Avrashi

Chapter 1: Landing (Section 2)

I stood just at the edge of Sheep’s Meadow, and right in front of me, stood the biggest crowd I had ever seen. The mere sound of their idle chatter was unreasonably loud. It was full of all sorts of people- reporters, average people, many in fancy suits, which could’ve been businessmen or politicians- neither of which would’ve surprised me, especially considering that there was a crowd over on my right that seemed to have the president at its center!  Then again, I supposed it made sense, after all, this was first contact with an alien species, one of the most important events, well, ever. I only wished that there was enough room left for me to squeeze in somewhere. And that it wasn’t so loud, how was people just plain talking so loud. A sudden roaring erupted from the sky, and everyone stepped back as smoke filled the area. I looked up at the sky, and saw a spaceship, it was decorated strangely, lots of green, and more windows than I would think practical. But it was still a spaceship! It was big too, smaller perhaps than some of our spaceships, but it was still pretty big. Thankfully, it was taller than it was wide, else it wouldn’t have been able to fit on the concrete landing pad they had built for it. The throngs of people erupted in yelling and cheering, as the spaceship landed. With a hiss, the doors opened, and, well something probably stepped out, but I didn’t get to see any of it because apparently the entire city’s population had come to see this. It was so loud I felt like I could barely hear myself think. I gritted my teeth, I wasn’t going to miss this, not after all the trouble I went through to get here. I stepped towards the crowd, ready to elbow my way to the center. . .aaand immediately reversed course back away from the crowd. What was I doing? Was I seriously going to shove people around just so I could get a better look? No, that would be just plain mean, I’d find another way to get what I wanted. I looked around, maybe I could climb a tree to get a better view? That wouldn’t have worked, there weren’t any trees that were close or tall enough to work. I growled and stamped my feet. This wasn’t fair! I was missing everything. I couldn’t even hear what they were saying this far back. I sighed, there wasn’t any point in staying here any longer, I wasn’t going to see anything. I turned to walk back home, dejected, and disappointed. At least I could watch a recording of it on my phone, even if it wouldn’t be as good as seeing it for real. But somehow, without me even noticing, I had found myself in the middle of yet another crowd. Suddenly, I felt my breathing quicken. I looked around, trying to find a way out, but there was nothing but people all around. So loud, there was too much noise. Reporters were practically yelling over it, trying to make their voices heard. I sat down in the grass, and hugged my legs close to my chest, before placing my hands over my ears. I began taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself down, I closed my eyes, and focused on other things. The softness of the grass, the feel of my clothes against my skin. But I couldn’t do it, there was just too much noise! I opened my eyes and looked around the crowd, looking for a way out, but I was locked in by a hoard of people, and there weren’t really any gaps. My breathing became quick and shallow, I felt tears in my eyes. I needed to get out of there. People were talking, yelling, screaming, babies were crying. I felt the wetness of tears running down my face, but I barely even noticed. I jumped up and ran straight towards the city, shoving everyone out of my way. I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, in fact, it was very rude. And any other time, that would’ve been enough to stop me. But not right now. I bolted right out of the crowds, out of the park, into the city. And even then I kept running, my mind a blur. When my vision finally cleared, I was sitting on a bench five whole blocks away from the park. I could still feel the tears, running down my face, less, now that I was away from the crowds, but still there. I  looked around, and hesitantly got up from the bench. I turned to face down the street, and started walking, headed back to the orphanage. I mean there wasn’t really anything else to do. Plus, even with how I was feeling, I still wanted to watch that recording of the aliens. A few minutes passed. I was walking along the sidewalk on a rather empty street. New York had become surprisingly quiet after the aliens arrived, which made sense, with how many people had gone to see them. Though my tears were now dry, I still felt tense, ready to snap, my breathing still fast, my hands still shaking. As I walked, enjoying the nice quiet- especially after what had happened -I passed a dark alleyway, off to the side, near the end of the city block I was walking down. I paid no mind at first, and simply walked on by. The events in the crowd were stuck in my mind, I couldn’t stop going over them, thinking about what had happened, like a broken record. However, as I passed the alleyway, an extremely odd sound came from within. It was an odd sound, that came in bursts like laughing, but sounded more like a cross between that and a soft growl. I doubled back at this- the loop in my mind suddenly broken, by my surprise, and by my curiosity -and poked my head into the alleyway, trying to identify the source of the sound, but I saw no one, and nothing, just a large dumpster, and some litter. I frowned,
“Hello! Anyone there?”
No one responded, but the sound continued. Wondering what the hell could be making that noise, I took a cautious step into the alleyway. I hesitated to go further, what if this was some kind of trap? But, in the end, my curiosity won out, and I continued forward. Carefully, I began walking down the alleyway. I called out again,
“Hello! Hello?”
Again, no response. I continued walking, reaching a corner in the alleyway. The noise seemed to be coming from just around it. Very slowly, I put my hands on the corner, and peeked my head around it. I froze, my breath caught in my throat. I wasn’t sure what I had expected to be making the noise, but it certainly wasn’t this.