The Old Woman and the Extraterrestrial
Feb 21, 2023 12:59:20 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Feb 21, 2023 12:59:20 GMT -5
The Old Woman and the Extraterrestrial
The extraterrestrial ambassador named Tsomler, had been lying amidst the Rubble of his ship in the West Virginia highlands, wounded and barely conscious for hours before the old white woman whom the locals considered a hermit of sorts, found him. At first, she had been frightened by his appearance, which was humanoid, but not human.
His unusually large, flat-topped head, and big oval eyes had frightened her. Yet, her Baptist Christian faith had taught compassion towards all creatures, and she saw no reason to make this creature any exception. So after helping him to his feet, she guided him along the narrow woodland path towards her cabin. Once there, she carefully lowered onto the rickety bed and then slumped into her old wicker rocking chair to rest from the physical exertion.
Because she was not a young woman any longer, and lifting heavy loads took a serious toll. She sat for a long while breathing heavily, and waiting for the aches and pains provoked by her exertions to wear off. Meanwhile, she could hear the humanoid's unearthly, high-pitched labored breathing, as if Earth's atmosphere had been alien to him, and his non-human, resonant groans of pain.
Finally she rose from the old rocking chair, brewed some tea, went the bedside and offered him some, but he rejected it.
""My name is Margaret. What is your name and where are you from?" she finally asked, after having placed a cold, wet towel on his pale, broad forehead.
" My name is Tsomler. I am from beyond your star, the one that you call sun or sol" came the answer, almost like a whisper, within her head.
She reeled back startled since she had not seen his lips move. Then realizing it had been telepathy she continued:
"Why did you come to our world?" she asked him after regaining her composure.
"Ambassadorial duties!" he groaned audibly.
"What happened to your ship?"
"Humans attacked! Attacks were not expected. We are a peaceful species, you see," he said sadly. He then projected holographic images of his home world where eons had transpired in total peace.
"Sorry!" she responded, feeling ashamed.
"I must leave!" he suddenly groaned and began looking about as if cornered.
"I must warn the others!"
"But you are seriously injured." she responded in a compassionate voice.
"I must try!" he said struggling to rise from his supine position but to no avail. The effect of the injuries were becoming more pronounced, and he had lost the use of his legs. There was also now a thick, blue fluid oozing from his mouth and nostrils that she assumed was his blood, as he began to cough spasmodically.
"How can I help you?" she asked while taking his large, seven-fingered, bluish hand in hers and squeezing it gently.
"You can help by carefully heeding all my instructions! But we must hurry! There is little time," she heard him communicate telepathically once more.
"Others of your kind will soon be here searching for my ship and for me. I can detect their distant minds and what they intend to do. They intend to interrogate in order learn of the location of my world. Then they will attack it, and exploit its resources before moving on. finally when of no further use, they will dissect me. You must help me prevent this! You must!" he gazed up at her with pleading, pink, oval eyes.
"But there are good people among us too Tsomler !" she said.
"Yes! I aware of it Margaret," he responded while briefly caressing the side of her cheek with the finger-knuckles of his pale right hand.
"But it is the selfish ones in power that are the danger, my child, and good ones are not!" he said in a voice full of pain.
She, of course, was profoundly surprised at his behavior. After all, she had fervently believed that only humans were capable of expressing compassion as her church pastor had repeatedly told her. That the only ones in the entire universe among all of God's material creatures to reflect his divine image were humans, his beloved chosen ones. Yet, here was a creature from another world which seemed to do so as well.
"Take this!" he finally said handing her a long, narrow tubular metallic object after having listened attentively to her innermost thoughts.
"Go to a higher elevation, and thrust it deep into your soil. It will signal a warning in hyperspace frequencies."
"You want me to leave you here alone?" she said worriedly, while wiping away some of the blue fluid from his quivering lips.
"Please my child, I do not matter! What matters is the survival of my species. Do not worry about me! I will be fine."
For a while the old woman hesitated. He would be dead by the time that she got back, but he would die anyway since there was really nothing she could do to help him. She was still considering these things when in the far distance she suddenly heard it. The unmistakable staccato sound of helicopter blades cutting through the air and heading in their direction from the valley below.
"Go quickly! Warn the leaders of my species before it is too late." the alien managed to say before he lost consciousness.
High altitude? There was a fairly tall hill a half-mile from her cabin that could be reached if she hurried. Grabbing the tubular object and placing it in a small burlap sag, she started for the hill up the narrow dirt path l at a slow run. In the distance, behind her, chopper blades were slowing down as the choppers slowly descended on her property. There was only a short way to go. Hopefully the alien would be dead when they found him.
"Do not worry my child! I have made certain of that!" she heard the telepathic message say, and then sensed that the life of the alien was over. She would make sure that his death had not been in vain.
The forest canopy had gradually thinned and she was now awash in bright noon sunlight as she reached the base the verdant hill. The old woman then heard the helicopter blades starting once again in the distance. They knew someone had helped the alien and could not be far away. There was stumbling and knees were bloodied from scraping against the ground. Having reached the hill's crest she took the tubular object from the burlap bag and found both ends ends identical. Which end should she thrust into the soil? She hesitated as the choppers drew near. If the wrong end, would the rod be damaged? Would the alien have been so careless unless it really didn't matter?
One of the choppers was directly above her now, its loudspeaker demanding that she fall face-first to the ground, while officers were descending on ropes. It was also demanding that she place the weapon, the rod, on the ground. She had little time left. For a brief moment she hesitated. But then she suddenly had vivid visions of all the deaths and atrocities that mankind would inflict on these noble creatures, and with that image clearly in mind, she plunged the rod deep into the the soft soil, and immediately felt herself pierced from many directions by bullets. She also heard a "Thank you my Child", before she lost consciousness and died with a smile on her wizened face.
His unusually large, flat-topped head, and big oval eyes had frightened her. Yet, her Baptist Christian faith had taught compassion towards all creatures, and she saw no reason to make this creature any exception. So after helping him to his feet, she guided him along the narrow woodland path towards her cabin. Once there, she carefully lowered onto the rickety bed and then slumped into her old wicker rocking chair to rest from the physical exertion.
Because she was not a young woman any longer, and lifting heavy loads took a serious toll. She sat for a long while breathing heavily, and waiting for the aches and pains provoked by her exertions to wear off. Meanwhile, she could hear the humanoid's unearthly, high-pitched labored breathing, as if Earth's atmosphere had been alien to him, and his non-human, resonant groans of pain.
Finally she rose from the old rocking chair, brewed some tea, went the bedside and offered him some, but he rejected it.
""My name is Margaret. What is your name and where are you from?" she finally asked, after having placed a cold, wet towel on his pale, broad forehead.
" My name is Tsomler. I am from beyond your star, the one that you call sun or sol" came the answer, almost like a whisper, within her head.
She reeled back startled since she had not seen his lips move. Then realizing it had been telepathy she continued:
"Why did you come to our world?" she asked him after regaining her composure.
"Ambassadorial duties!" he groaned audibly.
"What happened to your ship?"
"Humans attacked! Attacks were not expected. We are a peaceful species, you see," he said sadly. He then projected holographic images of his home world where eons had transpired in total peace.
"Sorry!" she responded, feeling ashamed.
"I must leave!" he suddenly groaned and began looking about as if cornered.
"I must warn the others!"
"But you are seriously injured." she responded in a compassionate voice.
"I must try!" he said struggling to rise from his supine position but to no avail. The effect of the injuries were becoming more pronounced, and he had lost the use of his legs. There was also now a thick, blue fluid oozing from his mouth and nostrils that she assumed was his blood, as he began to cough spasmodically.
"How can I help you?" she asked while taking his large, seven-fingered, bluish hand in hers and squeezing it gently.
"You can help by carefully heeding all my instructions! But we must hurry! There is little time," she heard him communicate telepathically once more.
"Others of your kind will soon be here searching for my ship and for me. I can detect their distant minds and what they intend to do. They intend to interrogate in order learn of the location of my world. Then they will attack it, and exploit its resources before moving on. finally when of no further use, they will dissect me. You must help me prevent this! You must!" he gazed up at her with pleading, pink, oval eyes.
"But there are good people among us too Tsomler !" she said.
"Yes! I aware of it Margaret," he responded while briefly caressing the side of her cheek with the finger-knuckles of his pale right hand.
"But it is the selfish ones in power that are the danger, my child, and good ones are not!" he said in a voice full of pain.
She, of course, was profoundly surprised at his behavior. After all, she had fervently believed that only humans were capable of expressing compassion as her church pastor had repeatedly told her. That the only ones in the entire universe among all of God's material creatures to reflect his divine image were humans, his beloved chosen ones. Yet, here was a creature from another world which seemed to do so as well.
"Take this!" he finally said handing her a long, narrow tubular metallic object after having listened attentively to her innermost thoughts.
"Go to a higher elevation, and thrust it deep into your soil. It will signal a warning in hyperspace frequencies."
"You want me to leave you here alone?" she said worriedly, while wiping away some of the blue fluid from his quivering lips.
"Please my child, I do not matter! What matters is the survival of my species. Do not worry about me! I will be fine."
For a while the old woman hesitated. He would be dead by the time that she got back, but he would die anyway since there was really nothing she could do to help him. She was still considering these things when in the far distance she suddenly heard it. The unmistakable staccato sound of helicopter blades cutting through the air and heading in their direction from the valley below.
"Go quickly! Warn the leaders of my species before it is too late." the alien managed to say before he lost consciousness.
High altitude? There was a fairly tall hill a half-mile from her cabin that could be reached if she hurried. Grabbing the tubular object and placing it in a small burlap sag, she started for the hill up the narrow dirt path l at a slow run. In the distance, behind her, chopper blades were slowing down as the choppers slowly descended on her property. There was only a short way to go. Hopefully the alien would be dead when they found him.
"Do not worry my child! I have made certain of that!" she heard the telepathic message say, and then sensed that the life of the alien was over. She would make sure that his death had not been in vain.
The forest canopy had gradually thinned and she was now awash in bright noon sunlight as she reached the base the verdant hill. The old woman then heard the helicopter blades starting once again in the distance. They knew someone had helped the alien and could not be far away. There was stumbling and knees were bloodied from scraping against the ground. Having reached the hill's crest she took the tubular object from the burlap bag and found both ends ends identical. Which end should she thrust into the soil? She hesitated as the choppers drew near. If the wrong end, would the rod be damaged? Would the alien have been so careless unless it really didn't matter?
One of the choppers was directly above her now, its loudspeaker demanding that she fall face-first to the ground, while officers were descending on ropes. It was also demanding that she place the weapon, the rod, on the ground. She had little time left. For a brief moment she hesitated. But then she suddenly had vivid visions of all the deaths and atrocities that mankind would inflict on these noble creatures, and with that image clearly in mind, she plunged the rod deep into the the soft soil, and immediately felt herself pierced from many directions by bullets. She also heard a "Thank you my Child", before she lost consciousness and died with a smile on her wizened face.