I replied.<\/span><\/p>\n

We talked. She was\u2026 well\u2026. a chef in an alien version of McDonald\u2019s. I commiserated, having done similar myself. She’d saved hard for this holiday. Our conversation now approached normal\u2026 for two people discussing a faster than light trip in a broken flying saucer. Then she spoiled it, unholstered that gun. I leapt away, scythe held high.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s not a weapon! It\u2019s my repair kit, to fix the steps. It jabbed my side, honest.\u2019 She dropped the gun\/screwdriver, and I made more tea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I must fix the steps and everything. Can I stay? Can we trust each other.\u2019 she asked through a mouthful of chocolate digestive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I opened some wine, my hand strayed near that raygun\/screwdriver. She grabbed it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018You said it\u2019s a screw driver. I was just looking.’<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018It might not be.\u2019\u00a0 Then, \u2018You cut vegetation with that scythe.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018So?\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m green, see, a plant, a chlorophyll based life form. To plants, that\u2019s a frightening weapon.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Sorry.\u2019 I dropped the scythe outside, through the window. She looked happier. Her gun\/screwdriver now sat on my plate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We talked a while. Evening turned to night. She looked tired. I said,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Tomorrow I help with the spaceship. How does this thing work?\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018It really isn\u2019t a weapon, unless you are a loose screw.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

I nodded. It felt light and flimsy,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018How can we trust each other?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Well you animal types have a habit of eating us plant types.\u2019 She giggled, \u2018Little green aliens at home eat animals\u2026\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018Um\u2019. I said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Can we go shopping?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Yes\u2026 I mean no. You\u2019ll frighten everyone.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Ah.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018What about the beach?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Same thing.\u2019 I could imagine this bright green thing arriving at the seafront with everyone screaming and running like \u2018War of The Worlds\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Watch a movie?\u2019\u00a0 Was she reading my mind? Who knew?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ll get a takeaway.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018And more alcohol please. My name is Alien Bloom. Better call me Aileen\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Aileen Bloom?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m a plant remember.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

A nicely strange evening followed. An ancient movie, \u2018Them\u2019, her choice from my collection.<\/span><\/p>\n

The film, pizza, wine ended. She said. \u2018I know how we can trust each other.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018How?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018We sleep together.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Sex?\u2019 I was aghast.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018No stupid. I\u2019m a plant remember. We sleep. Go unconscious in each others’ arms. That induces trust, right?’<\/span><\/p>\n

That night it was not like hugging a tree, it was worse,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018You’re\u00a0 uncomfortable. All tensed up and hunched.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018The space suit doesn\u2019t help. Your sharp bits dig in.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018Sorry.\u2019 She slipped out of bed, slipped off the suit and returned. Now I could feel her curvy warmth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018No better,\u2019 I said\u00a0 \u2018Py\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018…jamas\u2019 we spoke the end of the word together.<\/span><\/p>\n

I grabbed a pair and threw them to her…<\/span><\/p>\n

Next morning my neighbour Gordon walked in, Aileenn hid but Gordon didn\u2019t seem worried that I was breakfasting with a green alien vegetable life-form.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Hi Jeff I need coffee.\u2019 He sat and gulped down Aileenn’s cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Jeff! She\u2019s gorgeous.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Who?\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Ha ha! That girl is stunning!\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

The Penny dropped, Gordon is colour blind. He hadn’t noticed. Then my idea arrived,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018What’s today Gordon?\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Halloween! Morris Dancers! Booze! Fancy dress!’<\/span><\/p>\n

So, Aileenn got her beach, shopping, stroll round, and company. We blended in well. She wore my torn T-shirt and I wore her space suit.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jeff’s early life was wasted, spent in a variety of ways including children’s homes and being fostered, and stealing food. But he got a place in a decent school which allowed him to realise there is a world out there!.<\/p>\n

He escaped the system… got himself an exciting job and even more dangerous life threatening holiday adventures. Life has been a continual upward trend on the graph! Now he spends his days very enjoyably writing stories, stories to make people laugh, sci fi to raise your consciousness and supernatural stories to make your skin creep. He does not do horror (except very occasionally!)
\nrs Jeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One evening in late October, I thrashed my old rusty scythe at my overgrown lawn, whilst practising the odd golf swing. That’s when the flying saucer arrived. It hovered, casting shadows. Startled, I struck my foot, saved only by the scythes bluntness.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[425,372],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contemporary","category-science-fiction-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12612"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12627,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12612\/revisions\/12627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}