The alien hurtled toward Earth at a startling pace. The blue ocean grew bigger and bigger until the color filled up the screen. The creature screeched. With what was left of its willpower it managed to turn the steering wheel. The burning space-craft skidded through the damp sand, collided into a dense orchard of trees, and came to a stop in front of a peaceful, yellow house. A bird chirped and flew away.
A young girl ran out of the house. She stared at the scorched patch of land. Her head shifted up and she stared at the smoke billowing up into the blue sky. She smiled to herself. Her eyes then settled on the shining silver space-craft. “I knew it.” She sat in the wet grass and waited.
The alien regained consciousness. It stumbled out coughing and belching. Looking up, it saw a pale, gangly blob staring at him with wide, black eyes. The blob opened her mouth and shouted, “Hi! Nice to meet you!”
The alien skittered to the right and left. It approached the peculiar blob with much hesitation. Opening its mouth, the alien cried, “What… ee-are you?” The girl noted that his voice was very cute. He sounded like Stitch.
The girl smiled brightly. “I’m a human!”
“Hoo-man…” the alien repeated slowly.
“Where am I?”
“Earth of course!”
“Ee-arth?”
“Yes Ee-arth!” The girl beamed.
The alien observed the sparkling dew and oohed. “What is… Ee-arth?”
“Well, the most important thing to know is… that it can be a very kind place sometimes, but sometimes it can be very mean.”
“Kind? Mean?”
“Yes… it can be mean when people ignore you or judge you harshly. But it can be very kind when you are around people who love you, like family!”
“Fameelee? What… is that?”
“Family is the thing you can depend upon the most… even when you feel very alone. Do you have a family?”
“No….” The alien scratched its bald head.
“Well, then you can join mine!”
The alien stared at her outstretched hand with confusion. “Why? Fameelee good?”
“Family is the best. It’s where you can feel comfortable. In mine, there’s just me, my mom, and my dad.”
“What are… Moim and doid?” The alien blinked blankly.
“Mom and dad? They are people who love you very much. When you cry they care and they know just what to do to make you feel better. When you are away from them, you miss them and when you FaceTime them, you cry because you’re want them to be there with you.”
“Sounds… painful.”
“But it’s worth it. I like having people like that in my life.”
“Why?”
The girl smiled ruefully. “I make a lot of mistakes. When I make these mistakes with other people, I know that they won’t understand, so I beat myself up. Why would I do that? What was I thinking? I feel terrible about myself. But with family, I know that maybe I’ll get in trouble, but the end, it’ll be alright.” She shrugged her shoulders. “They love me, and I love them.”
“What is… loove?”
“Um… well, I guess it’s a feeling. If you listen to other people, you might think it’s really grand, but I think it’s really simple. It’s just about caring for another human.”
“Hoo-man.”
“Yes! Like me!” She smiled and then sighed. “Hoo-mans make tons of mistakes. Tons and tons. It’s makes me so sad. But my family shows me that I’m OK even though I don’t always choose the right thing. They encourage me because they know I’m trying.”
The alien stuck out it’s hand and placed it firmly in the girl’s outstretched one. The girl giggled. “Eww… slimy!” The girl tugged on the alien. “Come on! Let’s go to my house. You can meet my family.”
The alien’s mouth stretched from ear to ear. “Fameelee.” he murmured to himself.
The Alien Learns About Family 