The Erotic Exoplanet

Chapter 2: First Contact

Exploration Log
Entry 1

Earth Date: 04/07/2033
Time Since Arrival (Earth Standard): 3 hours
Location: Unrecorded exoplanet within Coris System; designation pending.

Log: Its been about three or so hours since I crashed here. About an hour after I crashed and assessed the damage (completely totaled save the power in the lounge) I decided to go out and explore this place. I crashed on a beach what looks like a jungle or rainforest so I figured it was worth a look. It's been about two hours since that time, and in that time, I found this nice clearing and a pond with really clear water that feels carbonated somehow, and a mini beach on the shore. I'm resting there right now as I record my findings.

This place feels both very similar to places such as the Amazon Rainforest back on Earth, but also so different from anything you can find back home. A lot of the plants here don't look familiar; some of these flowers feel more animalistic than normal flowers, and the vines and tree roots are massive and move around on their own like they're breathing. A lot of the wildlife I've seen so far also heavily resemble those on Earth, but with certain differences, additions, or subtractions. More on those as I do more research.

~

Ashley closed her notebook and relaxed, laying back in the shade of a jungle tree as the sunlight beat down on the sparkling clearing.

She'd found this area not too long ago, and decided to rest there after trudging through the forest nonstop for hours. Admittedly, she'd gotten herself nearly completely lost, and had walked herself hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. The jungle was hot, and beneath her spacesuit, she felt grimy and miserable.

Coming across this clearing felt like a miracle from heaven. It looked like a little hidden paradise; a secluded, glimmering pond with water as crystal-clear as a Jamaican beach. Upon her observations, the bed beneath the surface expelled small amounts of carbon dioxide into the water, making it fizz like seltzer. Most of the ground around it was soft, whitish sand that only complimented the water's beauty even further, and its crystals softly shimmered in the afternoon sunlight.

She had been walking around sweaty and gross in this muggy alien jungle for hours now, and a decent-looking body of water had presented itself to her. It was time for a bath.

Ashley started to fumble her way out of her swimsuit, finally freeing most of her body into the humid, forest air. She stripped herself bare, removing her bra and panties and resting them inside her jacket, before going to dip her toes into the clear water. It sparkled nicely against her skin, and was comfortably warm to the touch; she felt as if all of her stress was melting away into the pool. 

She waded until she was waist-deep in the water and let the warmth ripple over her. Cupping the water in her hands, she poured it on her skin and began to wash herself off, some much needed time to revitalize herself and clean up. As she washed the sweat off, she mulled over everything she had come across that day...

As Ashley had written, the forest on this planet was both similar to those on Earth; yet at the same time, it could not possibly be more unfamiliar. The trees were giants - both in height and thickness - overgrown with thick vines that hung down from the branches, and massive, dark colored roots that snaked across the ground, pulsing and squirming as if they were alive? They seemed to function like blood vessels in a human body, which unsettled her. The flowers that grew there vastly varied in size and shape. Some of the ones she passed she could tell were carnivorous in nature, though while some were similar to the Venus fly traps of home, others seemed much more animalistic and fleshy. Some were as small as her fist, while others stretched up high to tower over her.

As for the fauna in this place, a lot of what she'd seen so far had looked like insects; some being terrifyingly larger than they should be in her opinion, bigger than her head. Some of the bugs here seemed identical to Earth bugs; she'd seen worms and roaches and ants crawling around in rotting logs and burrows in the trees and ground. Some of the larger bugs scuttled behind trees and darted through foliage, which did not help Ashley's aversion to insects and other creepy-crawlies. For some reason, however, they all had been staring at her in a weird way. Sure, she wasn't from this world, so of course she'd be foreign to the creatures here - she wasn't a natural part of the ecosystem. That wasn't the only intent she gathered from their gaze, but she hadn't been able to place it.