How to: Survive an Alien Invasion

Cztery - Polish

I was in the process of cleaning my room when someone knocked. "Come in," I called, pausing my previous endeavour. Allan walked in and eyed my room with confusion.

"Was there a tornado that I'm unaware of?" He joked and I gave him a light chuckle in return.

"If by tornado, you mean a romance-deprived teen, then yes," I replied, picking up some more books and stacking them on a shelf.

"I take it you were looking for Pride and Prejudice?" He inquired further. I turned to him and smiled shyly while nodding. "Knew it."

"Is it still your favourite?" He continued to ask questions. I walked through the mess and took a seat on my bed, patting the spot beside me as an invitation for him to come join. I nodded and he sat beside me.

"What's up?" It was my turn to ask him a question.

"I just wanted to let you know that it wasn't your fault Julia and I didn't get married. There were other factors," he explained, rubbing my head as he spoke. I moved away from his hand with a grimace and looked up at him. Other factors like what? I didn't ask that though. I knew he wanted me to know that I wasn't the only reason, so I didn't want to make him believe that I thought otherwise.

Therefore, I replied: "I know. Plus, weddings are too expensive."

He laughed at that and I smiled. "How about we skip training today and do something fun?" He suggested, surprising me.

"Skip training? You've never let me skip training," I said skeptically as I squinted at him. He laughed again and the wrinkles by his eyes creased under the scrutiny of his black rectangular glasses. His dark blonde hair was parted in the middle and it ran to his ears, bobbing as he laughed. I tucked my own black hair behind my ear.

"Yes, but don't you want to?" He continued slyly. I was still suspicious, but he was right. I did want to skip training.

"Alright, I'm in, but if we're doing manual labor, I'm out," I reasoned, crossing my arms over my chest as I glared him down playfully.

"Alright, no manual labor, got it," he repeated with a goofy grin on his face. Allan takes me to train in the field everyday, he's like my own personal Mr. Kesuke from The Karate Kid. He got up and walked to the door, narrowly avoiding stray books. He paused at the door and turned to me. "You comin'?"

"Now?" I asked surprisedly, standing up, locking my ankle so that I wouldn't fall again.

"When else?" He replied rhetorically as he left my door frame and headed downstairs.

"Alright then," I muttered under my breath as I followed him, still in my pyjamas. He was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps with a huge grin on his face. I didn't know what he was so excited about, but his smile was contagious. Julia appeared beside him, holding his arm with barely contained excitement. As I reached the bottom, they beckoned me to follow.

They went through the kitchen and brought me to the front door. "We know that you've never interacted with any person aside from Allan, me, and those scientists, but maybe this'll make you feel less lonely," Julia said with an ear splitting grin. They opened the door and in a small kennel was a dog.

I squealed with joy and ran towards the small creature. I'd only ever seen dogs on TV and I couldn't look them up because we didn't have internet. Allan and Julia made sure there'd be no way I could accidentally expose myself. I've been surviving and thriving on DVDs and VHSs. Plus a record player.

The hot July sun was burning my neck because it wasn't yet poised above the roof of the porch. I opened the cage and the dog jumped into my arms. I didn't know what type of dog it was, but it was small and fluffy, I loved it.

"It's a Teacup Yorkie, do you like it?" Allan questioned tentatively from behind me. I stood up and faced them as I continued to snuggle the small animal.

"Like it? I love it!" I exclaimed excitedly, bouncing up and down. Julia and Allen looked at each other with smiles as big as mine.

"Happy eighteenth, Sunny," Julia said sweetly as she reached out to pet the small dog. It licked her hand as she pet its dark fur.

"What are you going to name it?" Allan inquired as he too took a step closer to my new friend and I.

I thought for a moment and an idea popped into my mind. "What about cloudy?" I suggested, petting the grey fur.

"Perfect," Julia commented, taking a step back while intertwining her hand with Allan's.

"Thank you so much, guys," I repeated, unbelievably happy. Cloudy continued to lick everything he could and I couldn't get the smile off my face.

"It was our pleasure, you deserve it," Allan said, walking back into the house with Julia. I grabbed the cage and brought it to my room, shutting the door behind me.

Inside the cage were two bowls, a few toys, and a pillow for him to sleep on. I frowned for a moment before getting up and sticking my head out the door. "Is cloudy a boy or a girl?" I called, waiting for a response.

"Boy," I heard Julia reply from downstairs. I smiled and shut my door again before returning to my dog. I set up his sleeping area along with his water bowl. I went downstairs later to ask about food and they pulled a giant bag of it out of the pantry, plus a bag of treats. I poured him so food and we played with his toys for a little while. Soon enough, he was playing with his toys on his own while I finished cleaning up my room.

Best, birthday, ever.