Nick’s point of view
"Who were you talking to, Jen? I heard you
talking to another guy!!" I interrogated.
"It was….. a friend! On the phone!"
she blurted out.
"Don’t lie to me! I could hear his voice
as clear as crystal! He was in this room!" I yelled.
She didn’t reply, but just turned her back on
me, obviously trying to come up with an excuse.
"Are you cheating on me?" I asked
mercilessly.
"No! I’d never……" she began to reply.
"How do I know you’re telling the truth?
You’ve already lied to me just now!"
"Nick, you’d never believe me. You’d just
freak out!!" she claimed, tears forming in her eyes.
"Just tell me!" I pleaded, my
harshness diminishing.
She opened her mouth to speak when an angry
growling behind me interrupted us. Jen peered behind me but showed no apparent
fear.
I looked around myself and jumped back in
shock.
A creature, that looked half wolf and half
lion, was stalking us, and growling in the process. Its glare was concentrated
on me! I realised it was blocking the door to stop us from escaping. Whatever
this thing was, it didn’t come from Earth! It was some kind of alien creature!
"Tohja, no!" Jen shouted, as she held
my arm.
I looked at her, fear showing in my eyes,
"You know that thing?"
"You want an explanation? This is part of
it. Sit down, Nick."
She signalled for the alien to come and join
us. I shifted nervously across as the creature sat next to me.
"This is Kar’Tohja. But just Tohja is
fine," She introduced. Tohja waved casually, and I did likewise.
"He’s a Kindorian, an alien from the
planet Kindor. Sorry if you got the wrong impression before, but he’s very
protective. We have to look out for each other."
Jen’s point of view
I sighed at the blank expression on Nick’s
face. I waited until the information had sunk in.
"Tohja, will you get Nick a glass of water
or something?" I instructed.
Tohja nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.
He was, as usual, quiet around strangers. But then he didn’t want to stand out.
"So, what’s the deal then?" Nick
whispered.
"On Kindor, there’s a civil war. It’s not
safe there so…. Well the only other inhabited planet nearby is this one,"
Jen explained.
"Poor guy!" he commented.
"Yeah, it’s been really hard on him. We’ve
both been hiding for five years now. He was 10 when the war started and had to
leave. And since he doesn’t really trust humans, he has to stay indoors all day
and only go out at night. But that’s still dangerous. If you heard, someone
nearly ran him over on his way back."
Nick shifted nervously, "That was kinda…my fault…"
"That was you?!" I exclaimed, my eyes
widening. "Don’t tell him about it. He doesn’t trust you much to start
with. Anyway, I’m sorry I’ve been hiding this but it’s very important to make
sure no one finds out."
"I’ll bet. I understand, and its OK," Nick reassured. He thought
about everything he’d just been told and something hit him.
"15?" he blurted out.
"What?" I asked, puzzled.
"Tohja’s 15 years old! But he’s tiny! He’s
only half my height!" Nick pointed out.
"Oh, that’s a Kindorian thing. Kindorian’s
don’t grow much until the teenage years, then between 15 and 18 there is a
large growth period. A Kindorian grows to about human adult height and stays
roughly the same for the rest of their lives." I explained.
"Why is my head hurting?" Nick asked,
rubbing his forehead.
"Too much information?" I suggested.
Nick’s point of view
Tohja returned from the kitchen with a glass of
water and handed it to me. I wasn’t very thirsty, so I just
put it down on the coffee table.
"Shouldn’t you be asleep by now, Lil’
Guy?" Jen asked Tohja as the Kindorian sat down next to her.
"Not really. I go to sleep when I want
to!" Tohja protested.
"So you do talk!" I exclaimed, a bit
surprised.
Tohja frowned, "Of course I can
talk!"
"Yeah, but he didn’t before because
he’s…too…shy!" Jen grinned as she enveloped the small creature in a tight
hug. Much to my surprise, she gave the alien a kiss on his furry cheek.
"Aww, Jen! Not in front of Nick!"
Tohja moaned, trying to wriggle out of Jen’s hug as she ruffled his hair.
"Hey, you’re messing up my mane!"
I, meanwhile, sighed. "Oh, I see what’s
going on here!"
They both looked at me.
"I get it! If you two are that close, I
won’t get in the way!" I told them, my voice showing clear disappointment
mixed with anger.
I stood up and headed for the door, but Jen
followed and put her hand on my shoulder.
"Oh, Nick, it’s not like that!" she
smiled. "Didn’t I make it obvious?"
"What?" I frowned, turning around.
She shook her head, "I’m a Kindorian too,
Nick!"
I made no reply. I was in shock.
Jen continued, gesturing to Tohja, "He’s
my brother."