The Adventures of Bob Smith

Bob's Story

I sat on the couch in my living room, wondering how Bob could justify telling me my childhood wasn't so bad.  There were a few things I already knew, like how he was an alien and could disguise himself as a human to hide out among us.  He was being hunted by other aliens for a bounty, but I had no idea what for.  This was just the tip of the iceberg, though.  I knew there was so much more that he wasn't telling me.  He did have to keep hidden, after all.

But he told his story anyway.  It was like we had some kind of connection, beyond the whole rescuing-me-from-aliens thing.

"I was made, not born.  I didn't have any father at all.  I was raised in a laboratory with hardly any contact, not even a superficial movie date.  Then, one day, the military raided the lab and I was dragged into the outside world.  Sometimes, I'd wondered what the outside would be like, but even now I sometimes don't believe what actually happened.  They called me horrible, hateful things.

'Monster'

'Freak'

'Atrocity'

'Mutant'

'Abomination'"

Bob's voice was dripping with scorn as he repeated the words that the outside world had called him.  With each word, I felt more of his loneliness.

"Stop.  Get back to the story."  I'm sure he would have continued if I had let him.

"It wasn't until I was taken away from the lab.  That's when I found out what had been going on.  That lab was meant for bio-engineered weapons.  There were a lot of failures, but not me.  Once the outside world found out, they were all afraid and decided I had to be destroyed.  The rest is history."

There was something in that speech that I found a little bit unsettling.

"Hey, wait a second."

"What?"

"You were created to be some kind of killing machine, right?"

"Well, yes."

"And you just said that you were a success, right?"

Bob's voice became grimly serious.  "You've seen what I can do."

"So shouldn't you be out ravaging the countryside or something?"  This was me getting a little carried away.

"Uh, no.  Everything else in that lab was part of the same experiment.  I was just one of a long line of increasingly..."  He stumbled, groping for the right word.

"better killers?"

"That's not the most flattering way of putting it, but yes."

"So you're not the ultimate killer that they wanted?"

"No, I'm just a big step forward."

"That makes me feel safe."  Sarcasm was obvious in my voice.  I think I went a little too far, because Bob suddenly seemed to regret coming.

"You should be concerned.  You've already been abducted twice by hunters who were looking for me.  I shouldn't be here."

He stood up to leave.  I really didn't want it to end this way.  There was just something about Bob that made me want him around.

"I wish you could stay longer."

"I can stay."  The frustration that had been in his voice just a moment ago was now gone.  He seemed to once again resign himself to my presence.  "But I really don't think you should spend much time with me."

"Don't start that again."

"I'm not kidding."  His frustration was coming back.

"Can you at least stay 'till after breakfast?"

"Yeah, but it's still not safe to be around me."

"I'm fine with you.  The real danger is out there."

We made breakfast in silence.  We ate breakfast with hardly any talking at all.  When the food was done and the dishes were loaded in the dishwasher, Bob excused himself to leave.  I had to at least pretend to be a good hostess, so I accompanied him to the door.

"Mind if I come by next weekend?"

"I don't think you realize just what you're getting into."

"Listen, I just spent the last week locked in a little cage the size of a closet."

I paused and waited for some kind of response.  Bob didn't say anything.  He didn't have any witty retort or snide comeback for that one.  So I continued.

"Exactly.  Don't talk to me about how scary it is.  Especially after I had to listen to all their self-righteous crap."

"I suppose there's no convincing you.  See you next weekend.

He took two steps out toward the road, then turned back and waved to me.  I waved back to him before he turned and disappeared into the night.