Claudia in Strangetown

Chapter 1 - Alien Encounters

Claudia was walking along the street near her house when she felt eyes watching her. Suddenly, an old alien man waved at her. It was none other than Pollination Technician #9 Smith. He had green skin and black eyes, his hair was grey and wore a red Hawaiian shirt.

"Hey there," he greeted her. "I haven't seen you since last week."

"Hello Mr. Smith," she said, waving back. "Have you been doing any work lately?"

"No, I've retired from my home planet, I have a human wife and two children, one of them has green skin like me."

"You're talking about your teenage son Johnny?"

"Yep."

"Johnny's a sweet boy, isn't he?"

"Very much so, thank you."

As they got in the house, his wife Jenny was making sandwiches for Johnny and Jill.

"Welcome home honey," said Jenny. "Did you see anyone interesting today?"

"Yes, but your brother's pregnant with an alien baby."

"Really? I'm going to be an aunt!" exclaimed Jenny.

"Congratulations, Jenny!"

As Claudia sat down, they ate their sandwiches.

"Mum, how's uncle Pascal?" asked Johnny.

"He's a genius, and he's on a maternity leave."

"Oh wow, congratulations!" said Johnny. "When's the due date?"

"In three months' time."

"Cool, Mum!"

As Claudia went off and arrived at 2 Cover Up Road.

"That's where Jenny's brothers live!" she said.

She knocked on the door and waited patiently. Eventually, Vidcund Curious opened it and smiled at her.

"Hey Claudia," he greeted. "You've moved here."

"Yes, I'm Claudia Gore," she said. "Your sister Jenny told me to say hi."

"Thanks."

Vidcund showed her to his room downstairs, where he made himself comfortable.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked.

Just then, Pascal arrived, he's wearing his maternity clothes.

"Oh, hi Pascal," said Claudia. "I thought you weren't coming back till tomorrow?"

"I changed my mind."

Pascal joined them as they watched TV together.

"So, what happened?" asked Claudia. "Was your pregnancy okay?"

"Yes, thanks."

"Whoa! That's amazing!" exclaimed Claudia. "What are you going to call your little alien baby?"

"I don't know yet, let me think about it."

Lazlo got out a slice of pizza from the fridge.

"Here, try this," he offered.

"Thank you, bro. I'll eat it later." said Pascal. "There's enough for all of us."

While they chatted, Vidcund got a phone call.

"Hey big sister," he said. "Someone moved here from Hidden Springs. Her name's Claudia Gore."

"Hmm... who?" asked Jenny.

"Her surname is Gore," explained Vidcund. "I'm not sure if that's her first or last name. Anyway, she wants to move in an empty home."

"I hope she likes living next to us," said Jenny.

"Don't worry, sis, she's super nice and friendly. She even helped me carry groceries yesterday."

As Vidcund hung up, Claudia rubbed Pascal's baby bump gently.

"Wouldn't it be funny if the baby turns out to look like you?" she giggled.

"Haha yeah," laughed Pascal.

As Claudia left and returned home, she went to the kitchen to have some coffee. Darren sat down across from her.

"How was your visit?" he asked.

"It was fun!" she replied. "I met the Smith family and the Curious brothers!"

"I guess we're neighbours now."

"Yay!"

They both finished their coffees and went upstairs to change. Just then, there was a knock at the front door. It was a young girl called Gretchen.

"Hello Claudia, can we be friends?" she asked.

"Of course," she replied. "Come in!"

Gretchen entered and introduced herself properly. She was short and cute, with brown hair and blue eyes, her outfit consisted of a white t-shirt and dark purple skirt.

"So, who's Pascal Curious?" asked Gretchen.

"He's my new friend."

"What's inside his tummy?"

"An alien baby."

"Wow, that sounds exciting! That means he's pregnant since he got abducted by aliens right?"

"Erm... yes, that's correct."

"Oohh, so scary! Well, I'm glad he survived."

As they continued chatting, they started playing games. Later that night, Claudia fell asleep in bed beside Darren. But suddenly, she woke up in fear as she heard footsteps outside her bedroom window. She looked through the crack between the curtains and saw Loki.

"Hey Loki, I didn't know you were in your pyjamas," she whispered.

"I am now," he replied quietly. "And I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"The same thing as always; how you feel about me."

"Very good, I'm going back to sleep."

"Great idea," he grinned. "See you in the morning."

Claudia turned off the light and tried to go back to sleep.