Life, in Short

A Study of Earth Sports

It is sixty-five sun cycles since our arrival on this planet called Earth. I seem to have contracted a disease known to the humans as "the cold". It is a wretched affliction, that has left me oozy and fatigued. I am fortunate though in that I have not caught the disease they call "the man cold". It is named this because it only affects the males of the species, and it is said to be far worse.

Fortunately immunity to this lesser condition will also protect one from the contraction of the man cold. I have been trying to synthesize a bio-response in the lab to conquer this condition and to protect my mate and offspring. If my calculations are correct, it should be complete by the time of darkness.

Despite the disease this still appears to be an ideal planet for our people to take refuge. There are plentiful resources and a relatively stable atmosphere. The real obstacle is the unstable human inhabitants. Our early efforts in reconnaissance showed them to be incredibly hostile toward otherworld beings. Since they cannot be trusted to harbor us willingly, we must learn to assimilate. Still, I am hopeful that we can learn to assimilate here.

Today we are accompanying a nearby group of neighbors, to an event they call a basketball game. Their male offspring is to participate directly. As I understand it, we will merely be observing, something the humans consider entertaining. We have learned from our studies that these physical games called sports are one of the most important facets of human culture. Humans who don't enjoy the observing of them are considered abnormal. In order to avoid drawing attention or suspicion, we feel it will be prudent to attend.

I will record further upon our return.

—

We rode with the female neighbor in her transport. It was small, but can evidently carry up to five humans. The interior was filthy, exuding a slew of awful scents. I do not understand how the humans can tolerate such conditions. Once activated, the vehicle produced a frightful rumbling and high pitched whining. It shook and spasmed as it made its way to our destination, I feared it would collapse into pieces. It also left behind a trail of murky colored vapor behind it. Overall I did not feel it to be an ideal mode of travel.

Once we arrived at the location of the event, the male neighbors found us and showed us to the observation area. Strangely, it was nothing more than a large staircase, leading to nowhere, and spanning the length of the room. We joined the sparse and rather disagreeable looking humans who were sitting on the stairs. I must admit that I had expected more humans to be in attendance. I even wondered if our research had exaggerated the games importance.

Once the game began, the stair humans began smacking their hands together and shouting. The offspring on the floor ran back and forth together in a frantic and dangerous looking scramble to acquire a rubbery sphere. They then hit the sphere against the floor while the other offspring attempted to take it. Occasionally they threw the sphere at one another, or at a small, netted circle that hangs from the ceiling. Some observation showed that there were two groups of offspring divided by color of apparel, but all occupied the floor indiscriminately.

The stair humans became louder and more unruly each time the sphere was thrown. There were also three adults on the floor. Their vesture did not match either group and I could not clearly discern their purpose. Two of them stood on either side of the room, always staying on the outskirts. They would bellow at the running adolescents and wave their arms with a feral intensity. They seemed quite aggressive, and seemed to be shouting orders and feelings of anguish.

The third of these adults was a large male, who chased after the adolescents, occasionally biting down on a small metal device he had hung about his neck. Biting on the device produced a shrill screech, which caused the game to halt. In some cases the rubber sphere would be thrown to the adult male who would give it to one of the adolescents to throw back to the waiting cluster of offspring. It was a strange ritual that makes little sense to me even now.

My own offspring had joined me, as the neighbor humans assured me this was a good activity for children. Xo, is too young to comprehend any of the strange events, but enjoyed stumbling up and down the stairs with some small human toys. Eikae watched the event with the same befuddlement as I. Her eyes followed the adolescent neighbor running and fighting with the other offspring. She inquired whether those humans were his friends and I indicated my uncertainty. If they were then human friendship must be a dangerous and frightening thing.

Shortly after that I noticed two more humans sitting at a table. They were quite still, not screeching or beating their hands as the other human observers. One pressed a button on a panel of controls of some sort and the room was immediately filled with a most distressing bellow. For a moment I feared it to be some sort of alarm, but the humans did not appear to be concerned by it. It was a most unpleasant sound however and I really must find out just how much risk it will pose for us not to be involved in these sport games.

The sound occurred numerous times throughout the game with no discernable purpose. After one of these blasts the female neighbor told us it was "half-time". The offspring stopped running and throwing the sphere and walked over to a row chairs that lined the wall on either side of the table. The stair humans ceased their aggressive behavior and began conversing with each other as they do in any other situation. After a short time, however, the table humans pressed the button again which produces the terrifying noise, and the running and throwing resumed as though nothing had happened.

This of course incited the stair humans to commence their shouting and smacking once more. The sport games make little sense to me, Eikae was confused as well and even asked me: "Why do they have to play Basketball?"

At this point I fear much research will be required to fit in with this barbaric species beyond what has already been gleaned. I can only hope we are able do so without being forced to participate in these atrocious sport events. I plan to report further when I acquire better intelligence on the situation. For now, I will continue to integrate into this human society the best that I can.