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Now looking at the branch not more than twenty inches from my face, I wonder if the eight months being squished away for up to eighteen hours a day and having to sneak food was worth it. I could have died so many times from hyperthermia on the way here, and then when we finally arrive on the other side of the galaxy, I almost meet my maker crashlanding.
Slipping out of my harness, I quickly check myself for injuries, but to my amazement, I don’t even have a scratch.Squeezing past the branch, I climb out of the pod and out onto the remaining third of exposed branch.
The pod has landed in the branches of an enormous tree in a forest. As far as my eyes can see, there are other trees lush with enormous lilac and blue leaves. Looking up through the small spaces of the leaves above, I see hints of a lilac sky as well. I gasp.
Then, even though I know from listening in to the five women’s conversations as we travelled here, and knowing the air is compatible for humans to breathe, my heartrate still elevates as I panic breathing in Vysarian air for the first time. I stand motionless waiting for my lungs to implode or for my tongue to turn orange and drop off, but nothing happens.
Ten minutes later, I am slowly climbing down the tree, my eyes inspecting every millimetre of the bark for alien bugs. However, to my relief, I get to the soft leaf covered ground without seeing one.
I listen intently. There’s no sign of life. No animals, no people, no vehicles in the distance—nothing. Turning in circles, I inspect all around me. Like I presumed from the top of the tree, I’m in a forest.
Looking up, I see that the pod fell through the heavy canopy of leaves leaving no gap. If there are Vysarians out there in alien helicopters looking for the pod, they won’t be able to see it. My mouth drops open with my desperate moan, and my heart hammers in my chest. This means they won’t be able to see me. How will I be rescued if they can’t see me?
I do a 360 degree turn again. There’s nothing for it. I’ll have to walk my way out. Thankful that I put my black hoodie on last night over my t-shirt, I tuck my hair away and pull up the hood. Dressed in black jeans and boots too, I’m glad I’m inconspicuous. Just because I can’t hear any alien animals and creatures doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
I keep to the tree trunks, moving stealthily from one to the other. My mind is a whirlwind as I try to remember the conversations between Ava, Deja, Eve, Bee and Cassie about where the Vysarian government officials would meet them after they arrived on the planet, but I can’t think straight. I’m sure as long as I head for civilisation there will be someone who could point me in the right direction, and who knows, I might fall in love with a Vysarian man on the way. After all, isn’t that what I came here for? It would be almost impossible on Earth with the gender crisis, and women outnumbering men by ten thousand to one.
I suddenly come to an opening in the forest with trees growing periodically across it. It’s vast. I could keep to the edge, but that would mean going off course and possibly adding another few hours onto my planned route. Standing at the edge of the forest I scope out the open area, looking at the terrain and searching for movement from hidden alien creatures. After a few minutes, I come to the decision there’s nothing out there, but still plan a zig-zag route.
Filling my lungs, I dash out to the closest tree, grabbing onto the trunk before I make my next move. My heart is pounding, and my hands are clammy as my eyes flick left to right on constant alert. There's still no sign of danger, so I head for the next tree. I plan to keep zig-zagging my way across as soon as I release this tree trunk, sprinting from one to another.
But when I’m still only halfway between the two trees, I feel sharp pains in both my shoulders, and my feet suddenly lift off the ground. My mouth opens to scream but nothing comes out. I’m paralysed with fear as the ground below my feet gets further and further away, and I see miles of treetops stretching out in the distance, and a mountain range beyond that.
I can’t believe I’m actually looking around at the view, searching for civilisation. I’m in mortal danger, up hundreds of feet in the air. What’s wrong with me?
With my heart ready to explode from my chest, I’m just working up the courage to break my paralysis and look up to see what the hell has a hold of me, when the burning pain in my shoulders stops when whatever has me in its clutches releases me.
I’ve come thousands, if not millions of miles across the universe to get away from my life on Earth and find my one true love, survived a crash landing, and all for nothing. I’m about to lose my life, and I don’t even know what alien creature decided to play God with me.
I plummet like a stone being tossed from a high height, the ground coming up fast. I have to look away from my impending doom and I want to know what has murdered me before I die.
Twisting my head, I look up. That’s when my scream suddenly decides to materialise. It tears from my throat, as my eyeballs bulge from their sockets at the abomination I see above me. The thing dropping me to my death which I presumed to be a creature, is not a creature or a man, it’s both.
His wings span is ten feet wide, and the same pewter grey as his shining skin. He has humanoid features, but they are flat, almost squished on his face. His eyes burn into mine, and in the fleeting seconds I take this all in, I swear I see panic wash over his features. But I turn away, my mind dismissing him as quickly as it took for it to be morbidly curious. I’m getting ready for the inevitable—my impending death.
My heart is beating so quickly now, it feels as though I have one long continuous beat. The trees get bigger, the ground closer.
I can’t watch. I squeeze my eyes tightly shut, and images of my life on Earth flick behind them.
I see that box. That damn fucking box where most of my childhood was locked behind. Out of all of my sisters, my mom hated me the most. I felt like an outsider in my own family. I was her own blood, but I never fit in because she never wanted me. Of all the times I’d cried myself to sleep asking, why me. Now, none of that matters. I will soon cease to exist.
Something grips onto me, and I’m yanked to the side in my fall, the abomination has pulled me close against its rock-hard body, before we both slam hard into the ground, my fall cushioned by him. I feel as if my bones might all break simultaneously and my lungs pop, as the oxygen filling them is forced out.
It takes me an age to fill them again as I gasp for air, but everything is black—I can’t see a thing.
Am I dead? Is this it?
Then the blackness falls away and I realise it wasn’t blackness at all. It was the wings of the monster who dropped me to the ground. I’m lying on his chest, looking down into his squished-up features. His eyes are drooping, and I can see he’s fighting to stay conscious, and just before he passes out, he mutters two words I understand.
“I’m sorry.”
Chapter 2
Felicity
My hands go to his chest, and I push myself up, stopping to peer down at him to make sure he is out cold and not about to grab me when I get off him. But to my relief, he doesn’t move a muscle.
I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline, because after landing so heavily, it shouldn’t be possible for me to be able to jump to my feet the way I do, and sprint off back into the forest. But I do. My legs have new life and I run blindly, my eyes frantic as they search for somewhere to hide. I spot a hollowed-out tree trunk. It’s much bigger than I am so I know there won’t be any issues with me fitting inside of it.
