Who am I?

Earth date: August 30, 2154

Dear diary,

Today is the big day! We will land on Anlayhay in a few hours. I've been reviewing my lessons on etiquette over and over in my head, hoping I don’t get anything wrong. I'm sure they’ll be accepting if I mess up, but I want this to go as smoothly as possible. I think first impressions are very important in relationships, and I always try to make my first impressions very good.

I feel like I have butterflies bees in my stomach. I'm so worried. What’s this going to be like?

                I can see Anlayhay from my window now; it’s a very desolate looking planet, which makes sense since everything is underground. It’s very large; I don’t think Earth looked this large from this distance. I hope this goes well.

                I don’t want to just keep saying “I’m nervous I'm nervous I'm nervous” over and over, so I’ll type again tonight to record meeting my family and everything.

                Well. I don’t know what time it is on Earth, because my watch doesn’t work here. But its late night here, and I wanted to get out my ePad and record this day.

When I got off the shuttle, my legs were a bit unsteady. It was like getting of a boat on Earth, except instead of feeling like I was in waves, I felt like everything was rushing. It’s a hard feeling to describe to someone who’s never ridden in a space shuttle.

Anyway, when I got off, a man with medium green skin and a woman with light purple skin were standing arm in arm a few feet from the shuttle. “Sophia?” the woman called out hesitantly. I waved slightly. “Are you my parents?” I asked as I approached them. They both nodded. When I got closer to them, the woman let go of her husband’s arm and rushed over to hug me. I was a bit taken back, but her arms felt warm, and also vaguely familiar.

They led me to a building - one of the only buildings in sight. I asked if they lived above ground, and they laughed. The man said, “No, this is the elevator building.” I followed them in, and saw what he meant. It was simply a large building of elevators. They led me to an elevator on the right and we got in. they pushed the down button, and the trip seemed to last for a while. I didn’t know what to do, so I just stared at my feet. I guess they didn’t know what to say either because they were both quiet for a while. After a few minutes, the woman looked at me. “Your brothers can’t wait to meet you.” I was taken aback. I had siblings I had never met; what a strange concept. I told her that it would be interesting for me to meet them, too.

When the elevator ride finally ended, we got out and walked a bit to the left, then stopped outside what looked like a cave. I knew they lived underground, but I’d never realized this meant in caves. Crazy. I followed them inside, and three boys peeked out at me from behind a door frame. Their skin all varied in color: one light green, one light blue, and the youngest was light purple. I realized that color wasn’t race on Anlayhay; it just kind of happened. Interesting.

They all introduced themselves to me. The green-skinned one is the oldest, around 13, and his name is Michael. Robert, the blue one, is the middle brother, at eight. And the youngest, barely five years old with purple skin, is Aiden.  They all seemed kind of shy, but very fascinated with me. I can’t wait until I know them better.

It was midday when we arrived, so I got to my new home just in time for lunch. They served a strange leaf that was resembled lettuce, but was orange and very thick. It seemed like a mix between a carrot and lettuce. It tasted very good.

I then spent the day getting used to my new home and my new family. I learned that Michael likes to play instruments similar to our drums on Earth, Robert enjoys reading like me, and Aiden enjoys playing sports. My parents introduced themselves to me as Mike and Joanne, but they told me that I could call them mom and Dad if I was comfortable with that. I think I will one day, but today, my mom and dad are starting their lives anew in some country I’ve never been to. These people are my mother and father, but not really my Mom and Dad.

By the time we stopped exchanging stories, it was near sundown. You can’t tell where the sun is at in the sky from underground, of course, but each home has its own monitor that shows the sun from right above their house so they know when to put their children to bed. They don’t really use clocks very much; my twelve-hour watch fascinated them.

Anyway, we finished our discussion around sundown, so the boys and I all had to go to bed. As we went, Mike and Joanne hugged them each and told them each that they loved them. When it was my turn, I was more willing to embrace my other than I had been when getting off the shuttle. She hugged me, and so did Mike. When they pulled back, my mother looked at me with a very strong love in her eyes, and whispered, “Welcome home.”

I truly have come home.

                -Sophia