The Space Queen

~ 4 ~

We run around the yard making pew pew noises as we pretend to shoot each other; and swishing noises as we pretend to be ships passing each other and going to hyperspace.

"This James Tiberius Kirk, Captain of the USS Enterprise" I speak into my hand. "We are approaching an alien spaceship that is not supposed to be here. What are they doing here, and how must we protect American interest abroad... John? John... what are you doing? You're supposed to play the part of the Reptilians that have come from dark space!"

"I want to be James T. Kirk. You always get to be him" he pouts.

"I have a deep voice John. My dad is in the military too, I know what it is like to direct people around!" I whine back.

I stare at him, he's turned around, and is ignoring me. He appears immobile - as if he had turned into a statue.

"That's not fair John! We were just heading to the best part! John..."

I creep up to the window, where John is peering in at Cousin Kathleen. Her window is mostly shielded by the curtain, and we stare as she looks herself in the mirror. She's wearing her brasserie, and she's pushing up her breasts. She pouts in the mirror like she's Marilyn Monroe. She then takes it off. She lifts up the fleshy mounds with sharp points that stretch off her in the mirror, and then she starts to move around. She cuddles them like they are little teddy bears.

"John, I don't know if we should be doing this" I say, tugging at his shirt. "John!"

His eyes are wide, and I turn to see that Kathleen has moved her hand between her legs. We both watch as she makes strange noises, and spreads her legs out on her bed.

"AAaah!" cries Kathleen, realizing that someone has been watching her. She quickly shuts the curtains and plops quickly onto the bed.

By the time we leave, we are stunned and feel hot in our faces. We don't talk to each other as we walk off into the woods. We are surrounded by plants, trees, and things that make better sense. 

"Let's pretend we are Kathleen."

I giggle.

"Good idea."

We take our shirts off, and hold up our chests with our hands.

"Ooooh ooooh!"

"Yes! YES!"

"Boys!" yells Dad. He strides towards us, and I notice that the family is watching  from the kitchen.

"He started it!" says John, pointing at me.

"What? No I didn't!"

It's too late. Dad picks me up by the shirt, lays me across his lap, and starts slapping me.

"OOOoowwh! AAaaahh!"

By the time he is done, John has run far away, possibly to another part of the universe. Typical John. My father doesn't look at me. He goes back into the kitchen, where my mother whispers to him, and the conversation pretty much ends.

I cross my arms, and sit on the other side of the forest, ignoring my family. Finally, it's dinner time. The smell of food wafts from the kitchen. I give in from my pouting, and join my family around the dinner table. 

This is the first time that I can see my mom being very happy. She's got one hand over her belly, and the other rested over mine.

That night, I sleep in the basement. I'm almost asleep before I hear my Aunt Lois's voice at the top of the stairs.

"Say you're sorry to your cousin. He's more of a friend to you than anyone."

Tiny steps descend the stairs, and there appears Cousin John. He's in tears and avoids eye contact, but then he finally looks at me in the eyes and is in tears.

"Michael" he says in sobs, "I'm sorry!"

He stands there crying while I stare at him in shock, not knowing what to do. I decide to hug him.

"It's okay!" I say, patting him on the back.

"It's not okay! I blamed everything on you!" he says.

"I love you John" I say. "You're my best friend, my brother, and nothing we do is ever going to change that."

He looks at me to make sure.

"Okay" says John, as if it were a promise, and we shake on it. Then we hug once more, before going back to play.

Eventually, we are sound asleep, when we hear scraping on the walls.

John hears it first.

"Matt!" he exclaims.

I jump up, before scurrying back to the board of the bed, and using John as a shield.

"What are you doing? I can't fight it alone" says John.

The creature has long, sharp looking claws. It scurries along the walls. Finally, it stops. It's long black hair is hanging in front of the face, and it makes a funny sound. "Agggnnn.... Hggggggnnnnnn..."

As it starts to crawl up to us, drool pools a bit from it's mouth.

John and I stare at each other, take a deep breath, and then we make a run for it past the creature's hands. It grabs my ankle, and I scream. John kicks the monster in the face, and we run up the stairs yelling "Mommy!" "Mom! Dad! Everybody!" "There's a monster!"

Uncle John awakes from bed, pulling on a nightshirt, with a look of death on his face. He stomps down into the basement, and we all follow him. He pulls the ear of the monster, revealing it to be my cousin Debbie.

"Ow! Dad... you're hurting me!"

He pulls her ear up the stairs and into his bedroom with Aunt Lois, then slams the door shut. Slap! "Ow!" Slap. She cries, "Stop it!" Slap! She screams. The slaps continue until her sounds are nothing more than muffled cries, and then silence.

"Go to bed" says my dad, and without a word, we go back down the stairs. I sneak back to see if I hear anything else, but all I hear are the muffled sounds of my parents laughing.