Danny Flash and the Alien Crash

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I entered the main room of The Everything Store, closing the door to the back room gently behind me.  It was eerily quiet inside the main part of the store, with everyone tucked away into the back.  I made my way over to the rack of seeds and started browsing through them.  Like everything else in Mr. Greigson's store they were the unusual kinds of seeds.  White strawberries, dragon fruit, Jackfruit, and my personal favorite a pack of seeds with nothing but a simple question mark on its surface.  I grabbed one of every unusual and wonderful fruit type that I could find, including the question mark packet; kind of a mystery grab of seed bags; and spun the rack around to see if there were more jewels on the other side of this crown.

As my eyes fell onto a pack of Kiwi berries, I heard the little bell at the front of the store ring as someone walked in.  I froze; a few responses making their way quickly through my brain.  Should I pretend that I worked here?  Should I pretend like I was also confused why no one was manning the counter?  Should I just ignore the ringing bell and continue my shopping?  I decided that I would turn towards the door and greet whoever it was that was entering.  I slowly turned, a sheepish smile on my face, and there staring back at me was Michael Bloth.

"Michael?" I said with more irritation than happiness, for obvious reasons.

"Danny Flash," Michael responded, with more resentment than happiness.  "What are you doing here?"

"What else do you do in the Everything Store?" I asked back.  "I'm shopping."

Michael made his way over to me, quickly forgetting about whatever it was that had brought him in here in the first place. He looked at the seeds piled up in my hands.

"Doing a little gardening," he asked.

"Yeah. That's right."

Michael looked around, now realizing that we were alone.  He swatted the packs of seeds from my hands quickly.  They all fell to the floor; the only one remaining in my hand was the question mark packet.

"Stop it," I blurted out, crouching down and trying to scoop the seeds back up as quickly as I could before he stepped on them.  "You don't know what you're doing."

"I don't know what I'm doing?" Michael asked.  He looked around again, ensuring that there was no one else in sight.  "I'm just saying hello." Michael said.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.  "Why are you always picking on me?"

"I'm not just picking on you," Michael said, "I pick on everyone."

"Yeah?" I asked. "But you especially pick on me."

Michael shoved me up against the wall.

"What are you going to do about it?" he asked, his face a few inches from mine, and that same familiar stinky breath wafting out of his mouth.  He hit me up against the wall with enough force that the door slowly creaked open and there, through the crack, I could see Mr. Greigson sitting at the table, and my little alien friend standing in front of him.  My alien friend turned and looked at me, pressed up against the wall.  We locked eyes.  Its lips peeled back, sharp teeth shining.

My alien friend started to make its way towards me, looking like it was ready to leap right off that table and onto Michael's back.  Mr. Greigson reached out and put his arm in front of my little alien friend.  Annabelle quickly peered out as well and then slammed the door closed trying to stop our little alien friend from doing any damage.  Suddenly I heard Mr. Greigson scream.  I knew what must have happened.  But Michael sure didn't.  He let me go and spun around, looking for the source of the sound.  He noticed the door.  All the locks open, all the latches undone.

"Who's back there?" he asked.

"No one," I said, delivering what was probably the worst lie in the history of lies.  Michael made his way towards the door.

"I've always wondered what was back in this room.  Maybe it's..."  Michael paused for dramatic effect... "aliens?"

Michael swung the door open and my little alien friend stood on the edge of the table, his teeth bared.  He locked eyes with Michael. He didn't leap towards him.  Michael froze, then took two quick steps back.  My little alien friend suddenly started to grow. He took in deep breaths, deep, deep, breaths, and his skin puffed out, and his body arched up.  He took in another breath, and another, seemingly sucking the air out of the room, until he doubled and then tripled in size.  He let out a low growl, and bared his teeth again.  Michael screamed, turned and made his way back out to the front of the store, knocking over several items as he went.

"You're crazy Danny Flash," he yelled out behind him. "Crazy!"

Michael ran out through the front door, slamming it hard behind him.

My little alien friend exhaled a long breath and returned back to normal size.  He scurried down the leg of the table, ran over to me and quickly climbed up my leg and into my arms.

"Zap-zini?" he asked, looking at me with great concern.  I nodded my head.  My little alien friend reached out his arms and hugged my wrist.

"Zini," he said again, this time not as a question.

"Zini," I repeated back and placed my free arm on his head.  Mr. Greigson looked at us, and suddenly gave a warm smile, which sat awkwardly on his face.

"Alright," he said.  "You can have as many seeds as you'd like."