Alien Diaries

Aurra was angry and frustrated. No one listened to her. Least of all her parents, the King and Queen, who always had other “matters to handle”. Well, yes, her twin brother, Arrus, did care about her a lot, but it was not enough. She cannot, and would not become the Queen, as her parents insisted. Her heart was elsewhere, in traveling and riding, in combat and arms. But her parents just wouldn’t take it. They would constantly be reminding her, “You are a princess, Aurra. One day, you will become the Queen. You must leave all those boyish habits behind.”

That is why Aurra had to make this decision. She was running away from home. She would go somewhere far, far away, where she could do whatever she wanted. She had packed her bag and was ready. It was early in the morning, hopefully, no one would see her leaving. She turned back, where Arrus was sleeping soundly and said a silent goodbye to him. Then she left.

Aurra came to the clearing where the latest spaceship had been stationed. It had been temporarily named Z. Aurra went inside. “Z, take me to some planet with lots of horses, continuous battles, and scenic beauties”, she commanded. “Good morning, Princess. Here are some planets which suit your instructions”, said Z in its metallic robotic voice. Aurra browsed through the various planets that Z displayed. “Hmm…okay. Z, take me to Urth…Earth”, she finally said. Z took off without a word. Aurra raised her four arms into the air, and said goodbye to her beloved planet, Zodia.

Even with Z being super-fast, much faster than most of the spaceships on Zodia, they took almost a day to reach Earth. It reminded Aurra just how far away from home she was. Z’s voice broke in her thoughts. “Princess, we have arrived. During this long journey, I researched about this planet. Allow me to share whatever I have learned. The life forms inhabiting this planet are called humans. They look like this.” Z displayed the picture of a human on the screen. Aurra sat up. “Hey, they have only two hands. And what are they wearing over their oddly-shaped bodies?” Z said calmly, “Princess, those are called clothes. And that reminds me, I will have to change your form so that you resemble humans.” “But I don’t want to be human. I want to remain a Zodian”, wailed Aurra. “It is necessary I change your appearance, Princess. Anyhow in your mind and your heart, you will forever remain a Zodian”, said Z. Reluctantly, Aurra agreed. In an instant, her body changed and became like a picture on the screen. “You are now what the humans call a girl, Princess”, said Z. Aurra looked unimpressed. “Well”, she consoled herself, “sacrifices need to be made to true happiness.”

Aurra had begun liking Earth. She particularly loved some things about Earth – the cold edible on sticks (the humans call it ice-cream), the strange totally-not-like-spaceship vehicles, which left a trail of strange substance (yes, smoke) and of course, the horses. She had joined what humans call a Riding Club. She went there every day.

Also, the Earth was full of colors, a characteristic that could not be associated with Zodia. Everything on Zodia was a metallic blue in color, even the Zodians. But Earth seemed vibrant and full of life.

Aurra mingled with the humans well, though some found her over-friendly nature suspicious. She had maintained the story that Z had told her- that she was a foreigner, and knew very little about this country. The unsuspecting humans bought this story easily.

But what Aurra could not digest was how ignorant humans were. They actually believed that they were the only life forms in the entire universe. They were totally and utterly unaware of the billions of other planets that sustained life totally different from theirs. Also, these humans of her age knew very little. All the Zodians were born with complete knowledge of everything, from complex mathematics to unimaginable facts and theories about space. They never had to learn anything in their life.

Every evening, after spending an enjoyable day at the riding club, Aurra would return to Z, which had become her home. Z had stationed itself in a remote area, where humans hardly venture. It was on one such evening when Aurra returned to Z, she found the people she had never expected to see again. Her mother, her father, her brother. Her family. Although she was very happy to see them, she knew they had come to take her back to Zodia. Instead of addressing them directly, Aurra asked Z, “Z, why did you let them in without my permission?” Z replied, “My princess, I did stop them at the gate, but then they are royals too, and I can’t defy the orders of any royal.” “But Z”, began Arrus, “you welcomed us inside. You were all like- It is my honor to have you here, my royals.” Arrus imitated Z’s robotic voice. If Z was an actual living being, which he is not, one would have seen him go red in embarrassment. Aurra suddenly felt an urge to live with her family again. Oh, how she missed that constant bickering with Arrus. “No”, she said, more to herself than her parents. “No, I won’t go with you to Zodia. Earth is now my home. I am going to stay here, no matter what.”, Aurra told them defiantly. To her surprise, her mother said gently, “We are not here to take you home, dear. We are here to stay too. With you.” “Yeah, sis. Let’s see what these humans have got”, said Arrus. Aurra, unable to contain herself anymore, ran and hugged her family tightly, tears of joy running down her face.